hi there !
So happy to get great scientific info about my favorite pets : worms !

I am working on an environmental High Quality Housing Project in France and I'm looking if i can install a worm bin in flats, so I need to know if there is any methan emission (or other gas at all) from a worm bin? Could anyone inform me about that very important subjet?
Thanks a lot for your great job!
Agi

http://www.verslaterre.fr
http://www.tripandtrip.com

hi there,

it's me again. Should I add that Methane is the green-house effet gas...so you understand my question? I know it's a tough one and necessits time.
Thank you so much for your time and help.
Agi from sunny France

Agi..I am not an expert but my thinking is that the organics put in the worm bin are being consumed and therefore not sitting around causing a methane problem.

Hi Agi,
The gas emissions are way less than one would think. Worms eat it as it rots, whereas regular composting, some gas is emitted, as there is nothing consuming it but bacteria, and the bacteria make the bad gases. Other people have expressed their concern about gases as they were worried about explosions and fire, worm bins are what you would call cold composting, so I believe there is no danger, as the food is eaten as it decays, by the worms. In every home, good ventilation is a necessity anyway. Adding house plants would help if one is concerned, as the plants absorb and convert gases back into oxygen. Spider plants are good house plants for people who especially live in polluted areas, as those plants absorb and convert pollutants more efficiently than the normal house plant. The worms them selves require oxygen to live, same as us. So if one finds a bad smelly bin, chances are the worms are dead and dying too.
The biggest problem with keeping worms indoors that I have read over the years in the worm forums, was fruit flies and insect pests invading the worm bins. Mice, and rats are also attracted. Keeping pests away is usually the biggest concern of indoor bins.
Connie

Methane is a product of ANaerobic digestion, or without air. Another product is a temperature of at least 160 degrees F. This will cook any worms trapped in the system. My friends in Costa Rica have methane digesters attached to their pig pens and the manure generates their "natural gas" cooking elements. I put my waste products in a compost bin until this process is completed. The anaerobic microorganisms then die and become worm food along with the digested waste.
Worms are Aerobic decomposers. They don't emit foul odors (usually the smell comes from hydrogen sulfide) but if you overload the bins with garbage or put meats and dairy in the pile to putrify you will offend the neighbors until the worms get caught up. There is very little benefit for each apartment to have its own private worm bin. A compost system that is jointly managed would be a great example.
Tom

I am pretty well sure that if a deadly gas was being produced in my closed up wormbins that have very few vent holes would be full of dead worms instead of very happy worms! Every time I check they are all smiling!