What are the HotBin compost temperature zones?

Wednesday, 10 April 2013 | HOTBIN Composting

The HOTBIN works in these three zones:

The hot active upper zone
Middle maturing zone
Bottom holding zone.

Feed Me - The temperature rises an the bacteria consume waste and release heat. It falls a few degrees when new cold waste is added, rising again as soon as bacteria start to consume the new waste. The HOTBIN needs regular addition of food and waste to maintain a constant 60°C.

Working Well - With 'like for like' waste and other conditions, composting is 64 times faster at 70°C than it is at 10°C.

It would take 6 months in an open heap (average 10°C) to reach the same stage the HOTBIN reaches in 7 days at 60°C.

The Top Layer

In the HOTBIN the upper 10 to 20cm of waste
is the hottest, typically 50 - 70°C.

The Bottom Layer

As the maturing phase sets in and the lignin decomposition starts. less heat is produced
and the temperature is marginally above
ambient at around 10 - 20°C.

My HotBin was hot and is now cooling down, losing temperature, why?

This is usually caused by a lack of new waste for bacteria to feed on. Solution: add more waste mix. If new food waste is present, add more bulking agent. (The compost can become compact, preventing air circulation, which slows growth and hence heat. Stir in bulking agent and cardboard pieces).