Old garbage disposal question please help.

linuxguy0481 · 07-16-2009, 07:55 AM

My mother in law is in the process of a kitchen remodel. She is mostly done. with my help and my wife's help we have done extensive reviews on the appliances from scouring different websites and also being a member of Consumer Reports helps too.

My one question is on the garbage disposal. I ask this for myself becoming one day a future homeowner and partly on my mother in law.
I think my mother in law said to me when they moved in she had to replace the original garbage disposal which was 15 years ago. That is when they moved in. The house was built in 1978.

I asked her if she bought a new garbage disposal. She said no. She will just reuse the same old one.

I'm concerned about this because I think she will be better off with a new one. Maybe that's just me. The one she has right now is pretty loud. It runs good but it is pretty loud.

I know there is a new technology is garbage dispoals but not sure exactly what is new. So far looking at Home Depot's website the new ones are quieter and more efficient seems like.

I hope getting a new garbage disposal is worth it and hopefully I can change her mind.

ARI001 · 07-16-2009, 08:44 AM

Yes the new ones are more energy efficient and have all sorts of bells and whistles depending on where you get them. A new disposal is a relatively minor cost and if it was my house I would replace a 15 year old disposal while remodeling in a heartbeat. Just so you know though, if you are on a septic tank you are not supposed to use a garbage disposal.

RippySkippy · 07-16-2009, 09:01 AM

Of the appliances in the kitchen, the one I'm least worried about efficiency is the garbage disposal. Let's face it, it's only on for a few seconds at a time...so the consumption of electricity even at it's worse would be minimal.

Now the area that is important in my opinion, is the quietness of the unit. Generally when you step up in motor size, they also have added insulation, which makes them less noisy. It's not just the insulation though that affects the noise, the thickness/material/depth all affect the sound transmission. A feature that could be of benefit is an auto-reversing function if one may not have what's necessary if it were to become plugged.

As ARI started to comment on, there's a lot of chatter about not using a disposal while on a septic tank. But, unless you chuck everything down the drain, it will not be a problem, in fact in many areas you have to pump a septic tank at a regular interval anyway and the chance of you filling the tank up between clean out is very small. Don't let the fat run down the drain...septic or not...it just asking for trouble.

vsheetz · 07-26-2009, 11:03 PM

yes, i would replace a 15 year old disposal during your remodel, unless the budget is sooo tight...