Comments on: Winter Worm Bin Heating – A Novel (and Festive?) Approach

By: Eric Wichert

Eric Wichert — Wed, 13 Oct 2010 14:54:06 +0000

Has anyone tried using a water bed heating pad? The thermostat goes down as low as 70 deg on the one I have. The only problem I see is since it is a pad it would reduce air flow a little. I have a small 3′ X 2′ flow through design I am experimenting with. Since my wife thinks I am crazy for even having the worms I am trying to keep costs down to a minimum. 🙂

Eric

By: Bentley

Bentley — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 04:43:47 +0000

Interesting stuff everyone – thanks for sharing!

Looks like I will be putting my rope lights to use fairly soon. I’ve let things get really cold in my winter windrow so I’m going to add a bunch of new material and see if I can kickstart a warming trend with the lights.
Should be interesting!
8)

By: steamyb

steamyb — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 20:33:58 +0000

So I went to Wally World after Christmas and bought an 18’ red rope light at 50% off ($3.49). I wanted it to be red so that when I buried it in the worm box, the worms would not freak. My worm box is 4’x3’x2’, so I was able to dig a ditch in the VC (6-8” deep), line the ditch with shredded cardboard, and bury the red rope light under the VC. I then leveled everything out and covered it with plastic sheets. This rope light was long enough to make 2 laps around the inside of the box with a 3-6” space between everything.
Results: Outstanding increased microbe activity and the worms love it. The covering plastic was just barely moist before the rope light addition, now when I raise the plastic sheets, water runs off in streams. This has always been my way of telling that the microbes in the box were doing their thing, and in the winter in my unheated garage, the microbes basically went dormant. And with nothing to eat and cold temps, the worms hibernated to a certain extent.
With the rope light installed, the worms think that spring is here. No winter slumber party for these guys and gals (whichever?). These kids are hooking up like its prom night. I leave a light on to keep them down, but that hasn’t slowed them down at all. It is almost embarrassing.
Todays inside garage temp:40F
Todays inside the box temp: 60-65F

By: Shaul

Shaul — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 21:46:25 +0000

Thanks Bentley for a great idea. A couple weeks back, after seeing your article, I bought a 5-meter length of rope light. My bin is outside on my patio and (here in Jerusalem, Israel) we do get snow in the winter, so i’ve been looking for a reliable heat source. The rope light says 16W/meter; so 5-meters at 16W= 80W. I tried putting it inside the bin (on top) underneath the cover, but it got too hot (like trying to hold a lit 80W light bulb in your hand), so I came up with the same idea as Tim. I bought a dimmer switch and installed it with a plug and socket. The dimmer plugs into the wall and the rope plugs into the dimmer. This way I can also use the dimmer separately for other things. It works perfectly, giving me the full temperature range from low to high. I want to add that the rope is made up of tiny bulbs (not LED’s) because LED’s won’t work with a dimmer switch. Also I read somewhere that the worms aren’t affected by red light, so if you have a light with a red filter, the worms won’t try to escape. On the basis of that, I bought the rope light in red. Though the lights are white, through the red-colored rope, they appear red as well. It will be interesting to see whether the worms try to escape or not.
Thanks Again,
Shaul

By: Tim

Tim — Sat, 19 Dec 2009 21:50:34 +0000

You can solve the regulation problem with a simple dimmer switch like you us in the house for lighting. Pick one up at Lowe’s, or wherever, and simply place it between your power source, and the light rope, or whatever you are using. If you have ever tried one of these for a light switch, then you know they control how much power goes to the light source, it would do the same for the rope.

By: Bentley

Bentley — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 15:35:42 +0000

In reply to jim144. Thanks very much for sharing, Jim! Great info! 8)

By: jim144

jim144 — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 18:53:30 +0000

I have 2 55gal gallon drum built into flow thru bins. They are big and bulky, and would normally (I believe) be hard to keep warm. While thinking about how I was going to keep these bins warm in my garage I had an epiphany. Last summer (2008) I did some work on the soffets under the eaves of my roof. I live in Michigan, and have always had a problem with Ice buildup along the edge of my roof. So, several years ago I broke down and bought some of those cables that are used for melting the along the eaves of my roof. They worked, to a certain extent, but I am never satisfied (so my wife and kids tell me). So when I ‘opened up’ the airflow in the eaves, I eliminated 90% of the ice buildup (the blown in insulation helped alot there too!). Long story short …. I wrapped one of these ‘eave heaters’ around the bins (one of these cables was long enough for both). Problem was, they would get really warm. Too warm for prolonged exposure. So I bought an electrical timer, bought extra pins for it, and set it up to turn every 6 hours for 2 hours. This has worked pretty well. The cables are wrapped multiple times around each bin, with an inch between each coil (i still had the wire hangers from when I purchased them). With the temp hovering in the teens ot low 20’s outside, the temp inside the bins have pretty much stablized at between 55 to 60°F. I check the temp daily, as you can never foresee any problems and problems always show up when you don’t want them too …..

8^)
Jim

By: Bentley

Bentley — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 04:34:33 +0000

JILLIAN – that is cool. I’ve never really though of that as a good way to keep a tree warm – but it makes sense!
—–
KATE – sounds like this “Bentley Box” notion is getting spread around! LoL!
Anyway – great idea with the lights!
8)

By: Kate

Kate — Sat, 05 Dec 2009 05:56:00 +0000

We currently have many ‘Bentley Boxes’ on the side of the house with lights under them. The boxes are sitting on bricks and the lights run underneath. The worms are very happy and active despite the first few frosts here in Sacramento. The only challenge has been that they dry out from the bottom up so keeping an eye on the moisture is important.

By: Jillian

Jillian — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 23:19:14 +0000

Great idea! I use Christmas lights on my dwarf citrus trees to keep them warm outside during the Winter.