PeteFree.comGeneral Electric GE Side by Side Refrigerator GSH25 — Review
© 2011 Peter Free
29 August 2011
Annoying design
This side by side refrigerator-freezer illustrates what happens when engineers design something, without looking at better products from competing manufacturers.
Background
The refrigerator being evaluated is two years old. It’s located in military housing. I’ve had three months of experience with it.
The previous family took good care of the home and everything in it. Consequently, the refrigerator’s shortcomings are not due to two years of abuse.
Negatives
Users generally have to use two hands to slide the drawers out. When using only one hand, the drawers almost always bind and stick on their tracks.
The fridge’s plastic components are arguably too lightweight and have a cheap and breakable feel.
The double refrigerator doors swing naturally open, even when the refrigerator is properly leveled. One has to remember to firmly shut each door. Otherwise, it is easy to leave an open gap of a few centimeters, without realizing that the door is not closed. For energy and spoilage reasons, I prefer doors that tend to swing shut.
When using the freezer door’s (external) ice dispenser, ice drops in somewhat unpredictable directions. Fragments often spray onto the floor. In addition to making a mess, there is a safety hazard involved, especially for elderly, handicapped, or injured people.
When attempting to remove ice from the ice drawer itself, one has to remove the drawer entirely from the freezer. The drawer is always heavy because there is no apparent way to keep the freezer from completely filling it with ice. And, like the unit’s other drawers, it binds on its track. This combination of negatives is a real annoyance when one wants to remove large quantities of ice for medical reasons, like icing injuries or arthritis.
Positives
The refrigerator cools and freezes properly.
It looks nice.
The shelves in the refrigerator half are easy to remove and height adjust.
Overall, there are better choices
Although this side-by-side has pluses, it has too many design negatives to be considered a good choice.