The Ultimate GE GDE21ESKSS 20.9-Cu. Ft. Bottom Freezer Refrigerator Review

How’s your scouting for refrigerators going? Can’t decide on one or don’t know which option is the right one for you? Well, we’re here to help! 

Fridges might seem like a no-brainer purchase for some people, but in doing so, you can end up with a model that doesn’t meet your needs or proves to be of doubtful quality. A recurring issue tends to be that some don’t know the difference in fridge types, such as the bottom and top freezers, and that’s exactly what we can help with.

This article will not only give you the grand tour of what a bottom freezer refrigerator is and how it can be used, but we’ll also give a review of the GE GDE21ESKSS fridge, so you’ll have a place to start.

GE GDE21ESKSS 21-Cu. Ft. Bottom Freezer Refrigerator Review

Google’s Rating: 4.1

Made by GE Appliances, this bottom freezer unit brings you the space necessary for your kitchen to be stocked to the brim with your usually consumed products. The ease of access to the freezer area can save you time and effort, and the drawers and baskets give a more personalized way to organize the groceries. The many features that we will discuss can help you decide whether this fridge is the one you’re looking for.

Construction

This freestanding unit blends in well with most kitchen aesthetics thanks to the stainless-steel color and designer-style handles. The exterior has a contoured high-gloss design with hidden door hinges for that modern look some people want to achieve. And if you aren’t quite convinced with that specific color, it also comes in black, white, and slate. 

A factory-installed ice maker will save you the trouble of filling the trays every time you want to chill your drinks, and its advanced water filtration reduces pharmaceutical traces from water and ice to keep you and all who use the appliance safely.

Freezer and Refrigerator Capacity

The fresh food compartment consists of 14.93-cu. ft. It has a clear snack drawer for those midnight cravings, a pair of humidity-controlled drawers perfect for unpacked greens, along with a total of three glass shelves, two of which are adjustable and are full-width at the bottom.

As for the door, it holds four clear glass bins, two full-widths, and two adjustable half-widths, that make a great place for a myriad of condiments as well as various bottles and cans.

Regarding the freezer, its drawer functionality allows it to be pulled the entire length of the fresh food floor, giving you all 6.04-cu. ft. of space. Speaking of the interior, it has a full-width basket along with a full-extension one that, as mentioned before, does great things for organization. The ice bucket for the ice maker can also be found in this area, ready for its chilly cubes to be scooped up.

Dimensions and Weight

A great question to ask yourself is if it will fit in your kitchen. To make it easier, the measures for this model are 69.87 inches of overall height, 29.75 inches wide, and 36.62 of overall depth. Considering the capacity, it falls within the standard dimensions when comparing it to similar models from different brands.

Its net weight is 210 lbs., so you’ll be needing quite the workforce for getting it into your kitchen, but hopefully you won’t have to move it again. 

Installation and Maintenance

With this model being one of the big guys, there’s going to be some handiwork to get done, especially with the water supply needed for the ice maker. Firstly, if you don’t have the mechanical skills necessary it’s recommended that you get someone who does to do the installation, as it will be less stressful for you. 

This fridge will have to be connected to a cold-water line to be supplied, and this is something you could do with conventional supplies and a trained individual. However, you can get a GE Appliances water supply kit that comes with both the parts needed for the installation and proper instructions, but it’s sold separately.

Remember to leave it upright on a dry surface that doesn’t come in direct contact with sunlight for 4 hours unplugged, then plug it in and leave it functioning overnight without any products inside so it can get nice and chilly.

The water filter cartridge will have to be replaced every six months or so, but if you notice the ice maker having trouble, you might have to do it earlier.

Annual Energy Consumption and Temperature Control

Electricity is a bill that’s going to get higher when adding a 20.9-cu. ft. fridge to the roster, but by how much? Having the GE GDE21ESKSS plugged in and running will cost you about $69 every year, with an estimated 572 kWh yearly electricity use. 

As for temperature control, the control can be found at the very top of the fridge. The freezer compartment temperature can be adjusted by pressing the labeled button and the small display on its right will show the selected number. The factory preset is 0°F for that area. The button for the fresh food compartment can be found at the other side of the display and follows the same function, and its factory preset is 37°F.

Ice Maker and Defrost Type

If you live in a hot-weathered area, you’re probably going to feel that ice craving for your drinks. As expressed before, this model has a built-in automatic ice maker on the freezer compartment that draws water from the water supply, not before running it through the water filter for it to be crystal clear and free of bacteria. You can just scoop the ice once it’s ready.

