Anyone got a waste disposal unit in their sink?

zebidee1

Never had one before but considering one now.

Waste of money? Good to have?

Practical? Useless?

Just picked our sink and the brochure had details of waste disposal units at the back which has caught out attention. One of the units has an 'air switch' and a lifetime guarantee. Thought the guarantee thing was good.

Opinions please? Thought it would be handy scraping the food waste into it before putting the plates in the dishwasher. It would also stop the bin smelling so quickly if there were less food items going in it?

As ever.....we're really greatful for all replies and our kitchen picking is coming to an end soon. (We promise ).

debbie42

We inherited one with our original kitchen. It was called an Insinkerator (I think).

We didn't bother with our new kitchen, for many reasons. Main ones being:
I had to clean it far out too often for my liking
The kids put all sorts of stuff down it which shouldn't have been there (see above!).
I had to replace the rubber seal once, and that was much nastier than a normal sink waste fitting.
I didn't like the idea of mincing up stuff to flush it down the sewers when it really should be in the bin. (I am a keen composter, though, which may make a difference.)

Primrose

We have one in our holiday flat and I have mixed feelings about it. They definitely don't like orange or lemon peel and the fine outer skins of onions. Also they can tend to seize up easily and then it's a nightmare to replace them as when they clog up they do so with all the rotting vegetation caught in them. I much prefer the arrangement of putting a circular flat sieve plate across your plughole to catch any debris and putting vegetable peelings in a compost crock to chuck on the compost heap every couple of days.

lynzpower

I had one in a house I rented and although the house was in immaculate condition, really beautifully renovated with this new sink, good LL etc, I agree, there was too many things it didnt like. Once a coin fell down it which scuppered it quite badly We had to get engineers out 4 times in a year at 175 call out plus vat.

I wouldnt bother, they seem too much of a liability for my liking.

zebidee1

Aw...don't all say that.....I wanted one. :rotfl:

(There are a few councils in England who will give you an £80 incentive to fit one. Pity I'm in Scotland, lol.)

lazarou_true

Which councils offer an incentive? We are also thinking of having one installed.

zebidee1

lazarou_true wrote: »

Which councils offer an incentive? We are also thinking of having one installed.

I knew someone was going to ask me that. :rotfl:

I've sat all day searching for various kitchen things on the net and I had no idea where I saw the info about this. I came across it by accident and I didn't pay too much attention at the time as it didn't apply to me. I had also cleared my history and cookies etc as I was defraging and cleaning up my laptop so I couldn't look back. :rolleyes:

Anyway, I've tried to retrace my steps and so far I found this.
http://www.wastedisposershop.com/acatalog/waste_mission_impossible.htm

If I find anything else I'll post it but failing that you could search yourself or phone your council?

I'm going to phone mine first thing on Monday to ask why they dont have such a scheme.

Pennylane

This thread has made me smile!:D I wish I had a £ for every time DH has been out to repair a dishwasher and come back saying "that's another one who thinks their dishwasher is a waste disposal unit!" Still, they're paying for it!!:j :j

girlsmum

well we have one and we have had it for about 6 years and its fine, it has blocked up a couple of times, but its the pipes that have blocked at the other end of the unit. its excellent i feel especially when you are rinsing waste food off your plates, we have put allsorts of peelings down it teabags etc, although we do have a compost bin and normally they go on there.
if you get a powerfull one you will be able to grind chicken bones too,...

what with the composter recycling anf that my landfill waste is almost nil

i like them

jennifernil

We have had one for 26 years, not the same one but it is the same model! It is an ISE. They are very easy to fit and will grind up pretty much anything including orange peel, onion skins and chicken bones, but do not like fat. A good tip is to make sure you have as few bends as possible on the waste pipe from it, then you will have no problems with blockages. We have had no problems in over 20 years.

Ours is the Model 17 which is operated by turning the stopper handle once you have loaded it up, they call it batch feed. I would not have any other make/type/model personally as this one has been excellent for us. Not cheap though, maybe around £250, but can't remember.

Edit.....looking on the net (try Kelkoo) it now seems to be called a model 78, but is the same. Around £230.

We have our dishwasher waste going into it, keeps it lovely and clean.

I would not be without it, it is the thing I miss most when away in our caravan!

We have very little in our wheelie bin these days with recycling and the ISE. It takes us at least 4 weeks to generate anything like a full bin.

Fit a socket in the cupboard under the sink and just plug it in. If you have a nearby socket you can take a spur from it, or of course plug it in there if it is not used already.

zebidee1

Oh well..........I've just ordered a waste disposal unit...........:D

I figured since I saved so much money on buying a cooker hood, I could afford to splash out a bit.

(I also got a rather nice liquid soap dispenser that builds into the worktop too...:whistle: )