Like hest88, mine is an air switch. Press to turn on and off. In 3 months I haven't found a downside. It is so much more convenient. Before, I had to close the DW and reach clear across a counter to flip the switch. A friend says hers is one of her favorite features of her kitchen remodel. It was easy to install and not that expensive.

It is personal preference! But, here's my setup: To determine which side to put the SD & GD air switch with a single bowl sink, first, decide which side to put the SD. (1) If you have a soap bottle now, which side is it on? Most likely that's the side you're more comfortable w/having the SD & that's the side to use. (2) If you don't have a soap bottle now or you're not sure you have the bottle on the correct side for you, then imagine yourself washing your hands (go through the motions at the sink to make it more real!). Which side do you naturally want to go to to pump the soap? That's the side to use. For us, we put our left hand under the dispenser to collect the soap and use our right hands to adjust water temp. For us, it worked out better to have the SD on the left...so we put the GD switch on the right...even though our GD is in the left, large bowl. Once you've decided which side to put the SD: If you only have the 3 (faucet, SD, air switch), I recommend putting the airswitch on the opposite side of the faucet from the SD. If you also have an instant hot water, filtered water tap, or other (like side spray), then put the GD on either side...it's so low-profile that it's location is not much of an issue. HTH!

I agree with Lascatx's post. Definitely the Insinkerator Evolution Compact model over any Badger model. The warranty is much better, and the Evolution series is all stainless steel. You will get more trouble-free years out of it, it will grind better, faster and quieter. Whenever a plumber is complaining about disposal plumbing issues, it is always about the 1/2 hp (or less) models. I want to go one step further regarding your need to have more space under the sink. Have you already chosen your sink? With a 36" base for it, you have more options than most people. A good space-saver is a sink with an "offset drain". The offset drains are not in the center of the sink, but instead are towards the rear. By having the drain there, your plumbing is not in the center under your sink, and therefore allows more room for your garbage and other storage. You can find sinks with offset drains in various materials like stainless steel, silgranit, fireclay, etc. We chose the Silgranit Blancoprecis Super Single, which has the offset drain. We love the drain location, and we love the Silgranit material. But, if we'd been able to have a 36" base cabinet, we would have chosen the Silgranit Blancodiamond Super Single, which is the next bigger size, and has the drain in the rear corner, even cooler.

Before deciding on a batch feed disposer, you need to check one critical bit of plumbing configuration. Batch feed disposers are taller and therefore hang down lower under the sink than a typical switched (air-switch or wall-switch) disposer. Because of this, the drain outlet on the disposer is also lower. It is critical that the outlet on the disposer be higher than the drain line opening on the wall at the back of your cabinet. If it isn't, the disposer will not drain properly, and you will always have water sitting in the bottom of the grind chamber of your disposer. This will significantly shorten the life of any disposer and could result in rotting food debris remaining in the bottom of the disposer. CHECK YOUR DIMENSIONS CAREFULLY. Be sure that the drain outlet on the disposer will be above the height of the drain outlet on the back wall of your cabinet. I really like batch feed disposers, but if a batch feed disposer doesn't work because of your plumbing configuration, then you definitely want a disposer with a wall switch or an air switch. Having to deal with a switch under the sink is a minor nuisance, but over time, a major annoyance. You don't want to go there. Personally, I prefer a wall switch, but there are many people on this forum who swear by the air switch arrangement. Just keep in mind that an air switch means one more thing on your sink deck that you will need to wipe around as you clean up around the sink.