Comments on: Heating a Small Worm Bin in the Winter

By: Diane

Diane — Fri, 18 Dec 2020 01:14:06 +0000

Use an ice chest as a worm bin instead of insulating your containers. Put a thin block of wood or stick under the lid to keep a gap open for a little air flow. Use a brick or cinder block on top of the lid to weight it down and keep it secure.

By: Bentley

Bentley — Wed, 08 Jul 2020 19:59:05 +0000

Hi Yuri – anything below the freezing mark with a small worm aboveground worm bin is going to be a challenge unfortunately. If your husband isn’t on board with a fully active indoor system, maybe he would at least be OK with a passive “insurance bin” so you can at least keep a culture of worms going indoor just in case. As far as the outdoor set up goes, I suspect you might need to rely on insulation + some sort of artificial heating rig. If you get good sunlight during the winter you could likely get some solar heating as well using a little makeshift greenhouse over top of the system etc. Good luck!

By: Yuri

Yuri — Sat, 04 Jul 2020 06:19:26 +0000

Hi!
I’ve recently learned about vermicomposting and I’m very excited about starting my own worm bin. My biggest concern at this time is winter. We recently moved from Phoenix to Flagstaff and right now the weather is perfect, but come winter I’m worried about keeping my future worms warm and healthy. I’ve been doing some research and many resources offer information on very cold weathers, often below zero temps. Looking at some averages winter for Flagstaff at its coldest I would be looking at around 43 degrees f (high) 11 degrees f (low). We live in a studio apartment with an uncovered patio and my husband is not onboard to keeping the bin indoors during the winter (crossing my fingers this will change!) and we don’t have access to a garage. What would be your recommendation to keeping my future noodles warm? Darryl’s comment seemed very doable with a roll of insulation and I am planning on getting a thermometer for sure.

Thanks in advance for your help!

By: Darryl

Darryl — Mon, 11 Jan 2016 19:11:40 +0000

Thanks for the advice. What I ended up doing was going to Home Depot and buying a roll of insulation ($8). It was perfect because it is 16″ by 25 feet and the 54 gallon Rubbermaid bin I use is just under 4′ long and 20″ tall. I simply taped it on, wrapped it round once then taped it again. Then I took a piece of the remaining insulation and laid it down in the bottom of the bin. I covered it with burlap ($3 yd), a layer of dirt and pebbles and another piece of burlap..

When I got the cable (24ft), I took an old metal refrigerator rack (36″ by 18″) and tied the cable down to the rack. I put that in the bin and put the vermicompost back. The weather has been mild so far but when the temperature has dropped I’ve had no problem. I have a thermometer in the bin and the vermicompost at the bottom of the bin is at about 80 degrees. I have tons of worms and I constantly see new ones maybe a quarter inch long so they are enjoying the food and the surroundings. I’ll let you know what happens when it snows and when the cold wind comes in.

By: Bentley

Bentley — Thu, 07 Jan 2016 15:01:36 +0000

Darryl (sorry for delay) – if I was using the cables I would likely start by testing them OUTSIDE of the bin. As Mark mentions above, insulation is really important. Place the bin in some sort of insulated box (maybe surround it with straw bales etc), and try simply putting the cables underneath the bin. If that doesn’t seem to warm it up enough, then try putting them right in the worm habitat (maybe buried midway?)

—-

Barb – Based on the temperatures you mentioned, unfortunately a typical home worm bin simply won’t have enough volume to handle the cold. Digging an actual compost pit (setting it up like a typical worm bin) MIGHT work, but you’d need to make it pretty deep and add lots of insulation material at the top (again, to handle -25 to -30 C for extended periods).

—-

By the way -if you are interested in the topic of cold weather vermicomposting (or vermicomposting in other climate extremes) you might want to check out the “Extreme Vermicomposting” package:
https://gumroad.com/l/ExtremeVermicomposting
😎

By: Barb

Barb — Thu, 26 Nov 2015 01:59:59 +0000

Hey, I just had an idea, as a novice vermacomposter, (curently have my lil worm bin in my guest room),,,,,,,, so far so good,,,,,,,but I got guests coming,,,,,,,so,,,,,,,here is my idea,,,,,,,I have an outdoor, stone circle above ground fire pit at my stone patio. why couldn’t I centre my worm bin in the middle of this fire pit for insulation. They have access to the ground and go deep for the winter?

Will they come back as I add food?

And will they survive Canada’s 25-30 below Celcius temps for a few months until spring? I could put straw bales around it inside,,,,,,, but with possible deep snow (fall), I may not have access from Jan. thru until April. Thoughts?

By: Darryl

Darryl — Mon, 09 Nov 2015 08:31:35 +0000

Hi there, I’m looking for some advice. I started a worm bin this summer and want to keep it going during the winter. I live in NY so the temperature will get into single digits for days at a time and if we get another polar vortex we’re talking below zero.
To combat the cold I plan to move the bin to the shed in the backyard and buy soil warming cables. My question is where I should put the cables. Should I bury them 4-6 inches or should I put them at the bottom of the bin so the worms have access to the topsoil level? I was thinking I would cover half the bin with cables so they can go to the other side if it got too warm (the bin is 2’x4′ and 16″ deep). I’m going to set the thermostat at 70 degrees.
Has anyone else used the cables?

By: angusmacduff

angusmacduff — Fri, 06 Nov 2015 19:57:34 +0000

In post #34 I wrote about my plans for last winter using a seed starter heating pad. It worked great and the worms were happy. I had to bring the bin into the cellar in an unheated area. I’m glad I put six inch wheels on it.

By: Mark Krisburg

Mark Krisburg — Fri, 06 Nov 2015 06:45:34 +0000

The secret to keeping worms warm in the winter and cool in the summer is INSULATION! Water heaters often have insulation that is wrapped around them called a water heater jacket to keep the warm water warm. Do the same with the same material to any barrel. Then, use a few inches of water in the bottom with the worm bin elevated so it is not in the water (unless it is waterproof). Use your pond heater in the water with its thermostat. A small thermostat will keep everything at the perfect temperature provided you have used a nice layer of insulation. For box worm containers, consider using Styrofoam sheeting attached all around the sides. For odd shapes, use expanding foam that hardens to a rigid insulation between the worm bin and anything that might serve as a “container” into which the worm bin can be placed for this “foaming” procedure. Even a larger cardbox would work fine.

By: Ralph

Ralph — Mon, 07 Jul 2014 20:31:23 +0000

I got lazy and didn’t heat my worm bin in the unheated garage last winter and they survived quite a bit of cold, down to upper teens outside. They were on the floor and I didn’t check to see if they were starting to freeze or not.