Aeration strategy

Aeration is not the same as drying. The goal is to move the bin toward target storage temperature while keeping moisture inside the safe band. Real drying (more than 1–2 points of moisture removal) requires natural-air drying setups or heated air.

Fall fill (harvest)

• Run fans continuously for 24–48 h after the bin is filled to remove field heat. Field heat is the single biggest spoilage risk in the first week.
• After field heat is gone, switch to Auto.
• Don’t worry about a few extra runtime hours during this phase — the cost of cooling beats the cost of a hot core.

Late fall / early winter

• Auto mode will run the fan whenever outside dewpoint is at or below the bin’s target moisture’s EMC, and outside temperature is below the bin’s current temperature.
• Goal: get the bin below 5 °C before deep winter. This is your insurance policy.

Winter

• Most bins will sit happily with little fan time. Auto mode runs only on the cold, dry nights that help.
• This is a good time to verify alerts and review the dashboard weekly.

Spring

• The biggest risk is warm humid air re-wetting cold grain. Auto mode will refuse to run the fan in those conditions; do not override it.
• Plan to ship grain before mid-summer if it was stored at 14.5 % or higher moisture.

Summer

• If grain is still in the bin, target keeping it cool. Auto will run on cool nights only.
• Watch for insect activity — Cryptolestes ferrugineus (rusty grain beetle) is most active above 20 °C.