Mike Winfrey

By the way the watershed umbrella can be installed on a buried house as well as above ground.

That makes sense about the comparison to soul. I should have thought of that myself. I guess the compost will at least get me through the winter and then I can install the watershed umbrella the right way I the spring.
This us a link explaining the umbrella if anyone is interested.
https://www.thenaturalhome.com/frostwalls.htm

Here is another Google search that gives more links on the umbrella.
https://www.google.com/search?q=john+hait+umbrella&rlz=1CDGOYI_enUS591US593&oq=john+hait+umbrella&aqs=chrome..69i57.15130j0j4&sourceid=chrome-mobile&ie=UTF-8&hl=en-US#imgrc=_

Yes. Leave it there to insulate the slab just as a watershed umbrella will do.

Also how long do you think this will last. I'm thinking it can stay forever and just be an insulator for the slab. I'm familiar with water shed umbrellas and figure it will work just as well if not better than straw which is is recommended.

Outstanding reply. Thank you very much. You confirmed everything I was thinking and gave additional info. I wasn't sure about covering the compost and I wasn't sure how much I needed. I was going to just pile some up an see what happens. Now I have a recipe. I have access to as much material as I need because I am affiliated with a riding stable. I've already run an experiment of sorts by piling up a bunch of thus in an open area without any cover. I left it there during the winter for about 3 weeks or so before I dug into it. I didn't measure the temp but I dug into the pile with my hand and as I dug the temp rose nicely. I dug about 3 feet. Anyway, thank for the guidance.

I know this has been done but I can't find anything on it. I have a concrete slab that our house sits on and this house is constructed out of concrete blocks. I am entertaining the idea of putting down a moisture barrier on the ground around the house and put compost on that barrier. The idea is that the heat generated by the composting process will heat the edge of the slab thereby providing some heat to the house reducing the demand of other systems. Comments?