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Get ready to live in a world where electric home composters are the norm. A few years ago, composting was limited to backyard piles or large commercial scale composting. With the announcement of the Lomi Home Composter by Pela Case, and the already popular Vitamix Food Cycler, it seems that electric home composters will soon be a regular staple in the kitchen.
In order to help you make the best consumer choices when it comes to purchasing compost related products, we’ve got all the details on the Lomi Home Composter. This is the first in a series of reviews about the Lomi. Stay tuned for more!
What makes the Lomi Home Composter different from other electric composters?
At first glance, the Lomi Home Composter looks just like all the other electric composters.
These composters work by drying out the food like a dehydrator, then grinding up the waste. In a sense electric composters aren’t actually composting, these devices simply dry and grind, allowing you to dispose of the waste directly into your garden much easier than simply throwing your food into a pile.
So, what makes the Lomi Home Composter different from the Vitamix Food Cycler and other popular electric composters? This is the first electric composter that is marketed to break down bio plastics.
Lomi has three different modes:
Eco-Express: This mode is meant for general cooked or raw food waste and is the best mode for those wanting the fastest result and lowest energy consumption. This mode takes 3-5 hours to complete. You can add this to your green-bin (if your community has this program), or you can add it to the next cycle that you run with Lomi!
Lomi Approved: This mode is meant for food waste, bioplastics and Lomi Approved packaging and products. We recommend a ratio of 1:10 bioplastics to food waste and to make sure that you use a Lomi Pod when running this mode. 5-8 hours
Grow Mode: This mode is meant only for fruit and vegetable waste and cannot process bioplastics or processed/cooked foods.
This mode runs at a low heat setting to preserve the microorganisms that are beneficial in creating nutrient rich dirt. Be sure to add a Lomi Pod when running this mode for best results. 16-20 hours.
Lomi is the first home composter that can break down bioplastics
Bioplastics are plastics made out of plant based materials. This means that they can be composted. However, bioplastics notoriously take forever to break down in traditional backyard compost systems.
Compostable products and bioplastics typically have to be sent to large commercial scale compost sites in order to break down correctly. Most Americans don’t have access to a commercial scale compost site, but we do have access to a ton of wonderful compostable products.
Pela Case is just one example of a compostable product that often ends up in a landfill. The popular phone cases, AirPod cases, and sunglasses can now be composted with the Lomi Home Composter.
Looking for some great compostable products? Here is a list of our favorites.
Lomi Electric Composter Review
We were so excited to review a Lomi, especially after having reviewed the Food Cycler. We are pleased to report that this electric composter is everything you imagined and more!
The Lomi does indeed break down bioplastics. You can see in the image below that a compostable phone case broke down into fine pieces.
When compared to the Food Cycler, the Lomi breaks down the food into smaller pieces. The Lomi also has a larger capacity- with a 3L bucket compared to the 2L bucket of the Food Cycler.
With the sleek white design, large capacity and ability to break down bioplastics, we feel like this is a quality product. It delivers finely ground food waste consistently and looks nice on the kitchen counter.
How Long do the Lomi carbon filters last?
The filters last for 90 cycles.
The Lomi has two locations for filters so you do need to buy a pack of 2. The packs are about $55. You can buy them directly through the Pela website or through Amazon. Both offer a nice subscribe and save option.
Where can I buy a Lomi Home Composter?
There are two places to buy your Lomi Home Composter.
First is the direct Pela website here. I always find it nice to support the brand directly instead of through Amazon.
You can also head to Amazon now to check out the current price on the Lomi Electric Composter.
If it is under $500 on either site, then you’re getting a good deal! Both sites seem to have competitive pricing so check both of them out and buy where you feel the most comfortable.
What other electric composters are on the market?
The Lomi isn’t the only electric composter on the market. The Vitamix Food Cycler is another great option.
Get more details about the different types of electric composter by reading this article here.
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You have a Comment on another page that you will always prefer “regular” composting methods.
I absolutely agree.
However, that’s not an option for some people. I am one. I live in a rural area, 4 acre lot, bush. For over 30 years, we had a three site compost collection–one on the counter in the kitchen, dumped when full into a 5 gallon pail on the back stoop, then taken out to the compost pile by the garden, by my husband.
He died this past summer, and I don’t have the strength, or the mobility to carry a five-gallon pail full of composting material, about 100 yards over rough ground, to the compost heap.
For others in my situation, and with my physical limitations, a countertop electric composter sounds ideal. When the thing is finished its work, I can tip it over the railing on the front deck, onto the flowers and shrubs.
Please keep old, green, foops like me in mind–we have been composting, and being green for decades–and want to continue to do so.
Great point! Not everyone has the strength or space for traditional compost methods. You should check out these electric options!
Wake up people; Kitchen scraps are mostly water.
Lomi works by grinding and then baking the cellulose material that you put into it.
Actual composing requires water, oxygen and the presence of bacteria and fungi.
None of these things are found in the ridiculous lomi process
If you REALLY want a countertop machine that uses the EXACT same process as a lomi, consumes a third of the energy and costs about $60. Get yourself a cheap bread machine and put your kitchen scraps in it.
Not a bad point! This isn’t technically composting- it is a dehydrator and grinder. I actually think you could hack this yourself with a dehydrator and spice grinder. I haven’t tested this to figure it out though.
Some people really do love the ease of the Lomi and FoodCycler. This is not my main method of composting, but I do like the option for people in apartments or very little space and no residential compost pick up.
My partner and I live in a high-rise; we’re very excited to use the Lomi to reduce our footprint and give our balcony garden a boost!
I’m so excited to hear what you think!