When we first built this house and they were putting in the kitchen, one of the guys on the building crew wanted to do that with ours. Our GC and electrician nixed that idea right away. I recall the electrician saying that it was unsafe. I can't recall why, though. Something about the cord/wire needing to be secured down.
Lynn

I used to have mine in the cabinet under the sink. It was a royal pain. What about an air switch in the countertop? I put one in and am very glad I did.

I thought about it, but DH is skeptical about putting a hole in the counter (and so am I a little). Also thought about a batch disposal, but I don't think either of us would like that.

I actually love having my switch under the counter in our rental house. In my former house we had a switch on the wall by the sink and I always had to think about which switch was the disposal and which was for the light. I finally taught myself to say, "Right, Light" and I did it every time I had to turn on either. I guess I'm just a little slow, but it sure is nice to not have to think about it. The one under the sink is obviously the disposal. No need to chant, "Right Light" every time to remember it!

I'm planning to put in an air switch. My friend just put one in her new kitchen and loves it. I'm curious as to your hesitation with another hole in the counter. What's your concern? Should I be rethinking that decision?

DH just thinks it will be weird (couldn't get much more out of him). My concern is that it will be one more thing to wipe around when wiping down counters - I'm a weirdo like that, can't wait for my undermount sink, probably going to skip the soap pump dispenser because I'd rather pick up my decorative pump container that sits on the counter and wipe under it, than wipe around the built in kind.

To have a switch in a movable location like that, you'd have to run the wiring in flexible conduit, and use a shallow work box, and you still would have to use an extra deep sink cabinet and push the sink back further than normal (hard on your back) to be able to fit it in in front of the sink. It'd be extremely awkward to access, and the wiring would just add more clutter to under your sink. It's a pretty bad idea.

An air switch works great. If you don't want it on the counter, put it or the standard electrical switch in a shallow work box under the adjacent wall cabinet. Use light rail molding to help conceal it. It'll be more or less hidden, but easy to access.

An air switch is much safer than a "regular" switch. With a "regular" switch, the electrical current is directly connected to the switch so you have to be careful of wet hands when using it. Let's face it, while working at the sink and using the disposal, your hands will often be wet and while usually nothing happens, that's no guarantee.

OTOH, an air switch has no direct connection to the electrical current. Rather, the disposal is plugged into the air switch "box" under the sink and a plastic tube (not a conductor) is attached to the box and then attached to the switch itself on the counter. To turn the disposal on/off (or anything else plugged into the air switch), you press the switch and a puff of air is sent down the tube to complete or open the connection (i.e., turn the current on or off at the box.) It doesn't matter how much water you have on your hands or around the switch...there will be no shocks or even shorts.

The hole in the granite and switch are very unobtrusive and puts the switch right where it's used.

With a switch behind a tilt-out in front of your sink...

(1) It will force your sink back even further to accommodate the electrical box (even a slim one) and that will then cause you to have to lean further in to reach the sink & faucet...which is not good for anyone's back, regardless of "condition"

(2) Because the sink is forced further back, you may have an issue fitting your faucet + handle b/w the sink & back wall if there's a window sill and/or backsplash other than paint behind the sink

(3) You will usually have wet hands opening/closing the tilt-out and that might have an impact on the finish of the tilt-out front panel.

(4) If you have children or grandchildren (or any children visiting), it will be very easy for them to get to the switch to play around with the disposal...and trust me, it will only take one time for them to see you use it for them to know it's there and know how to get to it.

BTW...you can get air switches in almost any finish to match your faucet...I did. Both my faucet & air switch are brushed nickel. Or, you can sometimes match your counter color (e.g., if you have a black counter, you can get a black air switch.)

HTH!

FYI...you're probably not getting copies of follow-ups emailed to you b/c you don't have email turned on in your user profile. See the "Read Me" thread for more information.

Even if you check that box that says "Check here if you would like copies of follow-ups to your message emailed to you", if you don't have email turned on you won't get emails sent to you.

Here is a link that might be useful: Read Me If You're New To GW Kitchens!

The air switch is so flat to the counter that you really don't get the sense that you're wiping around it because you can wipe right over it. We have one at the beach and I'm seriously considering taking out the soap dispenser here and putting an air switch in it's place (we have a batch feed now). I never used one or saw one in action until last November and I was very impressed.

just for good measure, I'll give another push for the air switch and ditto everything buehl and cheril said. It's nothing that I've ever worried about cleaning (and I'm a real freak when it comes to counters).

Have you considered a batch feed disposal? It requires no switch. Engaging and disengaging the disposal cap starts and stops the motor. I really like having no switch.

OTOH, the disposal switch in my old kitchen was on the front of the sink cabinet, right in the middle. It always made me uneasy. Any child, or adult for that matter, could turn it on accidentally or on purpose much easier than the other locations mentioned in this thread.

I'm having the one in my island on the front panel of my tilt out. I didn't want another hole in my granite.

Right now they guys (husband and son) have not started making my drawers or fronts but they put the switch at the bottom right corner of the opening where my tilt out will be.