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[1 of 1 customers found this review helpful]
from Boulder, CO on 8/23/2008
This is the first trash compactor that I ever owned. I bought this Broan compactor after our local county commissioners passed a new ordinance requiring "Pay-as-you-throw" volume pricing for all trash collection. That was my financial motivation for investing in a trash compactor. I'd rather spend some extra money on a one-time purchase of a new appliance, instead of being nickel-and-dimed to death paying higher monthly fees (essentially an "eco-tax") to my county government. Prior to purchasing this compactor, we were typically generating close to 96 gallons of trash per week. Since we began using this product, we've pretty much been able to compress that volume down to around 13 gallons per week -- even though we generate exactly the same amount of trash ... and we DON'T use the recycle bins that the county forced on us.
Our typical use of the compactor is to collect the wastebaskets from around the house as they fill up, and just dump the contents into the compactor. The only exception to this is the kitchen wastebasket, which is where most of the food-related trash goes (e.g., frozen dinner containers, glass jars and bottles, takeout boxes, food scraps, etc). The contents of the kitchen wastebasket gets segregated into a separate 13-gallon plastic trash bag, which gets emptied directly into our trash can in the garage as needed (i.e., whenever it either fills up, or the smell gets too bad). We don't put any food trash into the compactor; since we don't want the smell to get out of control. But pretty much all of the non-food trash goes into the Broan trash compactor.
As the compactor fills up, we'll wait until the trash level gets near the top of the basket; and only then do we bother to turn it on to do a compaction cycle. On average, we probably do 1 to 2 compactions per day. At the end of a week, even though we keep filling the basket repeatedly with trash, the unit is still able to keep up with the volume; and we never need to empty the basket until it's time for the weekly trash pickup.
Actually, if we had to, I suspect that we could probably fit up to two weeks' worth of trash into the basket before we had to empty it; although I'd probably still empty the unit once a week just on general principle.
The only real down-side to owning a trash compactor is the cost of the bags, which are custom-made to fit the basket in the unit. If you buy the bags in small quantities every few weeks as you need them, they can be really expensive. However, if you shop around online and find a retailer who sells them in bulk, you can get the bag price down to a point where it's reasonable. I bought a supply of 120 bags, which works out to a little over a 2-year supply in my case. By buying in bulk like this, my average cost works out to a little less than $1 per bag. Even though I'm pretty sure that Broan still has a huge profit margin even at that price, at least I feel that the price is low enough to be acceptable.
All in all, this Broan compactor is a great product. We started using it in early July 2008; and we now have about 2 months experience with it. It's working perfectly! Not a single problem. I wish I had bought one of these units long ago.
from Black Mountain , NC on 7/30/2008
Our old, big trash compactor died right before we started our kitchen remodel. One of the things I didn't like about the old compactor is you couldn't clean the compartment really well. With this Broan compactor you can get the compartment out to clean it. Of course I also love the foot pedal opener, the side swing door to get the bag out and the fact that it matches my fridge. Its slim line also gained me 3 inches more cabinet space, Yeah! The only down side is the price of the compactor bags[...]. [...]
from Westlake Village, CA on 6/5/2008
We needed a small footprint trash compactor and the Broan 1052 really fit the bill. It doesn't run silently, but what compactor does? There hasn't been an item it wouldn't crush and it is a sharp unit.
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[1 of 1 customers found this review helpful]
from Clinton, IA on 4/29/2008
The product came as described and in perfect condition. It only took about 6 days to get the product. We love it and would not hesitate to purchase from this company again.
from Tacoma Wa on 3/24/2008
Works well and as advertised. Make sure its level so the drawer works properly with the foot pedal
[1 of 1 customers found this review helpful]
from South West on 3/20/2008
We had the same type slim line before it finally was not repairable after 12 years of hard use. It works well we cannot complain; smashing 1 week of trash into a single bag. It is the only 12 inch model with 5,000 lbs of crushing force!
