I think I'm in the minority, but I love my trash compactor. I wouldn't be without one.

The pros:
- no trash falling out of the pullout
- one bag of trash per week for a family of 5

The cons:
- the one bag can be a bit heavy

When we remodeled, I moved the old one to my pantry for recyclables. I got a new one with an air filter for the kitchen.

As for reliability, we've had no problem either with the old one which is of unknown age (I've used for 7 years) or the new one.

Anita

I agree with everything Anita mentioned. I love that we have a family of 6 and only empty our kitchen garbage 1x/week. Ours is 15 years old and have never had a problem with it. Ours is very dirty (not smelly, but very yucky inside) because it has been used for everything (no garbage disposal here). We didn't put one in our new house, but am afraid that I will really miss it and regret my decision not to put it in.

I think if I was in your situation, I would definitely put one in. I live in the city, have weekly garbage and recycling service, and recycling is very much encouraged. So, I'm turning the space where the trash compactor is currently into a recycling pullout. Mine has to be 30 years old (an old GE that came with the house, and it *looks* like it's 30 years old). It still works - we just don't use it.

We have a family of 7 and the trash compactor is one the best decisions we made. We have a disposal and have been very good about not throwing any food items in the compactor. Anything messy just gets flipped upside down when it gets tossed in the compactor so the "smushy" mechanism doesn't get grungy. The kids (ages 11-18) easily adapted to these little "rules". We do recycle as much as possible and end up only have to empty the compactor trash every 1-2 weeks. I wouldn't hesitate for a moment! AND my GE Monogram compactor cost less than a cabinet with a trash pull-out would have in that same spot!

In your situation, it totally makes sense. I might put it in the garage or utility room, but you can use it!

Mine (old kitchen) broke a few weeks ago. It was put in in '83 so at least the old ones are durable.

You can keep the crusher clean by just putting in a piece of paper or a plastic grocery bag if you have to crush yucky wet stuff.
Also, a "contractor" strength garbage bag works just as well as a pricier compactor bag, so use the "contractor" ones.
I am only aware of one brand with an actual fan - KitchenAid. The others I researched have air fresheners, but no fan. I have had three - a very old one that finally died after a minimum of 15 years (came with our old house) a replacement for that one and the new one we put in our new house.
If anyone told me I would spend almost a thousand dollars on a trash can - not once, but twice - I'd have thought they were nuts! Having the compactor in our old house convinced me that for me it's a non-negotiable kitchen appliance.

Couldn't wait to get one. After 2 uses... I use mine to store the bags that come with it. Hated the smell. Too heavy for us to dispose of when it was full. Still works though.

Wouldn't be without one. I too have rules. We don't put food scraps in it at all unless the following day is garbage day and I rinse out food containers like yogurt or empty ice cream cartons before going in. We only empty it once a week. Love it...ours has a fan..KitchenAid

I sure appreciate all the feedback. Here is another bit of information.
My husband hates to rinse. He also hates odors. Does this make a difference?
Thanks!

Welllllllll..yeah that might make a difference. If you really want to limit your trash, try to get husband into composting. (I only say to make HIM do it because he's too lazy to rinse. Not because it's a "guy job".)

Because we have to separate recyclables from regular trash here, we used the compactor for recyclables. They smell less, so it's not as awful if they don't get taken out as much. (We did try it with non-recyclables first, but ya know, some stuff just NEEDS to go out more often!) Our machine didn't compact well enough for the bags to be too heavy, but if that's a concern, you can always switch bags before it gets too full.

I wouldn't be without one either. As others have said, we don't put any food scraps in it, so odors aren't a problem. We recycle everything we can, and with just the two of us, I only change the bag about once every 3 months. I put it on "super compact" most nights before I go to bed.

I've had three different brands in our last three houses. My favorite was Kenmore. Whirlpool my least fav.

You are going to be in the boonies so you will likely be on septic. Will you be willing to compost year round, so that you don't throw much food waste into your compactor? For me, that would determine whether I would get a compactor or not. Because organic food waste will smell after a week. At least mine did, when I had a compactor.

I hated my compactor because:
- It was grungy
- It smelled
- I hated cleaning it
- I always had to think twice about what I threw in there. Chicken skin, first day of the new bag? I'd walk it out to the garage. Watermelon rinds? NEVER put those in a compactor-- they will liquify and run out the bag on the bottom, creating a disgusting mess, so out they'd go to the bins in the garage. Oil from a tin of sardines? It would stink to high heavens, I'd walk it out to the bins in the garage. What is the point of having a trash can if you can't throw ALL of your trash into it?

I have a family of 7, and have not missed having the compactor. After recycling, we are able to fit all of our trash in 1 or 2 bins. My kitchen is not far from my garage and I don't mind emptying the trash every couple of days-- it keeps odors down, too.

You can always put a compactor in the garage if you find that the volume of trash you are generating is a problem.

My compactor was reliable until the day it was disconnected, but at that point it was a biohazard.

I have to say again, I put it all in! Grungy, smelly yuck! Even used to do poopy diapers. With our KitchenAid as long as the fan works and the charcoal filter is good, there is no smell.
As long as you take a little time and put something dry and relatively thick on top before you crush, your crusher does not get yucky.
I do recycle, so milk containers, glass, cardboard, plastic, metal all go somewhere else. But - plastic/Styrofoam meat packaging goes in the compactor. The left-over stuff from when I buy a chicken to roast or meat trimmings go in the compactor. Vegetable trimmings - ditto. Plate scrapings, take out containers, you name it it's trash it goes in the compactor.
Never had a problem.

Okay, I admit that I rarely operated the fan on the compactor-- didn't like the white noise.