Tiny Toilet Talk: Unveiling Our Top 5 Recommendations
After insurance, the question of managing your waste (i.e your poop!) is perhaps the most often asked when it comes to tiny homes…
There are five main options when it comes to choosing your tiny house toilet…
1) Old School Flushing
If your parking spot has access to plentiful water and a sewage or septic system then you can simply choose an old school flushing toilet. This is definitely the least expensive option when it comes to toilet technology and is the first choice for many people… because it’s familiar and usually more aesthetically pleasing than the other options. However, it should be noted that flushing loos are a little smellier than the other options we’re about to mention so you’ll want a good exhaust fan in your bathroom or you may want to situate your bathroom away from the kitchen. They’re a good choice if you have an ensuite.
2) Compost Toilets
Compost toilets can be super basic where you do your number 1s and 2s into the same bucket and add a drying agent to the top such as sawdust, coir (coconut fibre) or even dried coffee grounds to reduce odours. Or they can be much more advanced involving the separation of 1s and 2s and the ability to manually churn your mixture. The more advanced options generally have internal exhaust fans and are vented to the outside of your house to reduce odours further. Compost loos involve the composting of your wastes while they are in the loo.. and further composting once they are emptied. Well known brands include Nature’s Head (pictured above) and Air Head. The downside is they’re not super attractive.
3) Semi-compost Toilets
One of the most popular tiny house toilets is the Swedish Separett toilet. These are often referred to as composting toilets but no composting occurs inside the toilet, only once the wastes are emptied. These toilets separate the 1s and 2s into two buckets. The urine bucket can be plugged into a hose that automatically mixes the urine with water in the dilution that makes it the perfect nitrogen fertiliser for the garden. When the poop bin is full it is topped with some soil and then vented for several weeks before adding to a large humanure compost bin. This toilet doesn’t require any drying agents or churning and is odourless due to the large internal exhaust fan and venting system. The downside is it needs to be emptied about once a fortnight.
4) Incinerator Toilets
An increasingly popular option for those who don’t have access to a garden, a compost system or a septic is the Cinderella Incinerator Toilet. These toilets have an internal urn that bakes your waste into a fine ash that you empty about once a week. You have to line the toilet before you go and then have to run the urn for 30-40 mins after each use. The plus size is there is no smell and no need to handle wastes… and the toilet it really good looking. The down side is the cost of the liners and the use of gas or electricity to run the urn after each use… and the toilet is super expensive.
5) Dry Flush Toilets
The final option on the list is Laveo Dry Flush toilets. Again these might be suitable for those without access to a garden, compost or septic system. These loos have a similar mechanism to nappy disposal units. When the toilet is “flushed”, the toilet twists a mylar bag from under the seat tightly around the waste, sealing in the smell, before pulling down a fresh section of the bag ready for its next use. Powered by a long-life rechargeable battery, there is no wiring, plumbing, gas or water required. When the bag is full you simply pop the bag and cartridge into a bin bag and put it in a normal bin. The only downsize to this innovative loo is the cost of the bag cartridges and the fact that mylar really is pretty terrible for the environment.
So there you have it.. the five main options for managing your waste in a tiny home. At Uber Tiny Homes we have mainly installed flushing, Separett and Cinderella toilets in our tiny homes to date. But the choice is yours – we can source and install any loo you want. As toilet technologies continue to evolve, we will keep track of the latest innovations and keep you posted!
