Worm Factory Worm Composter

As part of my gardening bug, I decided to buy a worm composter. After looking around locally and reading lots of different reviews I decided to buy this one:

Worm Factory DS5GT 5-Tray Worm Composter - Green

I truthfully think it would have been fairly easy to make one, I found a few different ideas on the web, but in the end, I decided to buy an off the shelf unit, since I had no real idea what I was doing. The set up was quick and easy, I've had it operating for six weeks now, no issues whatsoever. It will probably be at least 3 more months until I get some actual usable vermicompost, so I won't know for sure until then.

The two biggest concerns I had as I set it up. Would it make my basement stink(its a finished basement)? And where to get the worms to start. First, I've noticed absolutely no odor with the composter and none of the worms have gotten loose(my wifes concern).

As far as getting the worms, that was a bit more difficult than I expected. The best source is to find someone else with a worm bin, see if you can get some of theirs. Unfortunately I didn't know anyone local. I did a search on craigslist, the closest I could find was an hour drive for me one way. I checked local retailers, the price  seemed excessive. In the end I took a risk on an Ebay seller, I got lucky and found a good one, they shipped the worms quickly and in good condition. Anyone interested here is a link to the seller. Red Wigglers. For those who wonder why I didn't get them from my yard, regular earthworms don't work well in worm bins, Red Wigglers are the preferred type.


Update as of 6/4: For the first time I noticed a very slight odor coming from the bin. I think I got a little carried away last week putting scraps in it. I took a look inside and the worms are working on the scraps so I think I'll just wait a week or so before I add anymore food scraps. The odor isn't horrible(at least not yet), but it is noticeable for the first time.