I cannot keep the HOTBIN Hot?

6 February 2014  |  HOTBIN Composting

FEED ME, FEED ME NOW!

How often do I need to add waste to the HOTBIN?

To keep it running hot, at least twice a week.

The HOTBIN is a hungry beast. Heat is created when lots of bacteria are busy digesting food - think of it like a human - we create heat when we run around, but to run around we need lots of energy (food).

Some foods are easier to digest and release energy fast (eg your favourite chocolate bar), other foods are digested slowly (eg your high fibre cereals). Even though the HOTBIN is an insulated container, it still loses heat via the walls and via the steam that leaves the valve.

To maintain a hot temperature you need to feed the HOTBIN the following:

  • HOTBIN 200l requires a minimum amount of waste 5 kilos or 10 litres of waste a week
  • HOTBIN Mini 100l  requires a minimum amount of waste 2.5 kilos or 5 litres of waste a week

View our Waste Table PDF which illustrates just how easy or hard composting waste is for bacteria to eat. You need to mix things up and ensure there is enough easy to digest waste to keep things hot.

Our YouTube video shows you how to give your HOTBIN a boost in temperature by giving the bacteria a good feed, you can watch this here.

What happens if I do not keep feeding the HOTBIN?

It will cool down to 40°C, then 30°C then 20°C. One of our top 5 enquiries relates to the HOTBIN cooling down. Whilst there are other possible reasons for the HOTBIN to cool (eg waste too wet or a lack of bulking agent), a lot of the time, the HOTBIN just needs more waste more regularly.