First attempt with no turn Johnson-Su bioreactor. I've been composting for well over a decade but hurt my shoulder working out and turning makes it worse.
1- 1.5 cubic yards house waste shredded leaves and proper amount of nitrogen. Pile was much larger starting.
2- 6 1.25 inch PVC pipe with drilled air holes throughout. Started with a few 2 inch pipes but way too much heat and water loss.
3- added reflective insulation to trap heat on the top and around. There is a geo bin under there.
4- no bottom air flow ( mistake).
Conclusion
1- 3 weeks temp spiked at 150 for a week and dropped to 130 suddenly. The reflective bubble wrap was covering the sides restricting air flow. I moved the bubble wrap up 1/3rd of the bin ( geo bin has air holes). This helped a lot and pile has been 140 for 2.5 weeks – not a steep drop off at the edges.
2- needed to water after 10 days as there was a lot of water vapor loss. ( Started with too big of pipes)
3- no smell.
4- would have been better with coarse materials at the bottom or 4 pipes with holes horizontal at the bottom.
5- seems to be working well as the heat is stable but I'll know for sure in a month.
I am planning a new pile with a ton of shredded leaves and household waste for the fall winter. I live in the upper Midwest USA so it will be interesting to see the heat retention this winter. I will add a bit of loose fitting tarp around the edge or circumference to create a bit of dead air space for insulation in order for the reflective insulation to work better. And definitely adding an air permeable base most likely pvc pipe with holes drilled.
Anyways that's what I got haha.
by NGzack76