I get the feeling you are worrying too much about the process. Don't judge how well compost is doing based on how much it heats. A single hand full of green material added to ten bushels of leaves makes a contribution, not a large one but a contribution non the less. First class leaf mold will result with ample time minus any addition other than moisture. You are on the right track having more than a single pile of leaves. I advise you continue along that path by allowing some to go unattended up to two years to reach the point of suitability for amending soil. Meanwhile add greens to one or more bins,keep it moist and turned occasionally until you are pleased with how it works out. And as they say "take time to smell the roses along the way".

I haven’t stressed too much about it over the years. I am doing less vegetable gardening right now due to more difficult terrain , still with deer. So have had less veggie plant remains to add to the open leaf bins. Hence thoughts about weedy greens.

        My leaf bins actually take less than a year to break down, so that’s pretty good. Or I’ll use the stuff at a couple of different levels of breakdown— I may grab some crumbly partly -done  if I need a bucket of mulch around a new plant; super-done soil- like material can be either mulch or dug in. 

  I started leaving a garden trug out before a rain, if I’m for sure going to be around next day, so can stir the pile a bit and slosh on more “ free” water. 

As I see it the problem here is rabbit holes and wild geese. Without knowing a single thing about OP's soil and what's planted in it, several wild geese have been chased down rabbit holes.

A lot of us garden intuitively, westes. I might test my soil if I had problems, but I generally observe my plants and alter their care according to the way they falter. Soil tests are interesting and informative, but certainly not mandatory. A plant that doesn't like it moist is not going to like a moist mulch---no matter the soil underneath.

Charles Kidder, I can't imagine any climate where a compost mulch couldn't be recommended. People nowadays don't seem to know about using compost as a mulch, because in the 70s all of a sudden everybody embraced the wood industry's successful marketing of wood chip mulches, resulting in a total hijacking of the term 'mulch'. I never saw that fast food style wood mulch until I actually saw my first MacDonalds. When I was a kid, my father (who came from hot Oklahoma) called our compost pile the 'mulch' pile.

I do think wood chip mulches are fine if you can't get compost---better than a stick in the eye.

@annpat I never told him to test his soil. And I don't need to know that he has 56.5433% sand either. But does he have sandy loam soil that has problems holding water? Does he have a hard clay soil? Is the soil acidic? If he knows absolutely nothing about his soil, then maybe a little investigation of the soil mix would produce as much or more benefit as looking at the mulch.

If he has the lavender planted in a hard clay loam soil in an area that floods, it won't matter what kind of mulch he uses.

File a warranty claim.

It's "assuming" because I didn't see the actual meter readout, so at the very least it's a valid hypothetical question that any HVAC should be able to answer. If you're a tech, or a tech on this thread cares to answer, given what the Lennox manual indicates as noted a couple times above, if a system's LRA is 15 amps above the LRA spec, and voltage is within specs, what do you advise the customer?

If your pay would go up if you sold a $600 part. (A conflict of interest you'd rather ignore.)

Sales Rep says: (buy this, buy that, buy, buy, buy - he's in sales what do you really expect him to say?)

The manufacturer: The system is designed and engineered to perform as it's listed from it's specific efficiency page. They then put a warranty of a usually 10 years maybe more on the parts of that machine to cover the life of those parts.

Now you think the manufacturer has intentionally left something out so they can get a costly warranty claim against a part of the machine that is the more expensive part?

With the large “boost” of capacitance from the Hard-Start Kit, compressor failure WILL occur after an extended time running without the motor-run capacitor, accompanied by the repeated “hammering” the motor takes from “high-boost” over-capacitance starts.

Meaning that if the system wasn't "engineered" to require a hard start, death of the so called part you're trying to protect is going to die anyway.

The clue is "over capacitance" starts. The kit was not sized properly to the specific compressor. There is more than one type of compressor and some models have / use different compressors depending on size (capacity) of the machine.

Some manufacture models protect the compressor if it detects a motor-run capacitor fail, which will prevent the compressor from trying to run in that state.

