I'm also from the PNW, zone 8a. I keep a very active worm bin, and it is inside the house next to the sliding glass door. There is no smell or worms escaping, but it is not my dream scenario. Eisenia foetidus (Red Wiggles) have a comfort/active range of 40-80 degrees Fahrenheit. It's too cold outside in winter and too hot this summer. In cooler summers, I put it outside the slider in the summer, but have to be mindful of sun shining on it.
Our garage is not attached to the house and I just wouldn't feed them regularly if I had to haul the scraps out there several times per week. My next home will have a utility room between the kitchen and outdoors (ideally the kitchen garden would be located right outside), and I will put it under a cabinet where it would be out of sight too.
In the meanwhile, I really want the vermicompost for my garden...it is about 7x more bioactive than regular compost, and I'm trying to cure verticillium wilt in one garden bed using it. It's truly amazing stuff.
I have a worm factory 360 and have been very happy with it for several years.
