Lomi Composter Review: Transforms Food Waste to Compost in 24 Hours! (We Tried It!)
Updated: Dec. 01, 2023
Change the way you deal with food waste forever!
Our editors and experts handpick every product we feature. We may earn a commission from your purchases.
Composting is fun and rewarding. Digging into loose, rich compost teaming with worms is gardening ecstasy (in my humble opinion). Trash turned into black gold is a beautiful thing!
As a longtime gardener, I’ve been composting for years. But there are downsides to a home compost pile. For one, it’s very time-consuming. There’s work that goes into chopping corn stalks, gathering leaves (from my neighbors) and turning the pile to aerate it. It takes a year or two to harvest the goodness. In the meantime, weeds can quickly grow in the pile, which I begrudgingly spend time raking to eliminate the roots. What’s a person to do?
Now, there’s a solution with the electric countertop Lomi Composter. Lomi takes care of the clean-up and adds nutrients to the earth in less than a day. I tried it, and it will change the way I deal with food waste forever.
You don’t need to be a worm farmer or gardener to love the Lomi Composter. Apartment dwellers, moms and cooks love how Lomi turns smelly leftovers into dirt that can be thrown in the trash or green bin. No more fruit flies!
More importantly, you can’t put proteins and fats in a backyard compost pile, but you can in the Lomi kitchen composter. I was sold immediately.
On This Page
An Expert’s Take on the Importance of Composting
Did you know that the food thrown into the landfills creates methane gas which contributes to climate changing carbon emissions?
Author of 150 Food Science Questions Answered, Bryan Q. Le, Ph.D., says “Composting is a way to convert food waste into nutrients suitable for use by crops and plants. Without composting, most if not all of the food material would end up in the landfill, where it would slowly decompose anaerobically and release methane gas into the atmosphere. Since methane is a much more potent greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide, it can be a powerful contributor to global warming. As the food waste decays, it can also leech out carbon and nitrogen nutrients into the surrounding environment, which can cause excess growth of bacteria, algae, and other unwanted species or contaminate underground sources of water.”
Dr. Le goes on to say, “Additionally, landfilling food waste leads to indirect losses of nutrients, water, and potential energy. All of the original inputs that led to the production of the food are no longer accessible once the food has been wasted. Many of those inputs, such as nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium, are produced using a tremendous amount of energy and mining labor. Composting helps to return those nutrients back into the soil, where it can contribute to the next crop harvest, versus being buried underneath thousands of tons of waste.”
As European countries and some U.S states are imposing laws and high fees for green bin services, composting food waste will become the norm, even for non-gardeners. So, are you going to hop aboard the composting bandwagon?
What is the Lomi Composter?
This electric kitchen composter is a hassle-free way to turn food scraps into rich compost. The Lomi Composter is a countertop appliance that breaks down kitchen waste, including vegetables, meats, proteins and most leftovers (unlike traditional composting methods). The unit grinds and heats the food scraps, and it magically breaks down the food to 20 percent of its original form.
The Lomi Composter is a beautiful white appliance with a 2.5-liter bucket. Similar to the size of a bread-maker, the Lomi is 16 inches wide, 13 inches deep and 12 inches high. People with limited counter space may prefer to use it in a utility room, garage or basement, which will also help reduce the noise of the Lomi while it’s working.
Activated carbon for filtration is included, which effectively reduces odors. The charcoal needs to be changed every three to six months, depending on use. The package also includes 45 LomiPods to add microbes to the compost.
Additionally, Lomi offers convenient subscriptions for the carbon and the microbial LomiPod tablets at a discounted price.
As a certified climate-neutral product, the Lomi composter puts nutrients back into the earth while reducing food waste that generates methane in landfills. Ultimately, composting food waste before it hits the landfill will help reduce greenhouse emissions.
Product Features
The Lomi is simple to use and clean, and the result is an 80% reduction in food waste. Plus, it’s hard to beat Lomi’s one-day compost that I can use in my gardens.
The airtight lid and charcoal filters contain any stinky smells, and the bucket is dishwasher-safe. If you want to watch the Lomi Composter work, purchase the Lomi Skylight lid.
The unit has three operating modes to choose from:
- Eco-Express mode is the quick way to break down your food scraps, but because of the high heat, which kills the microorganisms, the compost isn’t as fertile as it is when using the Grow Mode. Eco-Express is the default mode on the machine, which can easily be changed by simply pushing the button. This mode takes between 3 to 5 hours to complete a cycle.
- Grow mode is for gardeners who want nutrient-rich compost. This mode takes up to 20 hours to complete a cycle. By using a slower process, Lomi retains the microbes. And if you use the LomiPods, you add even more microbes to the mix.
- Lomi-Approved mode is used for composting approved bioplastics and compostable packaging. I believe this future-forward setting will be used more as companies get on the Climate-Neutral bandwagon and shift their packaging practices. The packaging that Lomi arrives in can even be composted in this mode!
How I Tested It
First, I read through the instruction manual and learned that there are three Lomi modes to choose from: The Eco-Express mode, the Lomi-Approved mode and the Grow mode. As a gardener, I was most interested in the Grow mode, so that I could use it in my organic vegetable garden.
Set up was simple. Lomi gives you two packages of activated charcoal to put in the filter compartments. The purpose of the activated carbon is to absorb the smells—and it does!
I had saved up coffee grounds and cleaned out my refrigerator. I had half a head of wilted celery in the bottom of the crisper drawer, avocado skins (pits can’t go in the Lomi), banana peels and leftover ham and lentil soup (yes, Lomi can compost meat and dairy in addition to vegetables and bread).
Using Eco-Express Mode
I decided to try the Eco-Express Mode first. I put in a LomiPod tablet, but didn’t add any water as this tip wasn’t included in the instruction manual.
