panaceatoo's Full Review: General Electric Adoraâ„¢ Energy Star® DSHS5P...
When my husband and I were in the market for a refrigerator for our new home, we had just a few requirements. It had to be EnergyStar rated and it had to be stainless steel. After a month of shopping around, we ended up purchasing the GE Adora DSHS5PGXSS Stainless Steel 25.4 cubic foot side-by-side refrigerator in June for $1599 at The Home Depot. So far, we're very pleased with our decision.
The basic specs
As the name states, the GE Adora DSHS5PGXSS has 25.4 cubic feet of room. It measures 33.63 inches deep by 69.25 inches high by 35.75 inches wide. It weights 320 pounds.
It is a free-standing refrigerator that features a freezer compartment on the left and a refrigerator compartment on the right. On the front of the freezer door is a combination water/ice dispenser. The fridge section holds a filter that filters the water going into the dispenser.
The unit has an AutoEnergy Save feature, which senses how much you open the door and adjusts the way the refrigerator cycles accordingly. It also has encased condenser coils, so you don't need to clean them like the exposed coils on many traditional refrigerators.
The freezer compartment
The freezer features FrostGuard Technology, which protects frozen items from freezer burn by monitoring freezer door openings and defrosting only when needed. It has 2 wire shelves and 3 slide out wire baskets. It also has 3 door compartments, 2 of which are adjustable, so you can move it up and down to accommodate larger or odd-sized items.
It features an integrated ice system inside the door at the top, so you can get large amounts of ice from inside the freezer instead of having to slowly get it out of the dispenser. Of course, the freezer also has a light inside.
I feel that I have a lot more storage space in this freezer as compared to the traditional top freezer/bottom refrigerator model we had at our old apartment. All of the shelves, bins and door compartments help keep me organized and hold a lot of stuff! For example, right now I have the top of our wedding cake (saving it for our anniversary), 10 lean cuisines, 3 packages of hot dog/hamburger rolls, 3 large packages of chicken breast, 2 packages of breakfast sausage, 2 bags of frozen veggies and a 1/2 gallon of ice cream in there - and there's still room to spare.
The refrigerator compartment
The fridge section has 4 glass shelves, 3 of which are "spill-proof" (i.e. it has raised edges to prevent liquid from spilling over the sides) and adjustable. 2 of those shelves also slide out. In the middle of the fridge (at about chest height for the average person) is a "snack pan" pull out bin (this is where I keep my deli items). On the bottom of the fridge are 2 additional, larger pull out bins. Both feature adjustable humidity, so I store my vegetables in one bin at low humidity and my fruit in the other at high humidity.
In the lower part of the door of the refrigerator there are 4 bins, 3 of which are adjustable and large enough to hold a gallon jug of milk. On top of those compartments is an in-door can/bottle holder (which in my experience, holds about 6 cans or 4 bottles of Gatorade). On the very top is a dairy compartment, large enough to hold 2, 1 dozen cartons of eggs.
Again, I'm very happy with the size of the fridge. I especially love the adjustable doors. I can even fit tall wine bottles in them (something I've never been able to do). I also like the fact that I do a lot less bending over with the side-by-side model as compared to my old refrigerator. Most of the shelves are easily within reach (I really only have to bend for the fruit & veggie drawers and the very bottom shelf). I also find this helps me avoid forgetting about food (you know, those leftovers that get crammed on the bottom and pushed to the back, out of sight?) because most of it is easily in sight now.
The water/ice dispenser
The water/ice dispenser has several options. You can get water, cubed ice, crushed ice or "quick ice." Quick ice makes the ice faster (up to 50% faster according to the manufacturer's specs), which is good if you need it in hurry.
One really neat thing about the water/ice dispenser is that it has a light that comes on automatically when you put your glass against the push control, so you can see where your water or ice is going at night without turning the kitchen light on. The light slowly dims out when you're done. You can also turn the light on manually if you want.
The control panel for the water/ice dispenser is also the temperature control panel for the fridge and freezer. It displays the actual temperature of the refrigerator and freezer compartments and has controls for increasing or decreasing each temperature setting. It also has a "TurboCool" button that helps cool the refrigerator down quickly if you've opened the doors a lot in a short amount of time.
I've found that our fridge seems to run a bit colder than what you set the temperature at. The manual says 37 degrees Fahrenheit is the recommended temperature, but when I set it at 37, it ends up cooling down to around 32-34 and stuff starts to get ice crystals. I keep it set to 40 and it winds up actually being about 37-38 most of the time. I haven't had this problem with the freezer.
Looks
We love the high end look of this fridge. It matches very well with our brown granite counter tops and oak cabinets. I know some people complain about stainless steel being a magnet for smudges and fingerprints, but we haven't really found this to be a big problem. (Of course, it's just 2 adults in the house - no kids.) I just wipe it down with a stainless steel spray and a lint-free cloth every week or 2 and it stays looking great.
Bottom line
We are very pleased with our purchase. We have plenty of storage space and tons of options with all of the adjustable drawers, so we've never had a problem fitting anything into this refrigerator. Plus, it's sleek design fits in just right with the rest of our kitchen. It's also runs very quietly compared to other fridges I've had, so it doesn't disturb us or make guests ask "What was that?" when it kicks on.
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