We’re really pleased with this unit. It does cost a little more than the basic models but we think it’s worth it. I’m pretty handy but I’ve never replaced a disposal before; which took about an hour including the drain and mounting bracket thing(?). It came with almost everything I needed to do a “replacement”, except the power cord which I ordered at the same time. Also, you’ll need plumber’s putty and some electrical tape. Start with disconnecting the power and plumbing from your existing unit, wrap a plastic bag around the existing unit, twist the mounting lock ring thing to disconnect the existing unit, keep everything close by for now. Unscrew, and remove the drain mounting bracket, remove/clean old putty… and then follow the directions and hopefully it will be as easy for you as it was for me – just take your time, there’s no rush.

And in a good way!

After an unfortunate encounter with fish-tank gravel, our last Insinkerator needed replacing. It was only 7 years old, but was very loud. I chose this one hoping it would be a smidge quieter.

You know that horrible ‘dead’ noise your old disposal made when it’s jammed? That’s the sound this one makes when it’s working! How great is that? It handles everything from egg shells to bread to chicken so fast, and is silent.

The new flange for the sink is kind of ridgid – I really have to go after stuff with a knife to get it down the hole – but that’s okay. It will soften up over time.

We ended up being able to use the power cord from the old Insinkerator unit. This new one also fit into the existing sink mount, so we didn’t have to bother with putty or anything like that. The pipe fitting going into the disposal was at a different angle. We ended up cutting a few inches off of the pipe and it worked out just fine.

Delivery was, as always, a breeze. I’m so glad I didn’t have to schlep to Home Depot and deal with that whole ordeal. Yeah, we didn’t have a disposal for two days, but eh.

All in all, a great product, a good price, and easy installation. Love it!

I replaced the 5 yr old Kitchen Aid 1/2 HP noisy junk that leaked through the main sealing and spoiled my kitchen cabinet floor (have to replace it also) – Installed a Evolution Compact 3.4 HP one

This one was much cheaper in Lowes/Home Depot – don’t know why it is atleast 20-30 bucks more here.. it is around $159 a piece for the Compact model.

It was a diy project and must be straight forward if you have a diy flair in you.

Works a lot quiter and let me see how it goes..

Bought at Home Depot for $169.00 this morning. In my installation, it was a two-man job. I needed someone to hold the flange down while installing the snap ring. I then found out that my hands and fingers were to big to work the snap ring in place. My brother had slimmer hands and snapped it into place in about 10 seconds. I had tried for about 1 hour to do it by myself and the flange kept being pushed up and out of place. Second difficulty was holding the unit up with one hand and twisting the collar and tabs in to place. My brother could not do it after 20 minutes of failed attempts, so we switched and I was able to do it in a couple of minutes. I think some folks will have to jack up the unit with a turned over bucket or something and shim it up into place before attempting to get the collar locked.

Took about two hours total. But the effort was worth it. This unit is whisper quiet. I then tested the two tough foods, celery and then potatoes. It chopped them up as fine as the video shows on the insinkerator.com site.

My last insinkerator lasted 16 years. It literally rusted out on this inside and the motor never quit. I believe this unit is going to lasta long time and looks far superior inside and out. With a 4 year in-home warranty to boot, I don’t think you could go wrong with this one.

I am the sort who reads consumer reports and online product reviews before making a decision — even about a garbage disposal. This seems to be a fine product. I had read someone who said it was so quite they thought it wasn’t working. I thought, “yea, right.” But then the same thing happened to me. When I first turned it on (without waste the first time), I had to look to be certain it was even functioning. One quick caution — I also had to use larger wire nuts than the ones that came with the electrical connection kit. Also, there seem to be two versions of the evolution disposal out there. I have seen both a 5/8 hp and a 3/4 hp by the same name at two major competing home supply retailers. I have the 3/4hp from Amazon. While I suspect they are both fine, you will want to be aware of what you are getting.

