Hot Composting

Major_Clanger_2

Hello

I've just been looking on t'interweb for guides to hot composting (concerned about the amount of food/garden waste which we can't really put into a "normal" compost pile and therefore goes in the bin) and I came across something called the Hotbin AC200. Now, at £138 it's not cheap (although cheaper than other hot composting bins I've seen) but it would mean we'd be throwing less away and therefore doing a little bit more for the environment.

I just wondered if anyone had one of these or could recommend any alternative products.

Cheers,

MC

Niv

I dont have any opinions on that item, however, it may be worth checking to see if your council are planning to start food waste collections as this would remove the need for you to invest in this item (as you note, its not cheap).

Sorry I could not be of further help.

Niv

wellused

Our council have just started food waste collections and when I first heard about it I was very sceptical regarding it being messy and smelly but low and behold it is the best thing since sliced bread, my general waste bin is now put out each fortnight nearly empty barring one small bag.

fwor

I've been experimenting with composting for a few years now, and I've found that for the "average" size household/garden, the obstacle to hot composting doesn't seem to be the lack of a special bin, but the lack of quantity to keep generating enough heat continuously.

I get round this by composting in batches - whenever the grass gets cut, everything else leafy goes with it in just one bin, with insulation above in the form of shredded confidential waste paper. This means that it gets very hot, but only for a few days at a time.

For times when I don't have a batch under way, I have a separate "bin within a bin" system (basically a plastic wastebin with it's own lid buried in half-rotted compost in a full-size bin) and pretty much anything can go in that - though of course it breaks down more slowly as there's not enough volume going in for that one to get hot.

sunnysurrey_2

Hello, for food waste you could try a bokashi bin, you can then add the contents to your normal compost bin. You can also drain the liquid & use it diluted as a plant feed, I got 2 for about 35 quid, lots of info online, hth

Major_Clanger_2

Thanks for the replies - sadly our local council is not collecting food waste

I'll have a look into the bokashi though - thanks for that

Cheers

MC

lou37

We got a hotbin composter at the end of March this year - like you, we have a lot of garden and kitchen waste to compost.

It's made of polypropolene (looks like very tough polystyrene) and comes with a bag of wood chips to use as bulk, a thermometer and a mixer plus instructions. It helps to have a some half rotted compost to start the bin off plus new material (try to avoid getting worms in the bin as it's too hot for them and they can block the vent trying to escape). You need to ensure that you mix the green/kitchen waste with a proportion of the bulking material to avoid the compost getting too wet. (If this does happen it goes anaerobic and smelly and loses heat). You can use wood chips or shredded corrugated cardboard for this, so don't need to buy more from the company.

It's certainly much quicker than a normal compost bin and you do need to have a regular supply of stuff to feed it with. It worked really well when we first got it - it soon went up to 80 C, but I think we over-mixed it when adding more waste and didn't put in enough bulking matter, so the compost got too wet and we had to empty it out last week and start again (not pleasant job!)

The temperature is now going up again and the compost has got drier - I now add torn up cereal packets, kitchen paper etc to the bin rather than recycle them and this seems to have helped.

Although the bin does seem pricey, it seems to be an effective way of composting waste quickly and you don't need to buy any other products once you've got it going - just find a supply of wood chips or cardboard boxes to act as bulk.