On 27/02/2016 20:21, earthstick wrote:

Does it matter if the heaps have a lid, should there be gaps in the sides like no.3 or not?

It depends how big your heaps are. Mine are roughly 2m^3 each and I
generally add stuff to them in significant fractions of a cubic metre at
a time. At that scale it gets mad hot quickly and will rot through
almost anything. They really only need a lid if they are tiny and you
are adding only small amounts of stuff at a time.

Be aware that a compost heap may smell a bit funny when hot so you don't
want it too near your back door. I have had mine up to smouldering
internally once or twice too...

It helps get things started to use a proprietory compost starter like
Garotta when starting from scratch.

I'm with the recycled pallets camp provided you have the space. Plastic
things are overpriced gadgets for very small gardens.

--
Regards,
Martin Brown