Did you know your trashed dinner scraps end up in a landfill, slowly decaying into greenhouse gas? Garbage disposals solve this concern.
They do double duty, meeting the often competing demands of convenience and conservation. Disposals grind spoiled meats, corn cobs, fish bones, ice, and all those veggies kids reject, discharging them down the drain to a wastewater plant (unless you have a septic system). When food waste is processed at a wastewater plant, it’s even more eco-friendly than composting. Plus, garbage disposals immediately rid your home of waste, odors, and any critters they might attract.
According to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), solid waste landfills release harmful gases, composed of roughly 50 percent carbon dioxide and 50 percent methane, a potent greenhouse gas that traps heat in the atmosphere—a key contributor to climate change. In 2019, methane emissions from municipal solid waste were almost equivalent to greenhouse gas emissions from more than 21.6 million passenger vehicles driven for one year.
Garbage disposals efficiently eliminate waste and dispatch it for environmentally friendly processing. Many major U.S. wastewater plants use what’s called anaerobic digestion to turn the gas generated from food waste into biofuel. The remaining solids are turned into fertilizer for farms. So if you’re considering installing or replacing a disposal but are concerned about the environmental impact, find out how your local sewage treatment plant processes the town’s wastewater.
A February 2020 nationally representative CR survey of 1,000 U.S. adults shows that just over half of Americans live in homes with a garbage disposal, and of those who do have one, more than 60 percent said their disposal was already installed when they moved in. According to the Association of Home Appliance Manufacturers, these appliances last about 11 years, so if yours came with the place, depending on how long you’ve lived there, it could soon be time to look for a new one.
Your disposal might be kaput if you notice it leaking, taking longer to grind, making louder-than-usual noises, or requiring a reset often. (The reset button is like a circuit breaker that needs to be reset after the disposal shuts off, typically because of a strain on the motor.) In fact, before you call the plumber—or throw down hundreds of dollars on a new grinder—simply reset the disposal by pressing the small (usually red) button on the bottom or lower backside of the unit. If this doesn’t work, check the circuit breaker or fuse to make sure it is not tripped. If that doesn’t work? It may be time to go shopping.
Here, we’ll cover everything you need to know about buying a garbage disposal, whether you’re looking to replace the one you have or you’re starting from scratch. Our ratings of 30-plus lab-tested disposals will make the process even more seamless and help you make the best choice, depending on your situation and particular needs.
A common misconception is that a garbage disposal works similar to a standard bin or composting unit. However, the reality is far different. An InSinkErator garbage disposal breaks food waste down into very fine particles, almost liquifying them so that they can be flushed through your plumbing.
How We Test Garbage Disposals
Consumer Reports tests garbage disposals on a number of factors. For our speed test, we grind pieces of beef rib bones for 1 minute with cold running water, then measure how much food is left in the disposal. The more food that’s left, the longer it takes to grind and the lower the score.
To see how well the disposals grind food, we toss a mix of bones and raw vegetable scraps into each model and run the resulting fragments through four different-sized sieves to gauge fineness. A garbage disposal that garners an Excellent rating turns out food particles fine enough to slip through most of the sieves. If bigger bits are left over, there’s a greater chance the kitchen sink drain will clog—and that model will receive a lower score in this test.
For noise, we measure the decibels emitted while the disposals grind a mix of bones and vegetables. In general, we find that the quieter models are heavier because they have more insulation. For details on how each model we test performs, see our garbage disposal ratings.
Before You Buy a Garbage Disposal
Before choosing a model, answer these three questions.
Are my pipes up to the task? Food debris might not present a problem in a newer home with slippery plastic drainpipes, but clog risks go up substantially if you have rugged old cast-iron drainpipes. Polyvinyl chloride (PVC) piping became more commonplace in homes built after the mid-1970s. One general rule of thumb: If your pipes already clog fairly often, a disposal might not be for you.
Is my septic tank big enough? Disposal manufacturers insist their products are safe to use with septic systems, but some plumbers are equally adamant that they are not. The truth probably lies somewhere between and may depend on the age, type, and size of your system. You may need to size up your tank to accommodate food waste and pump it more often (once a year instead of the recommended three- to five-year intervals) or limit your garbage disposal use. If you have a septic system and want to install a disposal, check first with your local septic system inspector.
Is there room under the sink? Once you’re sure your plumbing can handle it, measure under the sink to make sure you have room for a disposal. The appliance attaches directly to the underside of your sink’s drain opening. There is no standard size for garbage disposals—the models we tested were 10 to 15 inches high, 5 to 9 inches wide, and 6 to 13 inches deep. Generally, the more sound insulation a unit has, the bigger it is.
Best InSinkErator GARBAGE DISPOSAL! Can they handle our test?? – Twin Plumbing
FAQ
Is an InSinkErator the same as a garbage disposal?
Do I need a special sink for an InSinkErator?
What are the two types of garbage disposals?
What is the point of InSinkErator?
What is the difference between an InSinkErator and a garbage disposal?
The main difference between an InSinkErator and a garbage disposal is that an InSinkErator has a built-in hot water dispenser, allowing it to offer an additional level of convenience. Furthermore, an InSinkErator is much quieter than a traditional garbage disposal, making it preferable for those who want to minimize noise when grinding food waste.
Are insinkerators better than disposers?
Additionally, Insinkerators are designed to be long-lasting, so they last longer than your average disposer, which reduces the amount of waste in landfills. Finally, Insinkerators contain fewer parts than some other disposers, so they require fewer resources to create in the first place.
How does a garbage disposal work?
It sits conveniently above the kitchen sink and is used to effectively dispose organic waste by grinding it into small pieces and flushing it down the drain. A garbage disposal is a device installed underneath a kitchen sink to grind food waste down into small pieces and flush it through a sewer system or septic tank.