Your (tiny) Information Highway:
What About the Poo?
Talking Tiny Toilets… with Total Transparency!
Of all the questions I am asked about going tiny, the ones I hear most often center on the topic of toilets. So today, I am going to break it down for you: What people do for a tiny house toilet, the prices, the ease of use, and the pros of each.
Composting toilet
Above are two examples of a composting toilet. They are the most popular option ( at this time) for tiny house customers. Composting toilets use the natural processes of decomposition and evaporation to recycle human waste, or “Humanure” in the words of those living the tiny life.
So how does it work?
The composting toilets that we install at Seattle Tiny Homes are almost always a multi-chambered, or “dry” composting toilet. The urine is diverted into a separate chamber (for evaporation or removal.) This is a significant improvement over older composting toilet designs as it greatly reduces the amount of solid waste that needs to be broken down. There is a small handle on the side that you turn after each use, that feels familiar, like flushing a standard toilet.
A ventilation hose with a small fan speeds the drying of the waste and helps it along in the desiccation process. If you think of a banana skin and what happens to it as it dries out, you’ll have a good idea!
In some designs, carbon additives must be placed into the toilet to help with the composting process. These are easy to obtain materials such as peat moss or coconut fiber blocks.
These modern composting toilets typically hold approximately 60 to 80 uses, although the liquid may need to be emptied more often. Be aware that human urine is sterile and does not pose any health risks, so it is perfectly fine to run a simple line to divert urine into the gray water line (where the water from your bathroom sink / shower goes). Another option is to dig what is called a “French drain” outside or underneath the tiny house. This is a small pit, about 2 feet wide and deep, filled with small rocks. You may cover the rocks with landscape fabric and place soil and/or grass seed on the top. A tube can be run directly from the toilet to the drain.
Want to find out more?
These are the two composting toilet brands we install most often in tiny houses:
Airhead toilets– approximately $1000 installed
Nature’s Head toilets– approximately $900 installed
Incinerating toilet
At Seattle Tiny Homes, we think the Incinolet is a great choice for tiny life. Instead of breaking down waste biologically, these toilets literally burn it. They send the waste to an incinerator, where it’s turned into ash that can be disposed of in the garbage.
So how does it work?
Prior to use, a paper liner is placed inside the bowl of the Incinerating toilet, to catch all waste materials. After use, a foot pedal releases the waste into the incinerating chamber. A button is then pushed to begin the burning process, which takes about 10-15 minutes. The extremely high heat of the incinerating chamber evaporates liquids and burns solids to a sterile ash that can be safely handled and disposed of like any other garbage. When the button is pushed, the exhaust fan also comes on, venting any unpleasant odors outside.
As far as cleanliness and convenience go, it is hard to top, but it is by no means the least expensive option and does require electricity.
Want to find out more?
Incinolet with installation is about $2500.
Read more about it at Incinolet website.
Dry-Flush toilet
The Dry Flush toilet, by Laveo, has a patented process that doesn’t use chemicals or water, and doesn’t require electricity.
So how does it work?
We love to be on the cutting edge of everything new, exciting, and usable in tiny houses. That’s why we are excited about the dry flush toilet. Instead of composting or burning, with this toilet the waste is simply packaged away…parents of young children, think of a diaper genie! A cartridge of shiny, space-age looking liners must be installed prior to use. This provides a smell-proof, leak-proof liner that ” self-seals” human waste away when the toilet is “flushed” at the touch of a button. All waste, solid and liquid, is automatically encapsulated by the battery powered flush into a neat, disposable package that can be dumped with other garbage (yes it is legal to dump humanure in landfills.) It does make some noise when flushing, but results are very clean and sanitary, and can be used literally anywhere. The dry-flush has a full sized standard toilet seat and the advantages of no chemicals, but the cartridges must be purchased regularly.
Want to find out more?
The Laveo Dry Flush – installed about $800
Flush toilet
Of course you can have a good old flushing RV style toilet, too! At your request, we will plumb your tiny house just like a traditional RV- to run to tanks (or outside if you will be hooking up to sewer.) For a RV toilet, there is not that much difference between it, and a traditional “in-house” toilet. There is water and it flushes, although the RV toilet is lighter and some flush from a pedal on the floor. Waste collects in a separate holding tank underneath the tiny house and is emptied from outside the travel trailer.
Prices vary! There’s a lot to choose from.
