Not wanting to minimise your product, it's not something I personally would need. But I'm curious if you looked at what scale of composting would be needed for electronic monitoring to improve the final product enough to pay off the investment? It feels like it would have to be very large scale?
I like the mushroom vibe on your domestic design, it feels like you could have leant into that a bit more even. Cool beans.
No worries at all, I appreciate the curiosity! You’re spot on—electronic monitoring becomes most valuable at larger scales, which is why our upcoming Monty Pro line is tailored for industrial composting facilities and large-scale operations. These setups can really benefit from the efficiency and cost savings that our data-driven insights offer, like optimising aeration cycles or catching inefficiencies before they become costly issues. You can check out the product website here: (https://www.monty-pro.com)
For households, the focus is less on cost savings and more on providing convenient insights to help everyday composters get the most out of their efforts. It’s all about enriching the overall composting experience on a smaller scale :)
Looking at the Hardware requirements of the project:
``` Hardware Requirements
Raspberry Pi (Zero 2 or another model with BLE support).
Monty Home BLE Device.
Additional hardware specific to each project, such as an LED, OLED display, and IFTTT account.
You're looking at ~$100 worth of equipment. A very low entry price point
Yes, but it seems like benefit of monitoring compost closely - beyond just looking at it and turning it occasionally - seems like it would be low?
Like: is the compost steaming, then it's probably hot and wet enough. Has it been X days since it was turned, better turn it. My naive intuition is that adding value to the compost is quite hard if you're looking at things like aerating a few days earlier, damping a little more, or whatever.
Like I said, I'm ignorant of the details, which often makes for a good learning experience!
Yes that’s valid. For a lot of setups, this approach works really well.
In terms of the big benefit - faster breakdown, better nutrient retention, and fewer emissions. Without extra monitoring, you might still get to a finished product eventually, but analytics can help speed up the process while ensuring the compost is as nutrient-rich and eco-friendly as possible.
This definitely isn’t a one-size fits all solution but many people do find it to be a helpful tool!