Food Digesters - where to buy

MoominPapa

Been looking out for a food digester for a while now but put off by price, 160 quid in Woodies for example. Anyone now of any better offers?

Do-more

MoominPapa wrote:

, 160 quid in Woodies for example.

Heh, at least they are coming down in price, last time I checked they were over €300, which was a crazy price for what they are...

Is that the conical shaped one that you partially bury in the ground MoominPapa?

MoominPapa

Do-more wrote:

last time I checked they were over €300

:eek: 160 seems like a bargain now

Do-more wrote:

Is that the conical shaped one that you partially bury in the ground MoominPapa?

Yeah, thats the one, not sure is you get/need accelerator powder

gerky

Hey MoominPapa this crowd are based in the glen of the downs. http://www.ecoshop.ie/

They sell the cone for €145 reasonable delivery rates they have things called Bokashi Buckets they seem similar to cones not sure if there any good but cheaper if anyone has one I wouldn't mind hearing if its any good.

Qwerty?

I don't know about the other Co. Councils, but Mayos Co Co where selling them for €45 last year.

MoominPapa

angel2 wrote:

Hey MoominPapa this crowd are based in the glen of the downs. http://www.ecoshop.ie/

They sell the cone for €145 reasonable delivery rates they have things called Bokashi Buckets they seem similar to cones not sure if there any good but cheaper if anyone has one I wouldn't mind hearing if its any good.

I seen a demo of Bokashi Buckets a couple of years ago and concluded that it was waaaaay to expensive due to the amount of bokashi you would go through, was I wrong or has it got cheaper?

gerky

Its says on the site €39 for 6 bags and that should suffice for 6 months I don't have any experience with Bokashi so don't know if thats expensive.

air

I bought a cone one from greencone.ie last spring. I think it was around 150, however my credit card was charged as soon as I ordered even though they didnt ship it for something like 10 weeks.

Keeks

air wrote:

I bought a cone one from greencone.ie last spring. I think it was around 150, however my credit card was charged as soon as I ordered even though they didnt ship it for something like 10 weeks.

I can never understand posts like this.....what does it tell us??

That they have some very bad customer relations issues....Wouldn't be the first company.

If you want to criticise a company start with their product.

So whats the greencone like and are you happy with the results?

air

Well firstly the title of the post is "Food Digesters : Where to Buy", not "Food Digesters: Any good" or anything else.

My post first of all listed a possible source for a green cone that hadn't been mentioned, and then related my experience with that particular supplier.

I dont see a single post above asking about the relative merits of digesters etc, the discussion is just about the products offered by different suppliers and their cost, availability etc.

Why dont you start a thread on digesters vs composters or something if you want to hear about peoples experiences with using them.

Edit:typo

MoominPapa

air wrote:

I bought a cone one from greencone.ie last spring. I think it was around 150, however my credit card was charged as soon as I ordered even though they didnt ship it for something like 10 weeks.

Thanks air thats just the sort of information I was looking for;)
Its 185 now,:eek: , won't be buying off them, thats for sure.
Back to the Bokashi issue, those guys again charge 7.50 for a sachet of accelerator powder and recommend a sprinkle every time you put stuff in. No idea how big the sachet is so can't really compare with 39 quid for six months with Bokashi. How much accelerator powder would the average house hold get through?

air

I bought 3 sachets when I bought it and still havent finished the last one. To be honest I havent sprinkled it in each time I use the caddy though. I usually just give the inside of the cone itself a good dusting when I think of it.
That's not best practice though. I'd imagine an average family would go through about a sachet once every two months or so if using the accelerator properly.

MoominPapa

Theres an independent h/w store in Churchtown selling them for 150 quid, seems like the best deal around so I'll go with them. Still seems like a crazy amount of money for 3 foot plastic cone with a plastic wash basket stuck to the bottom. hmmm, how about just digging a hole a sticking a small cheap ass compost bin into it, wouldn't that be the same thing or does it have to have an inner and outer cone as described here?

cormie

Yeah the price is totally off putting. How can Mayo CC sell them for €45 and everyone else is charging more than 3 times that?

Is the accelerator powder natural or would it be harmful and full of chemicals?

air

According to the packaging the accelerator is just a bacteria culture suspended in some organic material to allow it to survive until you put it in the cone.
I agree the price is somewhat off putting, I would imagine that the twin layer of plastic is important for heat gain / retention though.
I'm sure that that is a subsidised price by the council, however I definitely agree with subsidising them, the county councils could divert all household organic material from landfill with these (well households with a back garden anyway).

catho_monster

air wrote:

I bought a cone one from greencone.ie last spring. I think it was around 150, however my credit card was charged as soon as I ordered even though they didnt ship it for something like 10 weeks.

me too. i ordered one in january and the money was taken out of my account (laser) in january and i still havent got it.
Thanks for reminding me, i just rang them (not for the first time, i may add) and demanded a refund.
there's no way im doing business with a crowd, with whom you'll have a dependancy for accelerator powder, who have this ethos and wont deliver to me for four months (if that)

so bring on the suggestions....
i need to buy something instead...

air

Yeah I've worreid about that as well, I havent ordered any accelerator powder or anything since & I could do with a new caddy also.
I'd imagine that the powder is generic enough stuff though and is possibly used in other digesters. Perhaps someone has found it on sale elsewhere?

MoominPapa

air wrote:

Yeah I've worreid about that as well, I havent ordered any accelerator powder or anything since & I could do with a new caddy also.
I'd imagine that the powder is generic enough stuff though and is possibly used in other digesters. Perhaps someone has found it on sale elsewhere?

I'm sure I've seen generic powder in Woodies and B&Q but it isn't listed on their websites (BTW B&Q has the worst site on the interweb :mad:).

D'Peoples Voice

Has anyone tried a can-o-worms
http://www.elementgreen.com/canoworms.htm

I'd rather hear other people's experiences before I spend almost EUR 180 on a composter.