Question on composting... Is this the right forum?

[Javaman]

I want to start composting. I was just doing some reading about how to start one. Something interesting caught my eye about it.

It says that as the organic matter begins to break down, it will generate heat between 130-160 degrees.

Now this may sound odd, but if I had a large pile or container, and ran water pipes through it, is it possible to heat water this way?

Has anyone tried that?

[eleny]

1. Maybe post here, too?

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topics&forum=246

[DUHandle]

2. One needs to be a donor to post in the groups.

[ret5hd]

3. well, for one thing...

you would be drawing the heat that is NEEDED for the composting process OUT of the process, thereby prematurely slowing down/stopping the process.

I am sure that what you are suggesting is possible, but that heat is needed.

[TechBear_Seattle]

4. It has been done, but...

It would take a very big pile of compost to generate enough heat to raise water temperature more than a few degrees. And a pile of compost that big would probably require a permit to operate a dump.

[Javaman]

5. Thanks for the info! :)

[Dead_Parrot]

6. I doubt it:

One of the reasons compost can get quite warm is that the organic material is also quite a good insulator, and traps the heat: If you've got a pipe running through it extracting the heat, there wouldn't be any buildup. you could probably extract a litre or two a day, but I can't see that being really useful...

[Arkansas Granny]

7. I knew I had read articles on this very thing before and here it is

from Mother Earth News circa 1980:

http://www.motherearthnews.com/library/1980_September_October/Update_II__Mother_s_Compost_Heater

Another article about the same man:

http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel_library/methane_pain.html

I found these by Googling "compost hot water".

[femmedem]

8. There was a place in Cape Cod

The New Alchemy Institute? Something like that. They used compost piles to heat their greenhouses. The piles ran along the north side. Inside, they regulated the temperature with big tanks of water, in which they raised tilapia.

I know that doesn't answer your question, but I thought you might be interested.

[TygrBright]

9. Well, if we're gonna talk about composting...

Has anyone tried out one of the new two-tier compost tumblers that supposedly lets you add raw materials as it separates out the "finished" material for use?

curiously,
Bright

[TechBear_Seattle]

10. Never tried one of those

When I've been in a living situation with enough land to use compost, I've always had enough land to make compost the old fashioned way. There is something... well, organic, about going out and turning the compost heap by hand. Circle of life and all that.

[TygrBright]

11. Yep. I miss it.

But subdivisions with covenants promote, um, 'new ideas' and ingenuity and all that.

regretfully,
Bright

[XemaSab]

12. I was thinking about this earlier

It gets chilly here in the winter and I was wondering if you built a deep planter box and put in a few feet of compost topped with a couple inches of soil and built a cold frame over the top if the compost would give you a year-round growing season.

Any thoughts?

[Dead_Parrot]

13. might be worth a go.

How much it would warm the plants up by would depend on lots of factors, but it would definatley be warmer than the same set-up without compost. Just make sure the planter's likely to have good insulating properties, so you don't loose too much out of the sides...

[femmedem]

14. In order to generate significant heat

I believe you need a minumum of 3 cubic feet of compost.

[XemaSab]

15. That's what I'm talking about

Do you mean 3'x3'x3', or 1'x1'x3'?

[femmedem]

16. 3x3x3. 9 square feet. Sorry I didn't word it right the first time. n/t

[femmedem]

17. Geesh! I still don't have it right!

3x3x3. 27 cubic feet. I can only plead exhaustion. But my composting skills are better than my math, I promise.