GE Café™ CFE29TSDSS
Hot Fridge for 2013
Beautiful and Innovative Dispenser
The CFE29TSDSS refrigerator really stands out from the crowd once you look at it’s dispenser. First of all, it’s a big dispenser. You can fit just about anything you might want to fill in there. It looks good too, with an LCD screen and nicely styled controls. The thing that really sets it apart though is the ability of this french door refrigerator to dispense both hot and cold water!
The cold water is of course standard fare from most dispensers these days. Hot water on the other hand is something you won’t find on any other consumer refrigerators on the market today. GE has added to their Cafe line of refrigerators the first model with this innovative concept.
The controls for the hot water dispenser also stand out. Because of safety concerns, the button needs to be depressed and turned to dispense the hot liquid. That’s a very good idea as even though the CFE29TSDSS can’t dispense actual boiling water (200F), 3 of the 4 pre-set temperature settings could certainly cause burns and/or major discomfort.
Too Cold, Too Hot, or Just Right?
GE has programmed 4 temperature settings into their new hot water dispensing Café™ refrigerators. These settings match up to common household tasks that require heated water.
- 90 F: Warm water for cleaning countertops.
- 150F: Great for a cup of hot chocolate.
- 170F: Perfect temperature for making tea.
- 185F: Making truely instant soups possible.
When getting hot water from the tap, you can’t be sure of what temperature you are getting exactly. With GE’s CFE29TSDSS you get the exact temperature you need!
This concept of temperature control is also found inside the refrigerator. A temperature controlled drawer lets you set the perfect temp (32F to 40F) for whatever you store in it. LEDs give you a quick visual que as to what temperature the drawer has been set to.
Clean Water and Air
Certainly from such an advanced water dispenser you’d expect to find a water filter too. The hot water, cold water, and ice is all run through GE’s SmartWater filter.
What you might not expect is that the GE CFE29TSDSS also comes with an odor filter.
Perhaps even more interesting is that GE has hit Energy Star targets with this refrigerator. So you won’t have to feel guilty about that hot cup of tea. Instead you can enjoy it, knowing the hot water was produced by an environmentally friendly fridge that only costs about $60 a year in electricity.
Where Does the CFE29TSDSS Fit?
This is FridgeDimensions.com, and so as you’d expect, we also cover the dimensions of the CFE29TSDSS. GE has made a great choice in our opinion by making their first fridge with a hot water filter available in what are perhaps the most standard refrigerator dimensions you can find.
At just under 70 inches tall (69 7/8 inches), it’s right about at the average for full sized refrigerators. Even with the 1 inch of recommended clearance at the top it’s pretty much standard. The same with it’s width, at slightly less than 36 inches (35 3/4 inches), and exactly 36 inches with the 1/8th inch recommended clearances on both sides taken into account.
The depth is the only significant deviation from typical dimensions, at slightly more than 36 inches deep (36 1/4 inches). At first this appears to be standard, but beware that the CFE29TSDSS requires a full 2 inches of clearance in the back. (Perhaps the extra clearance is due to needing more airflow to keep the water heater cooled.) At 38 inches of depth overall, those with narrow kitchens might not be able to fit such a deep fridge.
If that’s a problem for you, or you’re looking for a counter-depth model, never fear! GE has another Café™ hot water dispensing fridge that will be available soon in the counter-depth configuration.
Hot or Cold on Buying a GE CFE29TSDSS?
Sometimes with gimicky features, you expect to only see them on the most expensive refrigerators out there. However, GE seems to have been able to fit an awful lot into a reasonably priced package. The MSRP of $3099 is a little bit above the price-point it was introduced at ($2999), but not by much. You can already buy it for as little as $2350 or so. (Price as of 2013-04-30)
Compared to the not-as-of-yet released T9000 with it’s Android LCD, that’s pretty reasonable. Especially as most of the other features seem to be even or favor the GE CFE29TSDSS.
