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Best Electric Kitchen Composters
Traditional composting can take anywhere from 2 weeks to 12 months. Why wait that long when an electric kitchen composter can turn your food scraps into soil in just a few hours? Technology is so amazing that we no longer have to rely on food to turn to compost through compost piles, tumblers, or worm bins. We can have access to recycled soil as often as we run our dishwasher!
Interested in an electric kitchen composter, but don’t know which one to buy? We’ve outlined the pros and cons for all the most popular electric kitchen composters on the market. We also go into detail on how electric composters work and whether an electric composter is a good eco-friendly option for you.
We Researched Electric Composters so You Don't have to
Our readers have helped research the most popular electric kitchen composters on the market. You should be warned though, just because something is popular, doesn’t mean it’s good. That’s why we’ve done the research to help you figure out which electric composter is a good buy, and which ones you should avoid.
Since electric composting is a relatively new thing, not all of the composters on the market are good buys. This article goes into detail to help you weed out the details and pick the best electric kitchen composter.
We’ve pored over the data, consumer reports, and customer reviews to help you figure out the best kitchen composter for your needs. Currently there are many electric composters to choose from. Here are the details on the most popular electric compost bins.
Newest arrivals: Lomi Kitchen Composter by Pela | Vitamix Eco5 |GEME Home Composter
There are two new electric kitchen composters getting great reviews.
Lomi by Pela
The new Lomi Kitchen Composter is trendy, actually works well, and is made by the company Pela, the brand that brought us compostable phone cases!
Head here to learn more about Lomi and how it can compost bioplastics!
Check out the prices on the Lomi Kitchen Composter here.
Vitamix Eco5
The Vitamix Eco5 is a larger version of the FC-50 FoodCycler.
The new version is sleeker. It comes in white as opposed to the black FC-50 FoodCycler.
With 5 liters of food waste capacity – compared to the Vitamix FC-50’s 2.5 liters – the Eco 5 is not only larger than the previous generation, but also a step up in terms of style. It features a refillable carbon filter, creating less waste than disposable versions. Yet, just like the FC-50 introduced in 2020, the Eco 5 reduces the volume of food waste by 90% in just a few hours.
Check the prices on the new Vitamix Eco5 here.
Related Post: Vitamix FoodCycler Eco 5 Review and Comparison to FoodCycler FC-50
GEME Home Composter
Read the full review on the GEME Home Composter here.
Check the current price and get $50 off a new GEME here.
Top Electric Kitchen Composters
Vitamix Food Cycler Eco 5
Features:
- Processes food waste by drying and grinding.
- 5 liter capacity
- Takes around 3 hours
- Accepts all food including meat, fish, eggs, dairy, and bones
- No enzymes or additives needed
- Removable dishwasher safe bucket
- Odorless
- 3 year warranty through Vitamix
- Creates a product that still needs to be composted or added to soil in order to be useful
When to buy:
This new model is a little over $800. Watch Vitamix affiliates for sales and discounts that tend to occur several times a year.
Vitamix FoodCycler FC-50
Features:
- Processes food waste by drying and grinding.
- Takes 3 hours
- Processes 2-3 pounds at a time
- Accepts all food including meat, fish, eggs, dairy, and bones
- No enzymes or additives needed
- Removable dishwasher safe bucket
- Odorless
- 3 year warranty through Vitamix
- Creates a product that still needs to be composted or added to soil in order to be useful
When to buy:
This is a great deal when you can find it under $300
Lomi by Pela
Features:
- First electric composter to boast that it can compost bioplastics
- Processes food waste by drying and grinding.
- Takes 3 hours
- Processes 2-3 pounds at a time
- Accepts all food including meat, fish, eggs, dairy, and bones
- No enzymes or additives needed, but you can use enzymes to make finished product rich in microbes
- Removable dishwasher safe bucket
- Odorless
When to buy:
This is a great deal when you can find it under $500
GEME Home Composter
Features:
- First electric composter with a focus on using microbes to decompose food indoors.
- Processes 2.2 pounds a day
- Odorless
- Does not need to be emptied daily
- Creates compost that is ready to use
When to buy:
Any time you see a special offer, go for it. This retails for $899, but you can find introductory deals for up to $200 off! Use my link to get an additional $50 off!
Reencle
Features:
- Another composter that uses microbes to decompose food indoors.
- Processes 2.2 pounds a day
- Odorless
- Most quiet composter on the market
- Does not need to be emptied daily
- Creates compost that is ready to use
When to buy:
There are two different payment options- you can buy one for $499 or rent one for $35 a month. What a fun option for people who want to try the Reencle without the pressure of buying.