And if you’re worried about the frost building up, the GDE21ESKSS has an automatic defrost for your convenience. Because of this, you might hear a few clicks, cracks, pops, or water sounds while it’s carrying out this function. 

Certifications and Warranty

All GE Appliances refrigerators come with a 1-year limited warranty that provides labor and related services free of charge, as well as a thirty-day limited warranty in case the water filter or any associated parts start malfunctioning in that time frame. 

Certification-wise, this model has an Energy Star certification and a California Prop 65 Claim, so you can safely own this appliance.

Additional Features

The Turbo Cooling feature will quickly cool the fresh food compartment, allowing large amounts of food to be kept chilly even if they’ve been sitting at room temperature or even warm.

The LED lighting will let you see all your stored items, so you don’t lose time finding what you’re looking for. If we add the sliding snack drawer into the mix, you have the perfect combination for enhancing your midnight-snacking experience!

Price

This refrigerator is expensive but considering the added features and overall reputation of the brand, the price seems about right. We are talking about 20.9-cu. ft. here. Maybe after looking at other brands, you might find similar units that would save you a couple of hundred bucks, but you might end up taking a risk with a lesser-known brand. 

What Are Consumers Saying About The GE GDE21ESKSS

Upon looking at several comments, many customers have expressed the color and refrigerator space to be satisfactory and worth the money. The dimensions have also received quite a lot of praise, as a fridge of this size is adequate for smaller environments. 

However, some customers have voiced their displeasure about the freezer space and the noise the fridge makes. By being a drawer freezer, the general space can be more limited than some top freezers in other models, and the ice maker and defrosting cycle can be a little loud when they start functioning.

How Does The GE GDE21ESKSS Compare With Its Competitors?

While it might have a higher price than the other models, the GE GDE21ESKSS has slightly smaller dimensions and more certifications. You will be sacrificing usable space and paying more, but it always depends on the purpose you’re purchasing it for and the trust you have towards the brand.

Is the GE GDE21ESKSS the Refrigerator for You?

In summary, the GDE21ESKSS is a fridge that brings you commodities instead of capacity. By being a smaller unit, both in dimension and freezer capacity, it can fit in kitchens where other fridges might not, and its added features make the maintenance and overall care of the model easy. For households where a very large number of products need to be stored, say a big family, then this fridge might not be the best option, as you would have to pay more for a smaller fridge. 

However, in case you live in smaller households with few members, like with roommates, this could prove useful. You’ll be paying for the safety and ease of mind, as well as effort, that the unit will mostly take care of itself, with occasional maintenance.

Why Choose GE

The name GE might ring a few bells, as it was indeed owned by General Electrics and functioned as a subsidiary of said giant until it was sold to the Chinese multinational home appliances company Haier in 2016 and has been under their management since. 

GE Appliances also hold quite a few awards and certifications for its great work environment, so you can be sure that the products are made with care and in healthy conditions. Furthermore, one of GE’s missions is to invest in local communities to help improve the places where their employees work and live.

Before we get down to business with the actual product, there’s a chance you’re still having doubts about the bottom freezer type. Is it good? Is it better than the top freezer one? Well, don’t worry, we’ll explain that right now.

Bottom Freezers vs Top Freezers

The location of the freezer is not something that tends to come to mind when choosing a refrigerator, as we tend to take it for granted. And fair enough, it may not make a huge difference besides having to hunker down or reach up to get your frozen goods. But if we take a closer look at the little details, you would be amazed at the comparison.

Capacity

Believe it or not, having your freezer in the lower section of the fridge gives you more inner space than the ones that have it at the top. This is a great fit for families or homeowners that store decent amounts of frozen products such as meats, fruits, and veggies. 

Not only that, but these models tend to include a set of removable baskets that can help you immensely with organizing your groceries, something that would be otherwise close to impossible with top freezers. For those, you almost have to play a game of Tetris to get everything to fit just right. 

Cleaning

Another advantage of the baskets is that they allow you to clean the freezer more effectively and easily, as it is much more accessible than reaching for the top of the fridge. Now your kids won’t have any excuse not to help you with this house duty. 

And speaking about kids, yes, there is the slight danger of them being able to mess with the door or the products inside of it, with it being at their reach. You can solve this easily by installing a child-proof lock. They aren’t difficult to set up and can save you a good amount of stress.

But what about my back?

We understand that some customers might have a condition or usual pain. That’s okay, it eventually happens to all of us, so our best recommendation would be having a stool or something not too tall to sit on while sorting through your baskets. We are striving for commodities after all.

Hoping your inquiries are taken care of, why don’t we start with the GDE21ESKSS refrigerator review?

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