We have a double sink in our kitchen. One side has a garbage disposal, the other doesn’t. I’ve had double sinks in apartments, and if there’s a garbage disposal, it’s always that way. Is it possible to have a double sink in your kitchen with garbage disposals in both sides?
Sure. But good ones tend to be expensive, so one is usually thought to be enough.
Sure. Or, at least I don’t see why not (I’m not a plumber…).
But why would you want to?
Mmmm…the ones we’ve had just connect to the main drain that goes through the wall, and it looks like the other sink has an un-screwable drain hole-thingy in it, so with a bit more plumbing and another garbage disposer drain adapter on the other sink, I don’t any physical reason why you couldn’t connect two up.
Unless I’m missing something, which I have been known to do here…
Is it possible? Sure. we sent a man to the moon after all.
Depending on how the drain plumbing is set up, hooking up a second disposer could be a son-of-a-bitch, or it might not be too bad.
You would need a second electrical circuit and switch.
The question facing the nation is: Why do you want a second disposer? Do you have that much trouble making a commitment?
Because you can get away with putting more stuff down the sink with the garbage disposal without clogging it than you can down the other one. I know myself, so I try to eliminate any situation around the house where a careless mistake is likely to have consequences.
We keep kosher, so it’s more likely that there will be dishes in at least one and possibly both sides of the sink at any given time. You can’t put meat and dairy dishes in the same side of the sink, nor can you put them in the dishwasher together, I prefer to wait until I’ve got a full load of dishes to run the dishwasher, and we don’t hand-wash dishes unless they’re ones that can’t go in the dishwasher- for us, looking at dishes in the sink sucks less than hand-washing them. If the not-yet-full-dishwasher-load of meat dishes are in the side of the sink with the garbage disposal, we’re out of luck garbage-disposal-wise if we’re doing something dairy.
About how much do they cost? Do you have to pay someone to install them, or can you do it yourself?
I’ve never installed a garbage disposal. They always came with the apartments I rented, or in this case came with the house when we bought it. Never even replaced one- I had the apartment maintenance men do it a couple of times, but they did all the work and the complex paid for it.
Go to the web site of somebody like Home Depot to scope out costs. In your case I would highly recommend paying someone to do it (if you have to ask, you can’t do it). Replacing a disposal is pretty easy if you like to work in tight spaces. But adding a new one will involve electrical work, plus reworking the waste line in the plumbing. A very knowledgabe DIY-er could do it but not the average homeowner. Interestingly, not five minutes ago a plumber left my house after doing some work, and pointed out that my disposal waste line was not installed correctly, and that was done by a supposedly professional plumber who worked for the builder (I am the first owner). So it doesn’t even take an amateur to screw things up.
You would not necessarily need another circuit. You could probably tap into the existing circuit, although an electrician would evaluate the current load on the existing circuit to see if adding another disposal would be within code.
Low-end disposals run about $50; the higher end ones can run into the $200+ range. That’s just the cost for the disposer hardware – additional plumbing bits, dishwasher kits (for running dishwasher drain into the disposal) will add a few bucks more.
I just replaced my disposal a couple of weeks ago – it wasn’t terribly hard, especially if you have another set of hands handy. Installing one from scratch would be a little harder, as there’s a bit more plumbing involved.
I’ve always installed and replaced my own disposers. It’s usually pretty straightforward, but it helps to have hands-on plumbing experience. The electrical part is pretty easy, but once again, experience helps. As far as expense goes, I’ve bought cheap ones ($75) and expensive ones ($200) and the expensive ones are worth the difference. The cheap ones rust out or seize up in a few years, while the expensive ones will run for a decade or more.
Several hundred dollars for a good one, and I highly recommend that you get the best one you can afford. The bottom on the line units will vibrate the dishes out of the cabinets due being solid mounted to the sink. They also will not do as good a job in grinding up the food, so clogs are more likely.
As far as installation goes, I have always done the job myself, but as someone pointed out in another thread, my skill level qualifies me as just a little beyond the average homeowner. 
If you have never worked with electrical circuits before, or drain plumbing, I would strongly advise you to consult a professional.
