The traditional flush toilet is a hassle-free option even for Tiny Houses on Wheels, since many parking opportunities have septic as an amenity included in the rent. Additionally, a flush toilet is much cheaper and takes up less space compared to the composting and incineration option.
Fortunately, when it comes to your Tiny House you have a few toilet options. The three popular Tiny House toilet types are:
Composting Toilets
Incinerator Toilets
Traditional Flushing Toilets
You might be asking yourself why there’s even a selection to choose from and that would be a good question.
Many people who own Tiny Homes want one of three things, to have the option to live off grid, with little to no dependency on electricity or plumbing. Second, to be more environmentally friendly. And lastly, to live no differently than if they were living in a regular house. Depending on your preference, will determine which type of toilet makes the most sense for you. If living off-grid, having more flexibility for parking or using something that’s more environmentally friendly is important to you, then a compost or incinerator toilet would be a good option. However, if the third option spoke to you the most, then you can save time researching and stick with a traditional flush toilet you’d find in a regular house.
Traditional flush toilets
Traditional flush toilets are a great option if you are looking for a low maintenance and a familiar toilet option. The main requirements with a traditional flush toilet are, access to a septic system or installing a black water tank to contain the waste.
The traditional flush toilet is a hassle-free option even for Tiny Houses on Wheels, since many parking opportunities have septic as an amenity included in the rent. Additionally, a flush toilet is much cheaper and takes up less space compared to the composting and incineration option.
Composting Toilets
Composting toilets are a common choice for many tiny home owners. Particularly, because they are an environmentally friendly option, since they don’t require plumbing or access to septic, and many can operate without electricity. However, it’s important to note that composting toilets require a larger upfront cost and a high level of interaction with your waste.
The great benefit to using composting toilets is that they are self-contained, meaning it composts waste in one compartment and urine in the other.Many self-contained models use electricity to operate an internal fan that helps keep the waste odor outside the tiny house, while also aiding in the composting process. Without electricity, there is no fan or mechanism to control odor or help the composting process, which can result in an unpleasant odor. For that reason, we are going to concentrate on self-contained, waterless electric compost toilets that are built to control odor, offer convenient routine maintenance and facilitate in speeding up the composting process.
The two composting toilets we recommend are Nature's Head Composting Toilet with Spider Handle and Separett Villa 9215 AC/DC. Both are comparable in price, around $1,000, and easy to use, the main difference is the level of interaction with your waste.
Nature’s Head requires you to have more interaction with your waste and urine than the Separett model. The urine is diverted and collected into a clear front container that will need to be dumped frequently, sometimes as much as every other day. We will warn you this is an awful smell and no matter how often you do it the smell doesn’t get any easier to deal with. There’s also the debate on whether you should or shouldn’t just dump the urine outside, it’s recommended to check your local dumping laws to make an informed decision. However, many people dump their urine away from the house and dilute it with water or if you are connected to a septic system to collect your grey water, you can simply dump the urine down the sink or shower drain (beware that after you dump the urine down the drain there will be a heavy ammonia smell, you can help dilute this smell by running water).
The waste collects directly in the chamber, mixed with a carbon material (like peat moss) without a liner. The spindle allows you to rotate the waste after each use, which allows the waste and carbon material to mix and start the decomposing process. Usually, this process does not smell due to the chamber being airtight and the fan removing the odor. However, if the climate in the chamber gets too wet the waste will not decompose properly and will cause an unpleasant odor, even with the fan working. Additionally, the waste will have to be emptied when it gets full. This will require you to remove the chamber, flip it upside down and dump the waste into a bag. Depending on how well the waste has been decomposing it can smell like soil with no odor, to smelling repugnant.
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The actual use of the toilet is easy to use and is a great option for someone looking for a well-made, high-quality composting toilet. Additionally, it helps save you money on water, and sewage, while easy on the environment. The disadvantages are the high interaction with your waste and urine, however if this does not bother you then definitely speak to your builder on installing the Nature's Head Composting Toilet with Spider Handle.
The second model that we recommend is, Separett Villa 9215 AC/DC. This model is slightly more sophisticated and requires less interaction with your waste. When the urine is diverted it has several options for collection: grey water tank, infiltration or separate tank. Depending on your set-up, you would pick the preferred way you’d like the urine collected. The infiltration system would require no interaction. The waste is collected into a bucket, with a liner and an (optional) absorption filter. When the bucket is full, you cover it with a lid, remove it from the chamber, lift the lid and then tie the liner up and dispose of it. It’s a very easy, clean process. Similar to the Nature’s Head toilet, the chamber is sealed airtight with an internal fan to help remove odor and depending on how the compost has decomposed will determine if there’s an odor, normally it should not smell.
The Separett Villa 9215 AC/DC model is a great option if you want a compost toilet for either environmental or flexibility reasons and prefer minimal interaction with your waste. However, with this model you will have to continually purchase liners and absorption filters unlike Nature’s Head which does not require any additional purchases, other than access to a trash bag.
A compost toilet is a lightweight, environmentally friendly option that offers great flexibility; however, it does take some time getting used to using and maintaining and will require some convincing to get your guests to use it.
incinerator toilet
The incinerator toilet, like the name implies, incinerates your waste using electric heat. There is only one chamber where your waste and urine collect, unlike the composting toilets where the waste and urine are separated. Not having to pay attention to whether you’re streaming correctly, does make going to the bathroom slightly easier. Before each use, you’ll insert a bag liner, which collects the waste and urine. Once you are finished, you step on the foot pedal which releases the bag liner into the incinerator chamber. Then, you press the START button to incinerate the waste. The waste is converted into an odorless, bacteria-free ash and stored in the ashpan, which should be dumped weekly. The incinerator toilet uses a lot of energy and a full cycle can take about two hours. Fortunately, you can still use the toilet during a cycle.
It’s important that the incinerator has access to electricity in order for it to work properly. Shortages or interruptions during a cycle could result in strong odors or damage to the machine. Compared to a compost toilet, it does use much more electricity, so that’s something to take into account if you are considering this avenue. Additionally, they are significantly more expensive, about $1,000 more. However, if you’re not sold on the compost toilet and prefer to not have a traditional toilet, then the incinerator toilet may just be your best bet. Be sure to speak to your builder about installing an incinerator toilet. The incinerator toilet we recommend is INCINOLET.
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For simplicity, the flush toilet is the most familiar and the easiest to use. If you decide to go ahead with a compost or incinerating toilet, it’s still worth getting the plumbing to support a flush toilet. On the off chance you change your mind in the future, it will be an easy switch. We recommend speaking to your builder about integrating this into your tiny house build or any other toilet type you prefer.
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