I wanted to share some of what I've learned about disposals over the years. Some of you may remember that I've been a plumber for more than 30 years (closing in on 34 or so). When I started out, it seemed like all I ever saw was Insinkerators. I saw the occasional Waste King, but I wasn't impressed. Even then, it seemed like there were only two disposal manufacturers, ISE (or their parent company), and Waste King. GE, Whirlaway, and Waste King obviously came off of the same assembly line, and ISE, Kenmore, and many others also clearly were very similar. I've had a number of Insinkerators, but the last one I had was a 333 (not 333SS), and I was very disappointed in its relatively short life, less than 5 years. When I replaced it, alternatives were hard to find locally (this is over 10 years ago), but I found a GE at a fairly reasonable price. Fast forward to today, that GE has lasted more than 10 years, grinding up everything I put in it without complaint. We are hard on disposals. The instructions say that you can grind bones, so we grind bones. Nothing huge, but any chicken bone is fair game, as well as small beef and pork bones.
A few years ago, I noticed that Costco was selling a nice looking Waste King with 3/4 or 1 horsepower for under $200 with, IIRC, a 10-year in-home service warranty. ISE can't touch that. So, when my disposer broke recently, I checked Costco and they had an American Standard ASD-1250 1-1/4 horsepower disposal for $99. Not sure how they do that, and this one comes with a 10-year warranty, anti-microbial innards to keep odors down, and a bunch of other cool features. I bought it. If I had been a little more patient, I could have ordered a Waste King 8000 which is probably the same unit but has a 20-year in-home replacement warranty. But I wasn't patient. Also, the American Standard has a larger throat than the Waste King 8000, and a metal sink mount that I prefer over the plastic one. To be fair, there is a Waste King with the metal mount, but it's a little harder to find.
I personally wouldn't recommend an Insinkerator or any of the disposals made by them. I don't think they're bad, I just think they're overpriced. I've had several, and none of them lasted like that GE, which, BTW, was a 1/2 horse model.
Insinkerator, Kenmore, Whirlpool, KitchenAid, Maytag, Emerson and many others are made by Emerson (I think Emerson is the parent company). Waste King, Titan, American Standard, Whirlaway, GE, and many others come from the parent company of Waste King. I haven't researched Moen, a relative newcomer to the market.
A few years ago, I noticed that Costco was selling a nice looking Waste King with 3/4 or 1 horsepower for under $200 with, IIRC, a 10-year in-home service warranty. ISE can't touch that. So, when my disposer broke recently, I checked Costco and they had an American Standard ASD-1250 1-1/4 horsepower disposal for $99. Not sure how they do that, and this one comes with a 10-year warranty, anti-microbial innards to keep odors down, and a bunch of other cool features. I bought it. If I had been a little more patient, I could have ordered a Waste King 8000 which is probably the same unit but has a 20-year in-home replacement warranty. But I wasn't patient. Also, the American Standard has a larger throat than the Waste King 8000, and a metal sink mount that I prefer over the plastic one. To be fair, there is a Waste King with the metal mount, but it's a little harder to find.
I personally wouldn't recommend an Insinkerator or any of the disposals made by them. I don't think they're bad, I just think they're overpriced. I've had several, and none of them lasted like that GE, which, BTW, was a 1/2 horse model.
Insinkerator, Kenmore, Whirlpool, KitchenAid, Maytag, Emerson and many others are made by Emerson (I think Emerson is the parent company). Waste King, Titan, American Standard, Whirlaway, GE, and many others come from the parent company of Waste King. I haven't researched Moen, a relative newcomer to the market.