The Lomi videos show that you can use the boxes’ packaging as part of the Lomi “brown” ingredient. But coffee grounds and filters are considered brown materials in traditional composting, so I didn’t add any cardboard or paper products to the mix. I chopped up the celery into manageable pieces. I put the unit in the basement in case the noise was bothersome (to my dog), but mainly because it’s where I have an available 3-prong power outlet.
Within minutes of plugging it in, I detected a faint celery smell upstairs. Several hours later, I went downstairs to check it out. Just as promised, the full bucket had broken down into a dry and fibrous material (not dirt). It had a fresh sweet scent.
Using Grow Mode
A few days later, I had a bunch of green bananas that never ripened but became hard instead (I hate when that happens). I chopped the bananas, some hairy carrots and soft cucumbers, and tore up a used paper plate to add to the bucket. I set the machine on Grow mode and added a tablet and 2 ounces of water.
The next day, the bucket contents were reduced to a few handfuls of nice smelling compost that looked like super finely shredded bark. I was excited that it did its job in less than a day, otherwise I’d be looking at those hairy carrots on the pile for months!
Here’s What I Learned
Each cycle thereafter was easy and convenient to break down, and the activated carbon kept the smells contained in the machine. I’ve even left the decomposed material in the bucket for several days after running it and was afraid I would find mold or a horrific smell when I opened the Lomi. Instead, I had beautiful compost that I put in my sleeping garden.
Upon further research, I learned that adding new food scraps to the previously-composted material make the next batch of compost even richer. Since the Lomi breaks down a full bucket of food scraps into a cup or two, there’s still plenty of room in the bucket to add more. I also learned that the tablets aren’t really necessary, but the microbes can be beneficial for garden compost.
My main goal with the Lomi was to break down my food waste so that I didn’t attract critters to my yard. During the winter months, I don’t throw much on the compost pile because I like to harvest my black gold in the spring without dealing with chunks of half-rotted winter waste.
Receiving the Lomi in the winter months was perfect. I’ve been tossing the new compost into my garden beds and compost pile as I patiently wait for planting season.
Gardeners should mix one part Grow mode compost with 10 parts garden soil. Some gardeners store their Lomi compost in a plastic tub for later use or to start worm farms. The bucket is easy enough to tote to my compost pile, even in the winter. However, I love the idea of storing the compost in the winter to avoid stray weed seeds.
Since my lawn mower mulches and I don’t have a big leaf problem, I think I’ll turn that old compost pile into a watermelon plot!
Pros
- Eco-friendly
- Reduces food waste by 80%
- Makes nutrient-rich fertilizer
- No more stinky garbage
- Odor-free operation
- Easy to use
- Easy to clean
- Net zero impact
- Can compost animal products
- One-year happiness guarantee
Cons
- Must cut ingredients in small pieces
- Some users report faulty fans
- Pricey
FAQ
Can paper towels go in a Lomi Composter?
Yes, paper towels can go into your Lomi as long as they are mixed in with other green matter. It’s also best to tear them up a bit and stuff them to the sides of the machine. I put coffee filters and paper plate pieces in my Lomi and have only found one chunk that didn’t get shredded by the machine.
How much electricity does Lomi use?
Not much. Lomi claims that they have the only electric appliance with a net positive impact.
The Eco-Express cycle takes 3 to 5 hours to complete and uses 0.5 kWh. Whereas the Grow mode takes up to 20 hours and only uses 1 kWh (1 kWh is equivalent to cooking in an oven for 30 minutes or using a 100w lightbulb for 10 hours).
What Other Users Had to Say
Amazon customer Silverbelle1019 gave Lomi 5-stars, writing, “I love my Lomi Composter.. my plants are flourishing as a result of using high nutrient co.post in the soil. I may never make enough compost to justify the cost, but I am recycling lots of organic waste and helping keep it out of garbage dumps. It is efficient and odorless.”
A verified Amazon Customer says, “Visually looks nice, sits on my counter and doesn’t take up too much space. The bucket is a bit small but it works. I have a family of 6 and quite a bit of organic waste daily. I run it daily and it keeps the garbage manageable”. And goes on to say, “Lomi helps me not have to make a trip to take out the garbage as often and helped to get rid of the fly issue that was happening when we threw the organic waste in the cart provided by the city. For that, it’s worth the money! Hope it lasts! No issues so far. Been using it daily for a few months now.”
Barb G., verified Lomi customer says, “The LOMI unit is efficient and effective! The aroma of the beautifully prepared compost is natural and clean..it is NOT smelly no matter what other silly people have said. With composting laws in California being what they are, this is a fantastic countertop product. Composting charges are being leveled on households now and kitchen waste cannot go into the waste stream any longer…. We have ours parked in the laundry room on the counter for daily use.”
Final Verdict
Lomi does a great job turning garbage into planet food with the push of a button.
Performance and ease of use are impressive with this kitchen composter. This investment won’t disappoint. It’s superior to the trash compactors from the 80s because it transforms trash into something good for the planet.
The thing I love most is that I won’t have to wait a year to have great compost. It’s a totally different way of composting, and I absolutely love it.
In my opinion, individual habits do affect our planet. I applaud anyone who thinks about their actions and tries to do better. The Lomi may not be for everyone, but if you can do anything to reduce the amount of food that goes into the landfills, it will help.
Where to Buy the Lomi Composter
It’s not often that you find a life-changing product, but the revolutionary Lomi Composter qualifies as such. Ready to purchase? Lomi is available on Amazon and the Lomi website. Keep your kitchen clean and fresh and let Lomi take care of your food waste today!
Originally Published: May 16, 2023