This is all upper level classified info that companies that sell these devices regularly do not want you to know. (The device they claim is protecting your compressor, is probably killing it one start at a time.)

The LRA reading is insignificant "ONLY IF"

• The compressor starts normally. Does not go into "off on over load" state. Compressor OL over load is a protective device that if the compressor does not start it will take the compressor winding out of circuit. (Typically less than 1 second upon engaging)
• The breaker to the compressor is not tripping / does not need resetting at any point. Continued tripping breaker? A problem that should be investigated.

The reason (my guess) why they use an LRA reading to suggest you need something is because they know it's a grey (gray) area in which to talk you into to buying something, for a problem (that appears to me) you don't have.

I know there's a problem here some where. Let's fix it. (fine if I am on the clock) not so much in a forum board. LOL.

Something was spilled then ran down drive in secound picture and there is a tire track in last picture. Do you seriously believe we should be able to identify substances from looking at your pictures when you can't identify them standing there in the flesh? There's a 1k common things that might discolor that concrete and non identify themselves in pictures.

Pressure Washer.. 😩

And of course let it dry before you add any finish

Don't want a white pipe running your cabinets ,paint it blue.

I'd also look into just having some of those cabinets built 2 in shallower. Most cabinets are being built to order anyway. It wouldn't be all of the cabinets, just those.

Thank everyone for your comments.

This is an old thread and I am very late to the party but I am more than a little amazed that anyone who understands composting thinks applying artificial heat (heat from an outside source) is going to help or speed up the process. The ONLY heat that is of benefit to and will expedite the composting process is the internal heat created by the microorganisms populating the compost as they consume and digest the organic matter ingredients. If these organisms are not actively producing the heat themselves - eg, a hot compost pile - then applied artificial heat is not going to help. Heat is a byproduct of the composting process and internal compost heat/temperatures are not the same as applied heat from an outside source. You cannot substitute one for the other. They are not equivalent.

An active, hot compost will work all through the winter and cold weather but it will require attention - protection from excess water but not allowed to dry out. It also needs to be turned regularly to introduce necessary oxygen. Covering with a tarp or horticultural fleece in winter can help maintain the exterior temperature from extremes but it is a waste of time and effort (and electricity) to attempt to heat up the interior in the mistaken belief it will speed things up. It will not.

OP's need to compost a small batch in cold weather is shared by many that don't have ample resources for material. As previously pointed out, composting creates a few odors so best done outdoors. I would suggest insulation. One hack that comes to mind is chest food freezer or an upright fridge lying on it's back. More conventional would be cardboard which could be used as carbon after starting to disintegrate. Dry leaves covering heap acts as insulation whereas wetting outside has a cooling effect form evaporation.

Present company excepted of course. Or should I say the jury is still out? (^_^)

My DW still tells the story of how she touched the shoe of some country singer star at a concert.

That 's going to make me laugh for a while.

Unfortunately gaining a "through understanding" of all reasons for freeze-up requires a trade school course and a "through understanding" of con games,greed, cheats, liars,high pressure sales, unscrupulous contractors and inept techs requires a life time of hard knocks. If you were my sister and I was out of the country I would. Ask if you paid tech after first visit and if so call contractor to postpone follow up visit until I give them notice. In the interim I would run unit as usual. If unit cools normally I would suspect dirty evaporator coil as being cause of freeze up. Coil cleaning is a routine chore made necessary by poor filtration or damaged return duct. If it doesn't cool at all go outside to see if unit is running. If outdoor unit isn't running I would be highly suspect of tech and call a second contractor. An unscrupulous tech might disable outdoor unit to assure call back. If outdoor is running and it doesn't cool normally you are at their mercy as to what they say it needs. Sorry I can't instill 50 years experience in 25 words or less,perhaps others can do better.

You should have an "emergency heat" setting on your thermostat. Turn that on. It will cost more but is the accepted temporary procedure until you can get the issue resolved.

Did they come back to repair it?

The fan control on the thermostat is for the fan inside. The fan outside turns on when it's in air conditioning or heat pump mode.