kiwiclive
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solar powered wendy house
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« on: April 13, 2010, 12:20:46 AM » |
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ok, a stupid question... I don't really know the chemistry of composting but last summer a thermometer pushed into the centre of (an admittedly rather large) compost heap gave a reading of 74 degrees C. It stays at that heat (or near it) all night. I don't know if that high temperature is due to insulation or chemistry or all the bugs just cuddling up together but what are the options of putting a heat exchanger coil in there and making use of that heat?  . I suspect sucking the heat out may stop the composting process (unless the bugs start playing sardines to replace lost heat  ). Has anyone ever done this or is this just plain silly ?? I suspect you might need a garden sized compost mountain which I suspect may get vetoed by Mrs kiwi  Clivw |
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damnager
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St Ives
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« Reply #1 on: April 13, 2010, 07:20:52 AM » |
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Clive, Nothing on this forum is considered to be stupid, foolish maybe  Others will be along but the best source is Jean Pain, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean_Pain He loved compost heaps and ran all his heating, hot water and fuel from compost. Keith |
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Amy
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« Reply #2 on: April 13, 2010, 07:27:32 AM » |
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Years ago at home on the farm we would have maybe a 1000 tons of cattle manure piled up for months while it rotted untill it was te right time to spread across pasture.
It would reach amazing temperatures, proven when you drove a digger bucket into it and left it for a few minutes.
The bucket tines were too hot to touch.
So, I often wondered about laying a slab of concrete with ground loops inside and pumping water through. I cant see any other way of doing it as you need to turn the much over occasionally and eventually replace it when bacteria have done their job.
All sorts of critters lived in the muck tump and one summer I found snake eggs in there.
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Mudman
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« Reply #4 on: April 13, 2010, 09:12:31 AM » |
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my uncle does this. Works a treat.
heat pump has a loop which goes around the edge of an insulated compost heap- dimensions are railway sleepers as sides- there are three or four heaps next to each other so they can be rotated. insulation is simple bouble wrap on top of heap and some around the outsides of the heaps.
He uses it about one day in 7 (other days uses the ground loop). too many days taking heat from the compost heap and it loses too much heat and can't maintain the right temperature for the hot-loving (thermophylic?) bacteria which like to be above about 60deg C- do a search for composting temperatures and you'll get the idea.
One slight problem is that the pipes have to go around the edge of the heap or they'd be damaged when filling/emptying the heap- would obviously be more efficient to access the centre of the heap but that'll need a bit more bodging with some sort of removable pipe arrangement and i don't think he's going to get that far!
there's huge milage in this i think, if you have enough compost available (Jean Pain used his woodlands).
other avenue my Uncle is looking into is to use chicken poo- higher temperature for longer but it smells i think.
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knighty
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« Reply #5 on: April 13, 2010, 01:42:28 PM » |
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chicken poo- higher temperature for longer but it smells i think. last time my parents used some on there compost heap (and then covered it with grass cuttings) people were complaining about the small 1/2 a mile away ! (luckily no-one knew where it was coming from....) |
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kiwiclive
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solar powered wendy house
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« Reply #6 on: April 13, 2010, 03:04:06 PM » |
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Well, that is amazing! - learn something every day :-)
Being totally self-sufficient for energy just on compost... I guess a farm is the place to do it as it may be considered slightly anti-social in suberbia !
Thanks everyone for the replies, much appreciated.
Clive
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northern installer
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« Reply #7 on: April 13, 2010, 03:13:02 PM » |
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Have had thoughts of this myself,and I have found a way to overcome the problem of uneven temperatures and the inconvenience of pipes in the middle of the pile,I just need a means of transmitting the heat 300m to my house!  |
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"government scrappage scheme still available on Tardis trade ins (dont ask how we get around the deadline...)"
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Bill H
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« Reply #8 on: April 13, 2010, 05:13:03 PM » |
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The Victorians used 'Hot Beds' to keep their greenhouses warm and allow tropical plants to continue to grow during the winter - shovel in a load of manure and top off with soil. Worked well as reported !
Bill
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The only safe place for a fusion reactor is 93 million miles away.
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Outtasight
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« Reply #9 on: April 16, 2010, 06:08:12 PM » |
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The local Lidl is trying an indoors compost heating experiment...
We bought some bagged compressed compost from them and noticed that they'd stacked a mountain of bags on a pallet and then covered the compost bags with bark chippings bags (good insulator bark chippings). When we dug down to get out a couple of bags of compost we noticed that inside the stack of compost bags it was getting quite warm (like maybe 35'C).
Don't bother with pipes and pumps and stuff... just keep a mountain of compressed compost bags in your living room and heat the house directly!
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kiwiclive
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solar powered wendy house
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« Reply #10 on: April 17, 2010, 12:49:28 AM » |
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Fantastic idea ! let me just run that past the family .... |
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shiela_robins
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« Reply #11 on: April 19, 2010, 10:20:41 AM » |
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let's just say that's it's gonna take a really huge pile of decomposing organic garbage before we can power the whole city via compost. But it's a great idea isn't it... and maybe someday someone will think of a way to power a home through the compost heaps in our backyard....  |
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thegreenman
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« Reply #12 on: February 15, 2011, 11:10:44 AM » |
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The smell from the compost is due to too much grass in the compost, chuck in some layers of shredded cardboard and woody stuff.
Don't go high tech and try to heat your home.
Keep your composter inside your greenhouse and it will keep it warm, great for night time when it gets cooler.
Someone is already doing this commercially but I forget who.
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if my solar powered fan is turning it means it's sunny outside, if it not turning and it's sunny my fan is broken, please contact your administrator
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wyleu
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« Reply #13 on: March 20, 2011, 08:36:42 PM » |
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Compost heap on top of screed.
Screed with pipe in.
Insulation
Foundation.
Possibly.
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nativepower
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Biomeiler in Action
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« Reply #14 on: September 09, 2011, 04:36:14 PM » |
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... things have moved on and with rising gas prices and an ever increasing feeling to be more independent of the big utility companies Native Power are building biomeilers based on Jean Pain's research now in Germany and soon in the UK. You can do it DIY or get some help from www.native-power.co.uk / www.native-power.de. There is still a bit of research and development going on to test and actually measure the output of a biomeiler. For all those interested in adding your experiences - please do. Btw. grass cutting and most garden compost won't work - the answer is wood chips, green, fresh and small enough ...............  |
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