Hotbin composter - feedback
 

A long while ago I made some enquiries here about hot composting.

Finally went and got a "Hotbin" (no affiliation, just a customer).
Stoked it up 2 days ago (Thu evening) with 2' depth (consist below)

After 24 hours, I had 30C registering on the top thermometer and 48C
internal.

Another 12 hours later this morning, 55C on the top, about 150F=65C in
the heap (hard to read, belching steam):


https://drive.google.com/drive/folde...Jy?usp=sharing



I've never got compost to go like this before, so to say I'm impressed
is an understatement.


The next part of the experiment is to see how well it chomps through
grass clippings with all our cardboard/paper waster diverted in as well
plus as many wood chips as I can usefully prune.


In comparison, the 2 old daleks I found in the garden when I moved here
have decent enough compost in the base, but are way too slow to take
grass. They can't even keep up with kitchen waste over winter. And yes,
I have aerated both and they are on slabs with gaps in to allow drainage
but deter rats.


I know you can make hot compost piles with more thrift, but time is not
my friend, so I opted for the ready made solution. But either way, I am
impressed with the fact it *can* get this hot.

The interesting bit will be to see:

a) Does it maintain well when adding more material;

b) Can it eat the output I produce?


If it can, it's going to cut my green bin waste right down (diverting
the paper and cardboard).

I'll probably need to keep the council brown bin for this year - grass
is over a foot long due to continuous rain and my hawthorn hedge is not
chipper friendly (well it's not friendly to being put in a domestic
narrow throated chipper!).

But when that's replaced with holly, and if I can get the grass cut
earlier next year, I *might* be able to do without the council bin which
would save the extra precept.






Starter Recipe:

2 boxes of grass clippings;
a few litres of kitchen waste (vegetable based),
cardboard
new wood chippings
old wood chippings that were lying on the ground for a couple of years
some old compost and a few more litres of semi mouldy kitchen waste from
the "dalek" bin.
A full size paper shredder's worth of paper clippings.


The new kitchen waste was shoved through a chipper:
Bosch AXT 25 TC Quiet Shredder

followed by some branches to clear, then an old cardboard box ripped
into chipper mouth sized strips.

So a pretty optimal mix, well stirred


Added a bottle of really hot water to the middle of the heap (in the
bottle, not poured on) to kick start it.

Hotbin composter - feedback
 

In article ,
Tim Watts wrote:
A long while ago I made some enquiries here about hot composting.

Most interesting. I might consider that for grass cuttings, which are
a right pain on a cold heap. While I currently don't compost paper
and cardboard, that doesn't mean I don't get lots of them :-(


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

Hotbin composter - feedback
 

On 21/04/2018 12:12, Nick Maclaren wrote:
In article ,
Tim Watts wrote:
A long while ago I made some enquiries here about hot composting.

Most interesting. I might consider that for grass cuttings, which are
a right pain on a cold heap. While I currently don't compost paper
and cardboard, that doesn't mean I don't get lots of them :-(


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

You need to be a rich man!

Hotbin composter - feedback
 

Tim Watts wrote:

Finally went and got a "Hotbin"

£200 for some slabs of black EPS and a couple of lengths of nylon
banding? Or is there more than meets the eye?

Hotbin composter - feedback
 

In article ,
Broadback wrote:

A long while ago I made some enquiries here about hot composting.

Most interesting. I might consider that for grass cuttings, which are
a right pain on a cold heap. While I currently don't compost paper
and cardboard, that doesn't mean I don't get lots of them :-(

You need to be a rich man!

Nah. You can buy a LOT of those for the amount most people spend on
unnecessary gimmicks and use of cars. But I might well make such a
box up myself.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

Hotbin composter - feedback
 

On 21/04/18 14:26, Andy Burns wrote:
Tim Watts wrote:

Finally went and got a "Hotbin"

£200 for some slabs of black EPS and a couple of lengths of nylon
banding?Â* Or is there more than meets the eye?

Not slabs - one complete moulded bin.

As I said, if you want to be thrifty, you can make one the classic way
(pallets, larger heap, random bits of celotex)

I was very clear - I am time poor so £200 for almost[1] no setup time is
actually worth it. If you have naff all else going on, of course you
could do as well with minimal expense :)

[1] I made a simple level base next to a path by putting 4x 400mm pavers
on bricks dug into the ground to get it level.

Hotbin composter - feedback
 

On 21/04/18 12:12, Nick Maclaren wrote:
In article ,
Tim Watts wrote:
A long while ago I made some enquiries here about hot composting.

Most interesting. I might consider that for grass cuttings, which are
a right pain on a cold heap. While I currently don't compost paper
and cardboard, that doesn't mean I don't get lots of them :-(


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.



Just hit 70C in the heap centre - wow.

I have now filled it right up with grass, chippings, cardboard and some
unrotted crud from the top of the daleks.

The real point of interest for me will be "how fast does the volume go
down?"

I seen it said grass (my main bulk) is 80% water and once this has been
steamed off, a bin load will eventually become about 2kg of compost.

I've just cleaned up the dalek bins dug some old semi rotted wood chips
into them to help aerate and one bin is nearly usable compost.

Hotbin composter - feedback
 

On 21/04/2018 12:12, Nick Maclaren wrote:
In article ,
Tim Watts wrote:

A long while ago I made some enquiries here about hot composting.

Most interesting. I might consider that for grass cuttings, which are
a right pain on a cold heap. While I currently don't compost paper
and cardboard, that doesn't mean I don't get lots of them :-(

I think it depends how much bulk you add at once rather than what they
are. I always try to put some rough prunings in with the grass cuttings
but adding a cubic metre at a time I generally get a hot compost heap
without actually doing anything special. I try never to squash it down
when adding grass and I have had the interior smouldering once or twice.

I always had trouble with grass cuttings going slimy in small amounts.
The stuff sold as Garotta will help in borderline cases by seeding the
mix with the right sort of bacteria and a bit of easy food for them.

--
Regards,
Martin Brown

Hotbin composter - feedback
 

On Sat, 21 Apr 2018 16:26:39 +0100, Tim Watts
wrote:

On 21/04/18 14:26, Andy Burns wrote:
Tim Watts wrote:

Finally went and got a "Hotbin"
SNIP

Hi, would any of these hot composters be suitable for a "load and
leave" approach?

I have to do a spot of maintenance in a fortnight, but having only
four days, there would be only time to drop the grass cuttings in and
maybe shred some of the branches that I cut last year.

The compost would then be left for a month or two as it is difficult
to get time to visit the garden.

Would the compost be a fire risk, or would it just "cook" in the
middle and stay green/ brown on the outside.

If unattended composting is possible, what compost bin is the most
suitable for the UK/ Ireland.

Regards

AB