I've been using a plastic stacking system (Worm Factory) for about 6 months now. I wish I'd read this forum first, because I probably wouldn't have picked that system. I got a bunch of extra trays for it too -- I've got 8 trays going right now in a big tower.

It works OK, except for one really big problem -- overheating. Yes, even right now in winter I am having occasional overheating problems, just because of the volume of veggie scraps we produce. We probably produce on average 2-3 lbs/day, plus coffee grounds. I don't chop the scraps super small. I just freeze them for a few days and then put them in the bin. When I'm having overheating problems, I put them in still frozen, which helps somewhat. When it does overheat, the worms stay away from the top 2-3 trays and an odor problem develops. It basically becomes a normal (non-worm) compost pile until it cools down.

The bin stays in the garage right now, and when things warm up here in North Carolina, it's going to get to be a real problem. I can't bring it inside into air conditioning, because even inside it will overheat and stink and my wife will commit mass wormicide.

I am thinking the problem is that even though I can make this system tall enough to handle the volume, the small surface area leads to the overheating. So I'm thinking of building a DIY wooden flow-through system of some sort that has a lot more surface area -- maybe something like 2'x4'. Would that help? Can I leave that in the garage year-round? The garage has a moderate temperature in the winter (rarely below 40F) but gets quite hot in summer (95F I'm guessing). I am not likely to be able to bring something that big inside, and outside is not going to be any better in the summer.

Any other suggestions?