Our 9+ year old builder-installed GE 1/3HP disposall had finally bit the bucket. The inside had corroded and one of the teeth had broken off and blew into a million pieces. While it worked, it was time for a replacement.
My wife and I had succumbed to ISE advertising and immediately decided to get an ISE. Well, almost. I actually did a bit of research but when it came down to it, there isn’t much in the way of disposal review. Anyway, off to Home Depot.
One thing I did know was that I wasn’t going to $299 for a garbage disposal. Once in the store I realized that the Compact was only a few ounces shy in capacity then the Evolution Essential. So, I bought it for $159.
I am a pretty handy guy with LOTSA tools so removal of the old and installation of the new didn’t faze me at all. But I must warn you, if you are removing an old disposal like I was, you probably won’t be saving any hardware except the drain pipes. This means you’ll need to add some plumbers putty to your cart*. Also, take a look and see if your disposal uses a plug or is hardwired directly into your panel. Most are hardwired. If it isn’t, you can use the one from your old disposal for your new…unless it is in bad shape.
*The Tools and Materials list is as follows (and doesn’t match the outside of the box): cable connector, plumbers putty, wire nuts, hammer, straight & cross tip screw drivers, channel locks, putty knife, hack saw.
I reused everything except the GE flange so the only thing I needed was the putty. Your installation may be different.
The instructions are well laid out and very easy to follow. The only issue I had was the metal snap ring. It wasn’t really an issue, but I don’t think that I could have inserted it without my wife holding the flange down from the top. Wiring the new was the reverse of dismantling the old. Again, straight forward and simple. Once I attached the unit and snapped it into place it felt loose. Then I realized that it was the rubber mounting and it was supposed to be like this. This adds to the quietness (like how equipment is installed on a submarine with rubber mounting gaskets) and allows the unit to `bounce’ a bit.
After assuring that I had a good seal…it was time for the moment of truth. WOW was this thing quiet…really quite. I couldn’t image that the 299 model was actually quieter than this. I had the same giddy smile as when I tried my new (replacement) dishwasher for the first time. You could actually have a conversation in the kitchen while using it.
While I haven’t had the opportunity to grind, say, potato or carrot peals or month-old stuff from the back of the fridge, it’s been great.
I am sure that this will be a disposal that will be with us for years to come!

I bought this based on the recommendations and reviews here–just installed it last night. It is fabulous! The first time I turned it on I thought it had gotten jammed or something because it was SO QUIET! I turned it off, got out the jam wrench and hit the restart button–only to find out it had been running! You guys warned me, but it is SO TRUE! After the first initial start, you have to listen to hear it run!

Couple of things on installation–
I did this all by myself (female), all on my own, had never done this before! It took about three hours–I also installed the new flange, even though not needed, because it was so pretty (probably added an hour to the job). Use the trick shown in the directions to keep the flange still while you install everything else–completely worth the extra time. Just read the directions–it’s easy. And don’t forget to pop out the dishwasher plug if you have one.

One other trick–I had a difficult time given the angle, weight, etc., holding the disposal in place and twisting it onto the mount. Tried a couple of things to support the weight and then got my CAR JACK (!!!!) out of the back of my car. I balanced the disposal on the jack and simply hoisted it in place, then twisted it onto the mount! VOILA! Easy as pie!

InSinkErator Compact Evolution Household Food Waste Disposer, Gray

Pros:

- These current generation InSinkErators could be the quietest and most vibration-free disposers on the market. The case itself is insulated; the sink-drain connector assembly’s metal parts are rubber cushioned; plus the discharge pipe flange is rubber. These anti-vibration innovations work. When no water or waste is in the unit, all you hear is a mild hum. If it was much quieter and you wouldn’t know it was on.

- It performs as you would expect for an excellent disposer. Nothing we’ve fed it has failed to be ground-up and flushed away.

- 3/4 HP has been more than enough to get the job done.

- It’s the smallest of the high-end disposers, giving more room to store things in your sink-base cabinet, and more room for your body when working on under-sink plumbing.

- It’s good looking and looks expensive.

