Compost Power

[FLINTUS]

This is a thought I had the other day while I was at the back of the garden where we leave our grass-cuttings. The amount of heat given out from decomposition of the grass is amazing.
The hingebacks outdoor pen is too far from the house to run electricity to, so what I was thinking is a cold frame, with a dug out pit of grass-cuttings. On top, a metal grid would be put on, so the tortoises couldn't get burnt-it actually burnt my feet the other day. I know it's all a bit Victorian greenhousey, but I think it might be quite effective during summer.
Any comments?

[becciwales]

Could the gasses affect them? That would be my only question. I don't know the answer, just a thought x

[FLINTUS]

Possibly, but I would suspect ventilation during the daytime would stop that. It would only be used on warm nights, but it would allow me to leave the tortoises out over night.

[becciwales]

It would be a great idea if it would work and is safe x

[Gordon]

Ben you do talk a load of cr-p
On the other hand there is no reason it wouldn't work i did see somewhere abroad ages ago the had a similar type of thing going on and heated a whole village but the way they recovered the heat was to run pipes full of water through the compost heap and they had a pump on the line which just kept circulating it round and from what i remember it proved a success so a trip to the plumbers merchant may be in order

[FLINTUS]

Originally Posted by TURNIP

Ben you do talk a load of cr-p
On the other hand there is no reason it wouldn't work i did see somewhere abroad ages ago the had a similar type of thing going on and heated a whole village but the way they recovered the heat was to run pipes full of water through the compost heap and they had a pump on the line which just kept circulating it round and from what i remember it proved a success so a trip to the plumbers merchant may be in order

It has definitely worked for some people, it would just be whether the compost could generate enough heat-and as becci said above, the gases are a bit worrying. I just thought of it as it reminded me of something they did in Mauritius in a big(maybe 60 by 30 ft??) greenhouse. It was mainly for plants, but they did have birds and some turtles-sliders I think- in there. No electricity at all. But obviously that is in a warmer climate than here, so the heat doesn't need to be as intense.

[sandy]

This is how some tortoises survived in the fifties and sixties. Gardening was really popular and so were compost heaps. This is where a lot of tortoises hibernated in the Winter time. As it would still have generated heat to keep the tortoises from getting frozen.
So not such a bad idea in theory.
Not sure how it would work, but always worth a try.
I know I have used grass cuttings in my boxy enclosure (when I hibernated them outside) as the cuttings helped keep the frost and snow out. They are still here, and now hibernated in a greenhouse.
Of course the grass cuttings should not have chemicals on them:0)