[1 of 1 customers found this review helpful]
from Auburn, California on 3/18/2008
After being disgusted with the lack of service at a big box store I decided to order a microwave oven for over my stove and a trash compacter over the internet. I ordered through AJ Madison and both products arrived quickly and in great shape. The shipping charge was less than what the box store wanted to charge just to get the oven to their store. I have no complaints at all. [...]
from New Hampshire on 3/18/2008
Convenient and effecient
[3 of 3 customers found this review helpful]
from Pittsburgh, PA on 3/6/2008
Ah, the trash compactor. When we purchased our home 10 years ago, it had a compactor. We liked it. We did not know HOW MUCH we really liked it until we had 3 boys and the original one had become so noisy that it had to go. I removed the old one during some renovations in our kitchen. NOW we realized how much we like a compactor! It's the difference between taking the garbage out once a week vs. 3-4 times without it. With the addition of a bigger fridge, I only had room for a 12" compactor. Guess what? The 15" we had and this Broan 12" 1050 have the same capacity! (1.4 cu ft I believe)So far this new one is working just fine. It is much quieter than our old one. (but all compactors are still a little loud). Love the bag storage (old one did not have it). Love the foot pedal. We did not get the Stainless finish as we were used to a foot pedal to open the drawer. Glad we stayed with the foot pedal. Your hands are often both full in the kitchen. Get the foot pedal!It looks just fine and works as well as the last. I get a few small tears in the bag sides sometimes, but it’s expected. The opening front is great! (old one did not have that)The foot pedal is not as smooth as the last, but works fine.I read about people having issues with the drawer front not aligning properly (the V groove). I see what they are talking about, but this is a non issue. Read the directions folks! You simply must make sure the V goes where it’s supposed to. Very simple.I also read that some "nut" breaks on this model, but ours has been fine so far. Bags are a little pricey, but shop around, you can get them cheaper.[...]So far, it's a thumb's up!=)
from Carlisle, MA on 3/5/2008
This was a replacement for an 18 year old GE Monogram compactor which I believe was also made by Broan. The GE compactor ate a drive gear about every 3 years ([$]) so I'm hoping they've improved the design. The plastic bags are a HUGE improvement over the paper bags. In order to install the decorative wood front panel I had to trim a piece of sheet metal but other than that there was no problem.
from Grants Pass, Oregon. on 2/27/2008
Being limited to space, with this 12" wide compactor I was able to install it into my cabinets, loseing only a drawer and small cupboard space. I placed it between two sinks where all the work is done and so fare I'm very pleased with it.
Ronald Cook.
from Holland NJ on 1/22/2008
The product is great and AJ MADISONS customer service and delivery is fantastic. 5 stars!!!
from Macon, GA on 1/21/2008
When my old compactor died, I was afraid that I wouldn't be able to replace it because of it's size. Broan still makes the 12 inch wide model, and it fit perfectly with no modification to the cabinets. Perfect!
from Las Vegas, NV on 11/26/2007
We use our compactor daily.
Its very easy to add & remove the bag.
The door of the storage compartment does not stay closed.
from Fair Oaks, CA on 10/12/2007
[...] We have owned this product for several years and we really like it. We were just updating our kitchen and needed a new one.
from Baltimore Md on 9/4/2007
I had a problem with the compactor, AJ never returned my calls for service. However returned all my calls when I was buying the product.I will not do business with retailer again.
from Providence RI on 8/21/2007
Good product - had ours since April, no problems. [...]easy to change bags, quiet motor, change bag every 2 weeks (just me and my wife).
from SoCal on 7/21/2007
Size is perfect, modern look, compacts well, but trash smells after a couple days and bags are VERY expensive [$].
from new york, ny on 7/17/2007
i didn't really need a trash compactor but i needed to fill a 12" space and the piece looked good online. and, in fact, it looks good in my kitchen but it is pretty lame - shaky, slide-out door doesn't fit properly, the trash bag holder at the top has to be taped closed. oddly, the rating function would not allow me only 1 star so i had to give it 2 stars (which it certainly does not deserve).