Not impressed

[GeoffC]

Just emptied our hotbin - the first time; so it had at least 6 months of 'stuff' in it.

It was, effectively one solid mass of sewage.

Yes, it's used for a lot of dog poop (3 canines worth), plus some kitchen waste and lots of paper/cardboard shreds and the bark.

Has anyone had any success including dog poop in the bin - we've hovered around 20C for much of the time, even when ambient temps were in the mid-20s and also around zero - so some
activity was maintained.

It looks as though a very high proportion of paper is needed, or I find an interim that allows the poop to air dry before it's added.

Any thoughts - it's otherwise been reasonable, except the lid keeps flipping in the wind - there ought to be a fastener of some kind perhaps?

The hot water bottle is a bit awkward to use - I'd favour a metal prong to push in - either fill with boiling water or incorporate a solar powered heating element

[Penguin]

I just opened my Hotbin hatch for the first time after about 8 months’ use. My results weren’t too great either and smelled like fresh manure, although I haven’t added any to the bin (apart from chicken manure pellets to get things nice and hot).

I figure I must not have the technique right yet so I’m rereading the guidance to try to improve my results.

Poop from 3 dogs sounds like a lot, especially if they are big dogs. What else are you putting into your Hotbin? It does sound like maybe you need to increase the amount of shredded paper. I think your temperatures ought to be above 40°C most of the time, or it’s a sign that something’s going wrong somewhere.

Have you checked out this page?

https://www.hotbincomposting.com/blog/your-first-batch-of-compost-the-base-layer.html