I just wanted to clarify if the waterline is installed below the frost line, and only the spigot freezes?

Alternately to your building a hot pile, could you turn off the water inside the house/garage/basement/other frost-free place to that exterior waterline? If yes, then you could drain the water from the line, so no water remains in the line and spigot to freeze.

If you cannot turn off the water to that line, and there is access to the line inside the basement/house, you might consider having a plumber install a shut-off valve on the line, so you henceforth could drain the line and spigot and save it all from freezing (and worrying about it).

Your compost idea is unique, but I'm afraid that I can't advice you there. However, if you have lots of fresh horse manure, you might be interested in looking at this link.

Here is a link that might be useful: Swedish hotbed

Yes, the spigot seems to be the only thing that freezes. If I warm it up with the weedburner, it will eventually start to work. We have an agricultural property and this one is well away from the house, there is no way to do a shutoff on it. I think the spigot may not be draining out well enough in our hardpan clay - probably needs a larger drainout area and a bunch of gravel underneath to prevent freezing. When it's frozen, the handle on it won't lift up.

I did look at the Swedish Hotbed this morning as I remembered seeing it before. :-) Very cool setup.

The other option was to build a coldframe type of building over the spigot, and I think that would keep the ground warm enough to stop the spigot from freezing, but compost seemed easier and useful...

Anyway, something to tinker with over winter. I have electicity at that spot and could do a heat tape, but I would like to use bacterial energy, if possible.

I would LOVE to figure out a way to keep my stock tanks from icing up using composting, and had wondered if a Swedish Hotbed system would do any good on that front. Currently we use a propane heater in the large water tank. It's fairly efficient, but it would be nice to spare the fossil fuels.

Cheers,
Michelle

Colorado is cold and windy. I think the wind is the biggest problem with trying to keep heat in something. I'd wrap the spigot in a plastic bag for starters. Then, I'd put the straw bales on the windward (west) side. Maybe use an old garbage bag as a liner on the inside of the west side of the straw to help keep the wind out/heat in.

Then just mix the leaves, coffee grounds, etc. pile it around the spigot and put something on top to keep it from drying out. I use leaf bags on top of my piles and weigh them down with finished compost to keep them from blowing away.

I had a pile of pine needles I would stir in coffee grounds once a week . The pile stayed hot all winter. My pile was in an old refrigerator so it was insulated.

Though the water line is below the frost line, the actual handle and spigot (I'm guessing they are metal?) may be acting as a heat/cold sink down to the water line and are what is causing the spigot to freeze up. I don't know how you can build a compost pile over the thing to keep it from freezing and still be able to operate the thing. If you want to use the spigot over winter then you should probably just build the cold frame over it. If you are just worried that the spigot freezing will eventually cause the pipe to burst, then the compost pile idea may work. Get yourself a compost Thermometer to help you know if things are heating up well.

Here is a link that might be useful: Compost Thermometers

I'm thinking that just the hugely thick pile of material will do a lot to insulate. Getting compost to heat up is not hard but it will not stay warm for long, certainly not all winter. A warm pile decomposes quickly and once decomp has finished, no more heat. and constantly turning up a new pile about once a week all winter may not be much fun. If you want to try some version of it though, nitrogen and green is the key. I compost with hot process to help break certain kinds of material down. (I rarely do anymore though, as I mostly sheet mulch) I start with material that is already starting to break down or has been shreaded. this is so the material will start breaking down quickly. I pile this material about 2 to 3 feet high. Next I put a layer of horse manure or other high nitrogen manure about 4 inches thick. then another 2 feet of rough material, then some VERY green material, at least 6 inches or better a foot thick. This must be the kind of green that will heat up. Locally I use the fine trimming from golf course teas and greens (I also have stopped using golf course material since they spray so much not organic stuff on these greens). Hard to find things that green in winter. Last I put another layer of manure on top about 6 inches thick, and run a little water on it so the manure mats up a little and there is enough moisture so the thing doesn't catch fire. If you can't get really green material, extra manure will do the job too (not steer or dairy).
I have gotten 160 to 180 degrees doing this. Not much any more, again, since sheet mulching (aka "lasagna" mulching)
It's rather amazing, the next morning after starting a pile, seeing the steam venting from it.
Here's the thing though, it will only be warm for a week, since the flurry of activity that is causing the heat is also composting the material very quickly. I find I can use material composted like this in less than 2 weeks and it's completely cold again.

Urine is a readily available green all winter. You might not be that interested in hauling buckets of urine soaked sawdust out to this particular location all winter though. If you are interested in making hot enough compost to compost most all the "compost no-nos" the following link might be useful to you even if you don't wish to compost your own manure.
I've had 160 degree compost in a 30 gallon trash can.

Here is a link that might be useful: humanure handbook