I started composting in late summer, bought the Gardener's supply pyramid
job. Yes I know, it is a yuppie composter but give me a break, I live in a
city neighborhood and I wanted something that looked attractive and had
various defenses against bad smells in case something should go awry in the
green/brown balance. (cover and charcoal filter).

Over the summer I had no problem keeping the compost between 80 and 110
degrees and the stuff seemed to break down fast judging from the falling
level of debris inside. Since October, however, I have had a hard time
getting the compost above 55. I realize that the temperature outside
probably makes it more difficult for the composter to retain heat but at
this rate, the compost will be stalled over the winter.

Here is my modus opperandi: The balance of brown to green has been
consistent. We've had extremely dry weather (and the holes in the composter
top aren't sufficient to water it when it does rain) so with every 6 inches
of material, I add about 4 gallons of water.

I tried using the Gardener's supply compost accellerator and it was hard to
mix and figure out unless you were composting in batches. It didn't really
work for me, but that may have been a factor of how I applied it. After that
was gone, I bought some from Johnny's Seeds which I have been using. I
haven't used it enough to say it works or doesn't but my compost is still
hovering around 55.

Any tips or ideas?

mm