Beyond Green Pet Waste Composter
Features:
- Takes roughly 2 weeks
- Processes 5 pounds of pet and food waste a day
- Indoor or outdoor use
- Also processes kitty litter and yard waste
- Eligible for Amazon Prime
When to buy:
This is a great deal when you can find it under $550
Best All around Electric Composter
Best bang for your buck
Hands down, the winner of best all around electric composter goes to the Vitamix FoodCycler. It is energy efficient, using less energy than a microwave while also fitting comfortably on a countertop. This particular composter has the most reviews out of all the countertop electric composters with a majority of them being positive reviews making this item the best electric composter on the market. I personally love that Vitamix produces the FoodCycler because Vitamix produces the best kitchen products.
Watch the Food Cycler in Action
Best Electric Composter for Pet Waste
Beyond Green Pet Waste Composters
Why throw your pet waste away when it can be turned into nutrient rich soil for your plants? This particular electric composters processes up to 5 pounds of pet and/ or kitchen waste a day. It’s perfectly safe to keep plugged in outside, but can easily be used indoors for kitchen waste alone. It takes two weeks to turn waste into soil. The Bio ComPet home composter is compatible with biodegradable pet waste bags.
Editor's Pick for The Best Electric Composter
It’s probably no surprise to read that the editor’s pick for the best electric composter is the new Vitamix Eco5.
It’s not the cheapest of the options, but it grinds really well.
On top of that, the reader reviews tell a positive story. With over 100 reviews, this product has more reviews than any of the other electric composters making it way more reliable than the competition. To make it even better, this product is now owned by Vitamix, a company that always sells reliable products.
Indoor composting costs
There is the initial cost of buying the product (ranges from $299-800). Then the cost of changing the carbon filters and buying enzymes if needed.
There is also the added electrical cost to run the machine. Expect to add about 5 kwh (kilowatt hours) per month to your energy bill, or about 50 cents a month.
Pros and Cons of an Electric Composter
As with most things, there are benefits of an electric composter as well as cons. Here is a list to help you decide if an automatic indoor composter is for you:
Pros:
- A great indoor alternative for climates that are too cold to compost outdoors
- Small and sleek
- Relatively inexpensive- starting at $299
- Perfect for urban areas where composting outdoors isn’t an options
Cons:
- Some models are odorous
- Added energy usage
- Hidden costs for filters and general maintenance
- Noisy
How Does an Electric Composter Work?
- Hopper – a holding area for added wastes before sent to champers below
- Motorized mixing wand – turns mixture continuously
- Heater – Accelerates the speed of the composting as well as acting like a dehydrator
- Air pump – brings in oxygen flow to feed the microorganisms in soil
- Carbon filter – absorbs odors from waste
- Cure tray – collects the finished composts
- Drip tray – collects any excess liquid (that can also be used as nutrient rich water for plants)
Food waste is dropped into the machine then moved to an internal chamber where it is heater, mixed, and aerated. The finished products is deposited into the cure tray and ready to use as fertilizer.
Each model is different. Some consist of nothing more than a large dehydrator and mixer, while others use enzymes to speed up the decomposition process.
Depending on the type of model you use it can take anywhere from a few hours to several days or weeks to make the finished fertilizer.
Vitamix Food Cycler Review
We will always prefer old fashioned compost
Yes, an electric compost bin has it’s benefits. Still, we are big fans of composting the old fashioned way.
If you want to learn more about traditional composting methods, check out these posts:
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Hi
I am looking to find indoor composting for an electric composter
Been looking for an industrial one for out doors
Mainly for an income purposes
Looking to set up a compost business? Try this post: https://naplescompost.com/how-to-start-a-community-compost-program-or-business/
Regarding the vitamix food cycler, can you add shredded paper as well and bio degradable bags?
Yes! I have had luck with the biodegradable bags and paper.
You have a link to the vita mix option saying $100 off. When I linked, it doesn’t seem to show that discount. Is there a code to use?
Oh shoot! I’m sorry. It might have already passed. I’ll try to update with the next sale!
None of the “electric kitchen composters” are composters, they simply dehydrate stuff. The resulting product IS NOT COMPOST and CANNOT BE USED THE SAME WAY. I am a trained horticulturist – use the finished product with caution
Agreed! I even address this in the post. Thanks for your input. Traditional compost methods will always be preferred. This is really only suggested for people who have no other option or want to dehydrate their processed food waste instead of sealing it in a plastic bag and carting it to a landfill. I’m a big fan of reducing what we send to landfills, and this helps reduce what we send to landfills. In a perfect world we’d all have a municipal organic waste pickup program!