GE GFDS150EDWW Review

Introduction

Despite all of those lackluster elements, however, this machine is still quite an effective dryer. All tested cycles produced nearly perfect drying, even the usually troublesome Bulky setting, and the Delicate cycle maintained notably gentle temperatures. Its MSRP is $1,099, but online sale prices were as low as $742—which makes this machine a real bargain.

Design & Usability

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Navigation is mostly seamless, with just a few pesky details

This stackable white enamel dryer uses stainless steel trimming on the door and cycle knob to add some pizzazz to an appliance that is otherwise unremarkable in appearance. The interior drum's stainless steel finish means it will hold up better over time, unlike enamel drums. Despite this machine's impressively spacious interior and well-made parts, the lint trap is surprisingly small and shoddy. The wire mesh is unusually rough, and it can be quite unruly when putting it back into place.

Intuitive controls make for a comfortable user experience. The cycle knob is easy to grip and turns quite smoothly, but it's fairly sizable, making it somewhat difficult to see when the lowest cycles are activated. The fact that the Time Dry indicator light stays on when Steam Dewrinkle, Warm Up, and Air Fluff are selected (to let you know that those are the cycles with adjustable durations) is a nice touch, but until you get used to that, it's also a bit confusing. The only gripe we had was with the cycle alteration: it only moves from shorter times to longer ones, and if you miss your desired time, you have go scroll through all the options again. This isn't always a big issue, but the large number of times available make it a bit of a pain.

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Performance & Features

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This GE is hot and cold

A modest selection of cycles and features are on offer, but not so many that they clutter this {{product.name}}.

Eleven customized cycles cover all the basics with just a little bit of extra variety thrown in. The five basic loads offer the traditional settings while the remaining options provide quick-dry and unheated cycles, as well as one that takes advantage of the machine's steam capability. The Time Dry feature runs from ten minutes to two hours, available in ten minute increments, and the My Cycle feature allows you to save a customized cycle of your very own. Since the {{product.brand.name}} offers four different dryness and temperature settings, making a personalized cycle is quite a nice option.

This machine offers a modest list of extra drying features as well. There is an extended tumble feature to prevent wrinkling, a Delay Dry button that tells the dryer to start working up to 18 hours later in single hour increments, and a child lock that will keep any curious members of the household from changing settings once the machine has started. Additionally, there is an e-Dry setting, which GE claims will reduce the total energy consumption for certain preset cycles in exchange for lengthier drying times. That may seem counterintuitive, but it's not actually a cycle's duration that determines how much energy is used; rather, it's the overall heat, so GE is merely attempting cooler temperatures for longer periods to lower energy use.

Along that same line, the temperature control on this GE yields highly effective drying, though cycles times weren't anything remarkable and temperatures became overly hot, here and there. Normal and Speed Dry cycles got very hot, and that's a problem since heat can wear fabric over time. Delicate and Bulky loads were surprisingly cool, and still offered very effective levels of moisture removal.

Conclusion

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Unassuming, yet highly effective. Could it be a drying ninja?

Appearances can be deceiving, even in the world of laundry appliances. The {{product.name}} is a very unassuming machine, despite it's slightly larger-than-average dimensions. The visual aesthetic is similar to all the other middle-of-the-road dryers that cross our threshold, and the list of cycles and features isn't anything to drool over. In fact, we were disappointed that there's only one feature—the Steam Dewrinkle cycle—that specifically takes advantage of its water hookup. And yet, this rather bland-looking dryer more than demonstrated its worth when it came to effective performance.

All our tests produced results that were nearly perfect in terms of water removal, including the frequently finicky Bulky load. We've had dryers do that before, but the temperature range displayed by these cycles was more varied and comprehensive than many other machines we've tested. Normal and Speed Dry got too hot, but at least they weren't guilty of over drying. Delicate and Bulky tests, on the other hand, used very gentle temperatures. We almost never see that degree of heat and level of temperature restraint in the same machine, making this an unusually effective dryer.

The {{product.brand.name}}'s MSRP is $1,099, but a little bit of internet hunting produces sale prices as low as $740. That means a great dryer is also a great value.

Science Introduction

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Overall, this GE proved very efficient and effective, but it did better in some areas than in others. Below are the test results that show how well this dryer did on temperature, cycle duration, and water retention tests.

Performance Tests: Normal and Delicate Cycles

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These two go-to cycles are thrown through the wringer. See how they did.

With a scorching maximum temperature of 169 degrees Fahrenheit, we were a bit surprised that it still took this dryer just over an hour to finish. No doubts here, though: clothes were dry. Despite the very high heat, our test materials didn't seem to be over dried, a pleasant fact for sure. Soft, bright fabrics may wear unnecessarily with continual exposure to heat like this though, so beware.

Quite a few dryers that get exceptionally hot for their Normal cycles have a problem with delicates: they overdo it, reaching temperatures that can speed up the natural wear and tear of sensitive fabrics. This {{product.brand.name}}, however, got our test materials to 97 percent of their bone dry weight in a little over an hour, with temperatures peaking at only 112 degrees Fahrenheit. That temperature is perfect for delicates, effectively removing moisture while handling clothing gently.

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Performance Tests: Quick and Bulky Cycles

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See how this dryer handles bulky items and quick work

Nailing the 100 percent dryness mark, the {{product.brand.name}}'s Speed Dry cycle got our half load just as dry as the Normal setting and in only 27 minutes. Temperatures peaked at 149 degrees though, which is toastier than we'd prefer. Many quick cycles fail to get all the water out, or can't reach effective levels of heat within the short time, so this cycle came as a very nice surprise. If you're drying a smaller load, this is absolutely the cycle to use.

Many of the dryers we test don't even come close to removing even half of the moisture added to our test comforter during the bulky test. As such, getting our bulky item down to 82 percent of its bone dry weight is definitely an achievement worth boasting about, and one which this {{product.brand.name}} can lay claim to. The cycle averaged about an hour between our two test loads, and its effectiveness is even more impressive when you consider the fact that temperatures maxed out at just 117 degrees. It's not perfect, but going in to shift your bulky item around a bit should be enough to get rid of that remaining moisture.

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