Getting my compost bin hotter?

TUVOK

I use a mixture of brown material and garden green material plus small amounts of kitchen waste.
My compost temperature was in the low 20's degree C, I've added a mixture which I read about(basically a mixture of stale beer, cola and ammonia) the temp has increased to  30 degrees C, can i hope for a higher temperature for increased breakdown or is this about the temp you can expect from a normal compost bin.
Thanks for any/all replies

TUVOK

Are there no compost guru's who can help?

-taff

What is the purpose of you wanting to increase the heat? Your compost heap will never get hot enough to kill off weed seeds, but it will get hot enough to compost material quickly. If you turn it, it will decompose faster, if you chop everything up small, it will decompose faster.

Greens heat up faster in a lump but won't necessarily decompose well enough on their own to make good compost.

What compost bin have or set up have you got, is it covered, are you using a good mix of browns and greens.

Sky_

I invested in a Hotbin composter for this reason and so that I can compost dog poo safely (to use on flower borders).  The Hotbin runs at around 60 degrees c and doesn't smell, as long as I use the right mix of materials.  

My garden 'dalek' bins 'can' (until the lids blow off again!!!) run at around 30-40 degrees in the centre if I use a similar mix to the hotbin: (10:5:1 of chopped greens:shredded paper/card:bark chips, and an occasional sprinkling of chicken manure / blood and bone / other high nitrogen fertiliser.  I also stir it regularly using a compost aereator.

madjackslam

I don't worry too much about heat/speed for compost. Turn it every six months or so and when it's done it's done. But then I'm lucky that the space around the compost bins is wasted, so compost can be left piled up long-term. However, I have just got one of these https://www.greatgreensystems.com/shop/green-cone-waste-digester, to handle, mostly, cooked food waste. Many local councils have deals on for something similar. I didn't pay full price, and have seen some offering it for as little as £15. Might be worth looking into.

Pile_o_stone

we have an insulated rotating composter (Joraform) that gets really hot, especially after I've rotated it. We use it for cooked waste as well as garden cuttings and vegetable peelings. Rodents can't get into it (it's a drum raised up off the ground) and due to the high heat (60/70C) it breaks down the waste matter really quickly. The drum is split into two chambers, so you fill one chamber until it's completely full then start filling the second chamber. By the time this second chamber is is full, the waste in chamber one has finished composting and so you empty the compost and start filling it with waste again.. You just continue this process of filling one side while the other composts, all year round. In the depths of winter, with snow on the ground, you see steam coming out of the ventilation ports in the side of the drum and it's a lot hotter in there than inside the house.

We're vegan so our cooked food is vegetables, but I read that you can also put cooked meat or fish in there too. Much better than going to the landfill, and it stops your dustbin from smelling/attracting pests as there is no food rotting in there waiting for the 2 week landfill pickup.

I highly recommend these insulated tumblers (I have the jora but other ones are available), especially if you have limited garden space and don't want it taken up by a more traditional compost pile and you want to avoid the toil of digging it over. My compost is turned every time I put compost into the bin, simply by rotating it a couple of times.

TUVOK

Thanks for all replies.
Just to answer a few queries about my post.
I use a mixture of green and brown material, about 75/25 green to brown, perhaps I should increase my brown content?
The bin is a standard dome type.
I do chop up material as small as I can and regularly turn the material, also add wee for nitrogen and to keep the pile from drying up.
I've got the temperature up to the low thirties, and cannot think of much else that I vcan do?
I plan to add some chicken pellets soon.
I would like one of the insulated rotating compost bins, but cannot justify the cost.

-taff

Keep an eye out on freecycle, freegle and facebook marketplace and ebay. I got hold of a Thermo Compost Bin Komp 700 for £4 on FBMP a couple of years ago.