Gevi V2.0 vs Frigidaire Gallery EFIC255

Almost every comparison on this site ends with the same caveat: one or both cost figures are nameplate ceilings rather than consumption. Not this one. Both of these manufacturers printed a wattage, which makes this the second comparison on the site where the money is real rather than an upper bound.

They are also close in price, both make the same soft chewable ice by the same auger mechanism, and both are sold to the same buyer. So the decision comes down to which set of unanswered questions you can live with.

Side by side, on published figures

The watts, and what they are worth

Gevi prints a rated power of 170W beside a separate 120V/60Hz/3.0A supply line. Frigidaire prints 185 W. At four running hours a day and 18 cents per kWh that is about $3.67 a month against $4.00.

Thirty-three cents a month is not a reason to choose anything. What matters is what the figures let you do: plan a shared circuit, size a generator, compare against a freezer. Notice also that Gevi's nameplate current is 3.0 A — the same as a full-size GE Opal. Without the printed wattage this page would be quoting a $7.78 ceiling for a machine that draws 170 W, which is the whole argument set out on the running-cost page.

One efficiency comparison is available and one is not. Frigidaire publishes both a wattage and a rate, so its 185 W against 44.1 lbs a day works out at roughly 4.2 watts per daily pound. Gevi publishes no rate, so the same division cannot be done, and this site will not do it from a listing figure.

Output: the one Frigidaire wins on paper

The EFIC255's manual states 20 kg per 24 hours, which converts to 44.1 lbs and is the highest rate printed in any manual on this site. Gevi's table has no rate line at all.

For most households neither number is the constraint. Both machines make far more in a day than a family drinks, and what actually limits you is how much finished ice the bin holds — which neither manufacturer publishes in a manual. The sizing argument is on how much ice you actually need.

Space: closer than it looks, then not close at all

On the body alone the Gevi is narrower and the Frigidaire is shallower, and a 2.6 inch depth difference decides more kitchen arguments than a 0.4 inch width difference does. Add Gevi's 6 inches of clearance on all sides and the comparison stops being close: it is the largest air gap any manual on this site asks for.

Temperature: Gevi answers, Frigidaire does not

Gevi publishes an operating range of 50F to 90F and a water-temperature instruction of 46F to 82F, which no other manual here gives. Frigidaire publishes no operating range for the EFIC255 at all.

In a kitchen that is a non-issue for both. Anywhere else — a garage, a basement bar, a sunroom, a porch — it is the difference between a documented condition and an assumption, which is why the Gevi is the machine this site ranks first on ice makers for a garage.

Cleaning: one has a procedure, one has an instruction

Frigidaire documents a CLEAN button with a cycle of at least 20 minutes run on plain water, recommended before first use and after a long idle period. Gevi asks you to run its cleaning program twice with fresh water before first use and leaves the ongoing schedule to you.

Both are rinses rather than cleans, because a cycle on plain water moves water through the pump and lines without dissolving scale or removing biofilm. Neither maker states a descaling interval; the only manufacturer in this category who does is GE. The chemistry and the schedule are on descaling.

Which one belongs in which room

The specification gap between these two maps onto rooms more cleanly than onto budgets.

• A kitchen counter: the Frigidaire. It is 2.6 inches shallower, it publishes a rate so you can plan a party around it, and it does not demand six inches of air on a surface where you cannot spare it.
• A garage, a basement or a porch: the Gevi. It is the only one of the two with a published temperature floor, and a garage is the one room where a six-inch air gap is free. The ranking for that room is on ice makers for a garage.
• An apartment where the bill is yours: either, barely. Thirty-three cents a month apart, both under $50 a year at four hours a day. Choose on space and output instead.

What neither of them tells you

Two numbers are missing from both manuals, and they are the two you actually live with. Neither publishes a bin capacity — the 3 lb figure this site carries for the Frigidaire comes from a retail listing and is flagged as the weakest source tier, and Gevi publishes nothing at all. Neither publishes a noise figure, because nobody in this category does.

Gevi additionally publishes no ice rate, so on throughput the Frigidaire wins by default rather than by margin. If the choice comes down to how many glasses you can serve in a row, neither manufacturer has given you the number to decide it with, and the arithmetic you can do instead is on how much ice you actually need.

Which one to buy

• Buy the Frigidaire EFIC255 if throughput and counter depth matter, or if you want the documented rate and the documented clean cycle. It is the machine with the answer to "how much ice", and it is shallower on a counter.
• Buy the Gevi V2.0 if the machine is going anywhere other than a kitchen, if you want the lowest published draw in the category, or if you simply want the maker who filled in the whole engineering template — refrigerant charge, climate class and all.
• Buy neither if you need a documented bin size before you spend. Neither manual publishes one, and that is the number you live with daily. The machines that do publish it are on the nugget roundup.