- About as easy to install as possible, for a disposer. Have a small container of plumber’s putty on hand before you begin. You might also need some medium sized wire nuts.

- A four-year in-home warranty confirms the manufacturer’s confidence in their product’s reliability.

Other

- A common method of electrifying the unit is to hard-wire it by connecting a Romex cable directly to the disposer (which is why no cord is provided). Alternatively, install the InSinkErator Power Cord Kit #CRD-00, and plug the cord into a receptacle in the sink-base cabinet. If there is no receptacle there, feed the existing Romex into a utility box and install one; turn the power off first. Use a receptacle tester (sold by Amazon) to verify proper wiring. If you have the skills to hard-wire a disposer, you have the skills to install a surface-mounted box and receptacle.

-If you are connecting a dishwasher to the disposer, you might need the InSinkErator Dishwasher Connector Kit #DWC-00. Some dishwashers, such as Kitchen Aid models, do not need the kit, because their discharge hose connects without modification to an InSinkErator.

Cons:

- InSinkErator should design the unit so a special three-prong cord [they could sell] plugs and twist-locks into the bottom of the disposer, while still allowing for a hard-wired option. That would eliminate all wiring directly to the disposer, preventing end-user mis-wiring of the cord.

Summary:

This disposer is obviously the result of many generations of InSinkErator improvements; a 5-star appliance.

I can’t say enough about how happy I am with the Evolution Compact disposal from InSinkErator. I had a fairly high end Kenmore disposal for about a year. It did a good job but was noisy. Then this year there was a fire in my condo unit that resulted in several rooms having to be rebuilt, one of which was the kitchen. When working up the remodeling details, I ran across the Evolution Compact at Home Depot. I wasn’t up-to-speed on this new series so I went home and read up as much material as I could find. In short, though I didn’t really need a new disposal, I decided to give it a try to see if I could reduce the noise in the kitchen. I am SO GLAD I spent the money for the Evolution Compact. It is significantly quieter than the Kenmore. My sink doesn’t rattle like it’s going to come loose from the countertop when the disposal is running. Best of all, the Evolution quickly gets rid of anything I’ve thrown at it, all they while doing it quietly. One thing that attracted my eye in the store was the blue color of unit. It stood out from all the blacks and greys around. While appearence in not necessarily something you look for in a garbage disposal, it does project the image of a high-quality, high-end appliance, something that can be a positive if for any reason you decide to sell your home. I highly recommend the Evolution Series to anyone looking for a new garbage disposal. I agree with a prior reviewer, there are other places where you find the Evolution Compact for $159 so it’s worth shopping around unless you live in an area where you have to make a long drive to get to a home center like Lowes or Home Depot.

After reading the reviews here, I went to Home Depot this morning and bought the Compact. I planned to install it myself, and did not buy any extras. I could always run back to the store if I needed. The hardest part of the entire installation was getting the old disposal out. I think it was the original installed by the builder 20 years ago. Once I got the old one out, the rest was a breeze. The instructions covered everything well enough that I had no problems, inspite of my wife’s questions about whether or not I had ever done something like this before. I did not have to move or replace any plumbing. I did need my wife to push down on the sink collar while I attached the rings underneath. Everything went together well, no leaks. I even took the tension clamp off the old one and used to secure the power cord coming from the wall.

The moment of truth came: I flipped the switch and I was stunned! The box said 40% quiter than the Badger line, but this thing is 80% quieter than what it replaced! I was wowed! Called the wife in to see my handiwork, and she was wowed! (I’m her hero!) With the old disposal, you could not watch TV or have a conversation in that end of the house when it ran. Now, you can stand at the sink and whisper while it runs. There is a low hum, and a very mild vibration.

InSinkErator makes a much larger 1 h.p. unit with a stainless steel case that claims to be 60% quiter than the Badger line. I would be afraid you couldn’t tell it was on if it was that much quiter than the Compact. This unit is the best buy around, and would be worth it even at a higher price (but don’t let InSinkErator get wind of that). I highly recommend the Compact, and in fact, I would recommend that you not get any other brand!