As two disposers is not the norm, this will be a custom job, and will be expensive. Depending on how the drain plumbing is installed, and electrical requirements, it could run $500 or more to install.
I seem to remember from when I remodeled my kitchen that code required the disposer to be on an isolated circuit. I could be wrong however. Maybe Danceswithcats will stop by and enlighten us.
Would a triple bowl sink , with the disposal mounted under the center sink (and that sink dedicated for scraps) work under kosher guidelines? You can find them in a variety of finishes and sizes, and you could just use your existing disposal with no extra electrical work needed.
I don’t know for sure if you can mount a disposal on a center sink, but it may be worth looking into.
I don’t know if it’s required, but it does seem to be the current practice – when I replaced mine three weeks ago, I noticed it had its own breaker, which I hadn’t expected.
Fortunately, under our kosher standards, we don’t have to dedicate one side of the sink to meat and one to dairy. We put meat dishes and dairy dishes in both sides of the sink, just not at the same time. The dishwasher is the same way- we use it for both meat and dairy dishes, but not at the same time. Some people are stricter on this stuff than we are (though I think having two sets of dishes and keeping kosher at home and eating out puts us toward the stricter end of the spectrum).
I don’t think dedicating a sink for scraps would work so well for us- if there’s a sink, it’s going to end up with dirty dishes in it. Flylady we’re not (in fact, if I were to meet her, I suspect there would be some sort of matter-antimatter explosion…)
It appears that in this case there is no desire to use the disposals simultaneously. It seems to me that the existing circuit would suffice, especially if it were wired so that only one unit could be switched on at a time.
As others have said, get the best one you can afford. I HIGHLY HIGHLY recommend, nay, insist you chose an In Sink Erator. You don’t have to go all out and get the Evolution Series, but the 777 model is very nice.
As long as you don’t run both at the same time, you’d probably be OK electrically. Of course your code requirements may not allow it.
An additional consideration: Is the sink bottom on the other side configured for a disposer? The opening for a disposer is larger than that for a standard drain. Go to the home center and take a look at the sinks.
Have you ever seen the drawer style dish washers? They can be had as doubles, one above the other in the space of a standard dish washer. When I first saw them at a home show a few years ago there was a lady exclaiming that she could use one for dairy and the other for meat. Here’s a link to one made by Fischer-Paykel Drawer Washer
Dunno if enlighten is a good word-I’m more than willing to add to confusion with yet another opinion. 
Some of the discussion code groups have had on this topic is based on definitions.
From that, we determine that a disposal may not be fed by either of the two small appliance branch circuits, because the receptacles are serving either countertops, floors, or refrigeration equipment, so a receptacle located within a cabinet to serve a cord and plug connected disposal fails to meet the above definition.
Does the disposal require a separate circuit? Not necessarily. The above article has two exceptions.
210.70 refers to Lighting Outlets Required, and kitchens are required to have a lighting outlet. Don’t confuse outlet with receptacle, though. A lighting outlet is a device box from which a lighting fixture is mounted or suspended; said lighting fixture may range from a bare bulb to a crystal chandelier.
From that exception, we conclude that a switched receptacle could be located within a cabinet to feed a garbage disposal, said receptacle being fed from the lighting branch. Is that a good idea? No. Let’s look at the other exception.
Refrigerators don’t typically trip breakers unless a major fault is present, and we wouldn’t want Mr. Coffee to go bonkers on a Friday night when you’ve left for a three day weekend, such that Sunday evening greets you with a box of spoiled food. So, you can use the second exemption to feed the fridge with a separate circuit, and extend that to feed the disposal, and leave the two small appliance branches and lighting branch alone.
The other option is to feed the disposal from the dishwasher circuit, assuming one to be present. Most dishwashers require a 20 amp circuit, but only draw large current during sani-cycle or power dry, when their internal heating element is energized. As such, a feed to the disposal is reasonable and easier to manage than other options.
As always, the Electrical Inspector or AHJ has final call.
Cite? Every disposal I’ve installed required a standard drain basket opening. Remove existing basket, install disposal, connect plumbing, connect wiring, done.