Ran a little test in my pond with 1 inch thick ice. My conclusin is a 0.5 cfm compressor might maintain a decent area of open water, but if you plan to use it to open up a hole in thick ice, the spring thaw may happen first.
What do you consider thick ice? I am using a 12V linear pump with a max 1 cfm at 3psi. I "choke" down the CFM's electronically for shallow water winter pumping.
