How to cool things down

[WMH]

Hi,

I have recently got my hot bin and followed ratios of grass clippings/kitchen veg scraps, cardboard and bulking agent. I have put the spike thermometer into the heap and it appears to be between 75 and 80. Should I try to cool it down and how can I do this?

Thanks for any tips/advice

[HotBinDjinn]

If you are hitting those sorts of temperatures in degrees C you are probably doing everything right. Having said that, when it's working at that temperature it's breaking down most of the material into CO2 and water. This is great if you are using it to get rid of all manner of kitchen waste and maybe pet waste (I haven't used my brown council bin in two years), but you get very little actual compost at those temperatures. Compost is the stuff that hasn't finished breaking down. To cool it down you would need to add something to unbalance the mix in the form of carbon, more shredded cardboard, or some straw, a little sawdust, dried rotten wood - anything you have to hand. Also, you might only be getting those temperatures initially and the temp might drop to a more sustainable rate after a few more days.