Having just gotten off the phone with Hafele, I can assure you that they do not specify that the pedal can work with any system. I first installed this about 7 years ago when we did our kitchen remodel. The pedal worked GREAT until last summer. A little plastic piece snapped off one morning and the magnet would not longer engage. After several phone calls I was told that I had to purchase an entirely new foot pedal unit (and they now looked a bit different than what I originally had). Fast forward six months, and today I had the same thing happen (same plastic piece snapped out). Hafele has kindly offered to replace the foot pedal under warranty but has warned me that this is only to be used with specific pullouts (mine is not one of them) and that I cannot expect it to work with a generic (non-Hafele) trash cabinet. The next time this happens, I will not be given a replacement. He said he was surprised it had lasted so long the first time. At this rate, the trash pedals are going to run about $150-$200 a year. I'm going to be looking for another solution, I think. After all this time, I'm surprised there are not more options on the market. Has anyone else out there had their pedal break like mine?

I've had my haefele foot pedal on the trash drawer for 4 1/2+ years now. It took me a while to get used to using the pedal so I used the pull a bunch of times at the beginning. And yes, guests usually just use the pull too. I've not yet had a problem (knock on wood). I do think that using the pedal is preferrable. I've read that comment about it being bad to use the pull here several times, but I think that would only really hurt it if you did it habitually as opposed to occasionally when guests do it. Tam, I would try to get your family to use it. I'm not sure how tight you have the bungee cord attached, but my drawer doesn't come bounding out with any great force. It opens to about half way so that the trash can is fully exposed and the back recycle bin is only about an inch exposed. I often stand in front of it deliberatly as it is opening so that it hits my leg, so I can throw something away without looking, and it just gently taps my leg. If I want to get out of the way as it's opening, it's not like I have to quickly leap away to avoid getting hit. It seems like your daughter could learn to get out of the way, I think.

We also have much more recycles than trash. So I need a larger bin for recycle, and a small one for trash. I like the idea of keeping the trash smaller because it will get emptied more often too. I want to keep the pull out narrow so not to give up much cabinet space. So the trick is to find 2 trash can that are narrow, and together take up about 24" depth. The double bins I saw on Rev-a-shelf were all at least 12 - 15" wide, and much less than 24" deep. Also they are much shorter than under counter height, so not an efficient use of space. The photo from Judydel looks closest to what I want. What other brands should I look at? We also started composting recently. Right now I just use an old bread bag to collect stuff during the day, and then dump it in the compost bin after dinner clean-up. My BFF was composting years before it was fashionable. She didn't even have a disposal. She keep a small pretty ceramic pot w/lid on her counter next to the sink. She lined it with a bread bag, and collected her veggie scraps there. Every other day she would dump the contents into the compost pile. So I plan on getting a "compost pot" for my counter too.

As far as I know Jbrazmania, no one has managed to figure out a way to use it with inset doors...framed, yes, but inset...not yet anyway! For those interested, the Häfele foot pedals are designed for frameless cabinets. However, our own MeToo2 figured out a way to use them w/framed cabinets. See below for MeToo2's instructions and links to pictures in the Gallery: ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ From the "Pull Out Trash" thread started by ColdTropics on Fri, Jul 20, 07 at 2:43 Posted by metoo2 (My Page) on Wed, Aug 15, 07 at 19:27 Front View when cabinet is shut: Hafele Foot Pedal Door Opener view when door is shut. Face frame cabinets-full overlay. .....http://photos.gardenweb.com/home/galleries/2007/08/pull_out_trash_foot_pedal_fron.html?cat=kitchens View of foot pedal when cabinet is open. Keep in mind this view will be hidden when trash cans are in the cabinet: Hafele foot pedal door opener. Portion of the foot pedal attached to face frame bottom. .....http://photos.gardenweb.com/home/galleries/2007/08/pull_out_trash_foot_pedal_door.html?cat=kitchens Metal plate mounted on bottom back of door. This is the plate that is 3.5" tall--to deal with a face framed cabinet: Hafele foot pedal door opener. This is the metal plate that must be mounted on the inside bottom of the door. I had to make a plate 3.5" tall in order to work with a face frame cabinet. .....http://photos.gardenweb.com/home/galleries/2007/08/pull_out_trash_foot_pedal_meta.html?cat=kitchens Finally, looking at the bottom of the cabinet. Glued a scrap of wood to the back of the face frame. Hafele foot pedal door opener. View from the front bottom of the cabinet. Note that I glued a scrap piece of wood to the back of the face frame to reinforce the installation. .....http://photos.gardenweb.com/home/galleries/2007/08/pull_out_trash_foot_pedal_unde.html?cat=kitchens Posted by metoo2 (My Page) on Wed, Aug 15, 07 at 20:01 muscat: The rails are always attached to the door-regardless of whether your trash cans hang from a rail, or your trash cans sit on a base. In your picture, the cans sit on a base. I believe that my modifications will also work with your situation (cans sitting on a base). However, you will need to make one minor modification that I did not do. That modification has to do with the elastic cords that come with the pedal. Elastic cords (ie, bungee cords) pull the door open when the pedal is kicked. You would have to alter where the front of the cords are mounted inside the cabinet. Very easy to do. Earlier posts on this thread refer to a version of the Hafele pedal for trash cans which sit on a base. I have not seen this product. I suspect they use the identical pedal, but altered the instructions relative to the location where to mount the elastic cords. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Hafele foot pedal (502.15.220) for bins hanging from rails (see bottom of page): .....