Over on Rosemarie’s Garden blog she has a post about the ‘new’ electric composter intended to be used in/under/around the kitchen. She outlined several reasons why she dislikes the idea. Given that I have one of those on my ‘gift list‘ I thought I’d respond with the reasons why I like the idea of an electric composter and counter-point her points.
1. Price is too high ($400) — They have a cheaper one..but even still it’s about $100 out of my “don’t think..just buy” price range for a gadget. Although, compared to buying compost from the big box store $300-$400 doesn’t sound so bad after a couple years of use.
2. Too little compost — They claim one batch every 2 weeks. They don’t say exactly how big a “batch” is but from the pictures and size of the device it looks like somewhere in the range of one square foot of compost per batch. If you compare that to my outdoor composter which holds 30 cubic feet per bin (I have a double bin). Thus the indoor composter needs 60 weeks to kick out 30 cubic feet of compost. Given that a normal outdoor composter like mine will take roughly a year to kick out high quality compost (yes, the compost will be usable before then, but it won’t be of the same ‘texture/size/etc’ as the indoor composter) they are roughly equal in time to use. Rosemarry says she gets compost in roughly 3 months. That’s down right amazing compared to me. I’m running in the 1 year to 2 year range for good quality compost out of my bins!
Even if the above info is not true (it’s true in my experience, using my equipment)….I would plan to use the indoor composter as my “pre composter”. Instead of collecting scraps in the kitchen into a bucket and then walking outside to dump them in the composter…a major pain in the backside and one that has made my wife and I gag more than once…I would chuck the scraps into the indoor composter and when it’s done I put the ‘compost’ in my big compost bin to help it along breaking down the big items like leaves and garden waste.
2a. Compost should be done outside because you need dirt living animals to help. — My double bin composter has a floor, so composting indoor or out are the same from that perspective. There are a ton of different ways of composting and devote followers of each (just google for examples). But composting on bare ground is not the only option. Some would argue that composting on dirt leaches the nutrients..but we won’t get into that argument here 
3. No dairy or meat in composters! — Not always true. Only in cold composting is dairy and meat a bad idea for various reasons including smell, bacteria, etc. Since the internal composter is a ‘hot’ composter the admonition to not put ‘smell’, ‘fatty’, ‘potentially bacteria carrying’ items in the composter does not apply. Close your eyes if putting such things in a composter makes your hair stand on end…you won’t like the next part….this composter can even take dog/cat feeces!
4. Electricity use is not Green — It’s actually not that much electricity. They claim “Energy use is just 5 kwh / month, or about $0.50/month”. Is chucking the food into a pile in the backyard more green than putting it in the trash? Sure…but so is spending 5kwh/m of electricty instead of sending it to a landfill. Being green is all about trade offs. If you want to find some place to really cut electricity, find all the electronics in your house that draw power when they are off (known as vampires). Nearly all devices do it (tv, dvd player, computer, etc) and some can far exceed the 5kwh estimates for running this device.
I think the major angst from “green gardeners” about an eletric composter is that it doesn’t “feel” green. Or it’s less “green” than another method. Which is absolutely true! Only issue is that this device was never intended for “green gardeners” who are already composting. It’s intended to bridge the gap between people who would never consider an outdoor composter and those who send everything to a landfill. Seen in light of that market, this product is awesome! Assuming it works of course..I’ve never used one I tried to get a demo unit from them but they don’t offer such things.
Oh yeah..this reminded me of the podcasts I did on the subject a few years ago:
Episode 6 – Compost. Gardeners Black Gold
Episode 7 – Getting Started Managing a Compost Pile
Hey there neighbor! I’m glad you liked my post and wrote this rebuttal, I’m glad when people feel okay to disagree. Just curious, do you have a conventional compost now?
I can see the appeal and usefulness of these.
An indoor red worm composter is another option, and it’s so much cheaper – worms and a plastic container with a lid are all it takes.
I do. I have the same black version you have and I just built a two-bin system in late fall 2008. A picture of it was posted several posts back.
That’s an option I’ve thought about as well. My kids love worms. They are my worm hunters when I’m out in the garden. I yell WORM SIGN like in the movie Dune and they come running to look at them and collect a couple for their worm farm made out of a small plastic tub.