What about going to Canadian Tire and picking up some heat tape...it also could be called heat trace? It is a long warming cord that is actually wrapped around water pipes under mobile homes to keep them from freezing in the wintertime. It looks like a funny electrical cord that has a thermostat on it and actually is fairly inexpensive. When wrapped around the waterpipes it keeps the pipes just above the freezing point but still cool. We used one in the basement of our greenhouse/potting shed for years (to do just as you would like to do) until a cold storage area was built in our basement in the house.

I have been using an 18" Danby portable for about four years and have had no issues with it yet, other then it does not clean avocado from anything, everything else works fine. I like the fact that it takes salt and that it has a filter and that when it runs out of salt or dryer liquid it continues to work with just the light showing to remind you that you have an issue. It is much quieter than the 24 inch 15 year old DW it replaced. Like all of the new dishwashers it has a longer cycle time, so I tend to run it last thing at night as it will hog your kitchen if you try to run it during the day. The hoses are relatively inexpensive plastic and while they feel cheap they have performed without issue. The manual for this model did not explain how to use the salt function and you really need it if you are in a hard water area. In the big picture you unscrew the reservoir and dump in about four pounds of salt. Salt can be bought at home depot- a 40 pound bag is less than $6.00 currently. You do have to find storage somewhere in your house or garage for the other 36 pounds I still haven't finished the first bag. I contacted Danby directly about how to use the salt and they were very responsive. Who knows maybe they have even corrected their manual by now to include the missing pages explaining where to insert the salt.....it does not have an internal garbage disposal so you do have to rinse the bigger chunks off the plates. I do not wash the plates and then put them in the dishwasher. I just clear the big chunks. The DW is relatively easy to move around and its looks have held up very well. I bought it used on craigslist for $100. The prior owners had children and had not bothered to clean the filter. The first time I ran it a lot of water accumulated in the bottom of the cabinet. I had to scoop it out, poke around to clear the block and then clean the filter. I clean the filter every couple of months and it takes less than two minutes to do-you remove the filter very easily it just unscrews, you then run it underwater scrape off anything visible and then screw it back in. I would recommend this dishwasher.

What about my geographical area- central Florida. 2004?? had three hurricanes in just a few weeks. Many , many people were out of city/county power for six plus weeks. Gas types not feasible because trees blocked roads for weeks, no gas was able to be delivered. I have three friends close friends with generators. Two of them have Generac- one has 9,000 the other 7,000 I think. Both ran for weeks. One of them starts each month and runs for 10 minutes with self check system. This one is natural gas. Other is propane. Next door neighbor has gas 4,000??. Used sparingly during storm- and I do mean sparingly- bath water/toilet was taken from rain spouts (never ending rain). Used for frig only. Grill for cooking. That generator would not start again when checked/cleaned for storage after hurricanes. I want a propane for upcoming build. Acreage/rural, so no natural gas. What brands do those of you who do not like Generac suggest?? Thx

The bad news is... you will never get them all. Some eggs and tiny worms always end up in your castings. You can pick and sort and drive yourself crazy but a few always get through. I screen my castings with an eight inch screen and plenty of tiny worms and eggs end up in the finished cast. If wanting to recover most eggs and worms.. I will screen a little bit and then spread the casting material on a bench and handpick eggs and small worms. You can get most this way. I store my castings in plastic cat litter buckets. I drill several eight inch holes around the top of the bucket underneath where the lid latches. Do not fill with castings above these holes. This allows air for your castings. You can put a food source in the top like half an avocado and it will draw worms to it. Cover with a small piece of wet newspaper. Every now and then pick a scoop up under your food source to recover worms and add to another bin. I keep the castings moist with a spray bottle about once a month and keep the lid closed tight. This helps to keep in the moisture. We need the moisture for the worms and the bacteria in the castings. I hope this helps you. Don't go crazy over this... its just part of the deal. The worms have it much tougher in nature. Their life expectancy there is very short. I can post a picture if you need one.