I would not ever be without my disposal. I do not like dealing with smelly trash or what ever you call it. When you sell, it will be a turn off to the new buyer if the sink set up does not accommodate a disposal. It would cost a great deal to rearrange it.

I use mine like your wife mentioned, for soups and more liquid stuff. And yes, it's a resale issue, I'd insist on having one, even tho I don't use it a lot.

I cannot think of a single reason not to install it, unless money is an extreme issue.

We did not put one back in after our remodel. They aren't really necessary. We compost just about everything that needs to be. Bones and other things that are not compostable go into the trash where they belong, not down the pipes smelling up the kitchen and clogging pipes. NancyLouise

We had a new sink installed and I hesitated having the disposal reinstalled. The only reason I did was because it was still in working condition (since we only run it once a week with NOTHING in it to keep it in working condition), and when you go to resell a house, it's expected in the kitchen. Otherwise, I would never own one. What doesn't go into the composter goes into the garbage.

As NancyLouise mentioned, people often misuse disposals, and according to our plumber, as well (which is good for his business). As an example, the people next door found out you can't stuff a loaf of bread down them, nor corn cobs!!!

-Grainlady

It's not the cost of the disposal but the cost of rearranging the sinks if it won't accommodate one. I would rather give up my dishwasher than my disposal. I have never understood people not using their disposal like the book said. The instructions included breaking up corn cobs and putting them down it. I did not go that far, nor did I put chicken legs in them because I always had to fish out the grizzle on the knees. I put almost everything down the disposal and never had a problem with that. If you just put soups and thin stuff down it save the $200 and put it down the toilet.

My first husband was a plumber and he said the most important thing to using a disposal is run it a short time, if running a lot of stuff down it, turn it off then back on so the stuff on the sides will fall down. Run the cold water a long time to get it out of the trap and into the sink line.

Our previous two homes had septic systems so we did not have a garbage disposal. It was not big deal and I did not miss that device.

Just because it's there doesn't mean you have to use it more. If it gets icky, run some ice cubes through it. That cleans it well. Don't have one here and don't think about it much, but used it a lot when I lived in an apartment where I didn't compost.

We give most bones and food that has been cooked with meat to our dog, and compost almost everything else, but the bits that accidentally fall in the sink or rinse off of plates not scraped too well (and then have to be fished back out) are enough to make me occasionally miss having one.

OTOH, no "hidden" silverware has been damaged here.

I agree that the toilet is a good alternative for chunky liquids you need to dispose of that you don't want to compost or feed to animals.