Trash compactors were installed in two of the homes we have purchased & lived in, & we rarely used them. We use garbage disposals only for bits & mostly liquid foods, not for grinding up all food waste. Putting this into a trash compactor is too messy & potentially smelly, so we've always had a separate trash receptacle getting in the way in the kitchen. We also recycle. Trash compactors became popular in areas where municipalities require special bags or charge by the bag, but ours supplies big rolling carts.

In our new house, we installed two pullouts for trash and recycling bins, one by our cleanup sink & dishwater, the other on the opposite side of our island near our refrigerator. They are so convenient, & we do not miss having a trash compactor.

I have installed trash compactors in four houses that we lived in.
They are essential appliances as far as I am concerned.
We have never experienced any odor issues (have never used the deordorizers for compactors)
We are reasonably careful about putting garbage in. ie we compact bananna peels, steak bones, and other things that we don't want to put in the disposal, but we use the disposal for the rest.
I think that the best benefit is not having to store bags of trash, waiting for pickup. We get weekly pickup, and can normally go two weeks between unloads of the compactor. We do not put large boxes, newspapers or other recycle materials into the compactor. I already have one wall of my garage devoted to containers for recycle, and containers for cans and bottles with deposits to collect.
I do not want additional trash bags to store.

We have had Whirlpool compactors. Which worked trouble free.

Good luck.

I just replaced an old Kenmore compactor with a wine cooler and don't miss the compactor at all. I found that any food waste started smelling long before the compactor was full, so I only used it for paper and plastic items that had no food contact. We also recycle, so it took months for the compactor to fill up with a 2-person household. Guess it depends on your household size and amount of trash as to whether it would be useful.

Hated it!! Messy, broken glass which sometimes seemed to come out of the bag and ended up on the bottom of the compactor, too heavy for me to lift, smelly & just all around would never have one again. We have built 8 houses. I have had a trash bin pull out cabinet in three, the trash compactor in one, and in our new house #8 I have TWO trash bins in the pull out cabinet.

With recycling becoming more common, and especially when you consider the expense, I can see few reasons for a compactor anymore.

I live in a rural area with trash pickup only once a week. A compactor is essential for us. I would never think of putting food in it or glass (the latter being potentially dangerous -- I can't imagine leaving a bag of broken glass for the trash collector). We have a trash pullout for food waste. We have a disposal but use it sparingly as ground food waste is very bad for the septic system.

We have both a compactor and disposal. Most food items go down the disposal, those that don't go into a small bag and get tossed outdoors into the big trash cans. Our compactor is 25 years old and is still running well. I've greased the screw drives once. (We've only owned the house less than a year.) We never put glass objects or perishable items in the compactor. You know that the compactor is going to allow you to go longer without removing the trash, so why put anything in it that would stink? Duh.

Ours fills up with papers, packaging, empty (clean) containers, etc. We don't have any recycling requirements here, so paper, plastic and metal cans are landfill. I love the compactor precisely because I can go longer without having to take the trash out. I hate taking it out, and usually forget. Going three weeks before emptying the compactor is not unheard of. Our area is looking into charging for garbage by the number of bags / cans, so squishing a lot of compactable goodies into one bag is a great idea.

Our unit was made by Frigidaire in 1982; back when they made things well, I suppose.

I said this elsewhere, but I am moving my old (1994) trash compactor to the garage when I remodel my kitchen. That way I can still compact my trash, but the smelly stuff will be removed from the kitchen.