GE French Door Refridgerator GFE26JYMFS Review

GE French Door Refridgerator Review Model: GFE26JYMFS

I really wanted to do this GE French Door Refridgerator Model GFE26JYMFS Review because it is so hard these days to find a good product to replace an old one. This refrigerator was purchased to replace a 13-year-old Kenmore Elite that is no longer in production. The refrigerator had the closest options to our previous refrigerator such as:

• An ice maker in the door
• Ample shelf room
• Adjustable shelves
• A split shelf
• Water filtration system.

Unfortunately, newer appliances hardly ever live up to their older counterparts, as time goes on products are made cheaper, break down more, and become less reliable.

Biggest Complaint is the Noise

The GE Refrigerator GFE26JYMFS is the NOISEST refrigerator I have ever owned. It drives me insane at times. In the morning, before use, it is completely silent, however after you use the ice or water, and open it, it begins its daily ritual of pulsating noises that go up and down. Eventually, after a few hours, the noise settles into a more even hum that is still loud but easier to ignore. If you don’t touch the refrigerator long enough the compressor will go quiet and for a small amount of time, it is blissful.

GE’s Response to My Noise Complaint

I felt the noise was so bad that there must be something wrong with the refrigerator so I reached out to them myself. This was their response below.

Based on the information provided, newer refrigerators sound different from older refrigerators. They have more features and use newer technology. For your conveience, I have listed below some normal operating sounds and noises that your unit may produce or make:

• The new high-efficiency compressor may run faster and longer than your old refrigerator and you may hear a high-pitched hum or pulsating sound while it is operating.

I have it hard to believe that it is acceptable that newer technology would create more noise that is frustrating to the consumer, but that is what they said.

Small Complaints but not a Deal Breaker

• I wish the ice were small cubes instead of half-moons.

• The lighting on the readable area of the dispenser for Water/Crushed/Cubed/Light is a joke for older eyes and at night. Instead of illuminating the words there is a small bar that hovers over the words that lights up. It would be more user-friendly if the words lit up as well for nighttime use.

• The ice maker when dispensing ice is VERY loud, much louder than my previous refrigerator like it is grinding the ice (which it is not). 
• There could be just a little more flexibility with the shelving heights so that when storing 2-liter bottles you can do so without having to use the split shelf or cram the shelves close together. Just a little extra option to at the top would have solved this problem.

• Water Filter – you are required to buy the official WXFE filter (you cannot purchase the cheaper WXF filter). See the note at the end about the filter. 

No Complaints Here

• Door Ice Maker – We like the ice maker on the door because it does not take up room in the refrigerator. However, just a note that the ice storage is small as it is with any indoor icemaker so if your family goes through a lot of ice you may want to opt for or use storage bins in your freezer or there are options where the ice maker is not in the door.

• Ample Space – there is a lot of space in the refrigerator and while I do wish there was more flexibility with the shelving height overall there is a good amount of space to store your food.

• Ample Side Space – The containers on the right side of the door are large and can fit a large number of items. Additionally, while the containers on the left door are small as expected due to the ice maker, they are perfect for sticks of butter, cheese, garlic cloves, and smaller items.

• Freezer – while the freezer is a little smaller than our previous freezer it is still a nice size and has an option to separate items in both the top drawer and bottom drawer. This can help with keeping things a little more organized.

• Climate Control – both bins have the option to choose the climate control for fruits or vegetables. The larger drawer can be set to cold or coldest (this is where we store our meat and cheeses)

WXFE Filter from GE Required

Regarding the filter, you must buy the WXFE filter from GE as it is the only filter that will work. You can not buy the WXF cheaper version as it does not have the chip and is rendered useless. This is a clever way for GE to require that you purchase their more expensive filter. This statement is based on my own research on this subject.

Final Thoughts on the GE Refridgerator Model GFE26JYMFS

Our final thoughts after having this GE Refridgerator for 2 months. I would not purchase it again. The hardest part is it has all the features we wanted, and trying to find another one with the same features and hoping it would not make the same annoying noises wasn’t enough for us to return it and purchase another one, but I would not recommend this refrigerator to anyone.