The 6 Best composting toilets for Your Motorhome, Garden Home or TinyHouse
The best composting toilets for your motorhome, garden shed and TinyHouse
In this article, I would like to give you an overview of the most common and popular composting toilets or dry toilets for mobile homes, summer houses and Tiny Houses.
As you are used to from me, I will briefly go into the special features of the individual portable toilets.
Since I have already tested all of them myself, there is usually also a video here that I link to under the respective composting toilets.
I would be happy if you would also write your experiences with the portable toilets in the comments later on. I will then update this blog post regularly.
The special thing about these composting toilets
All these composting toilets have in common - as the name suggests - is that they separate the liquid from the solid.
This is done by means of a built-in urine separator. This prevents urine and faeces from mixing.
The advantage: no water and no chemicals are needed to fight odours as with a normal chemical toilet.
And you can dispose of your waste (almost) anywhere and even use it as fertiliser*.
*Please inform yourself beforehand about what is allowed and what is not!
Here you can find more information about the construction and functioning of a composting toilet/dry toilet:
Installation of a composting toilet for motorhome garden or weekend house
Designer Schreiner composting toilet - the beautiful dry toilet
The Schreiner composting toilet is fairly new. It was born out of the need to build a nice composting toilet for my motorhome that resembles a normal toilet.
As the name suggests, it comes from a carpenter. Therefore, it has a very high quality finish.
This dry composting toilet is also an all-in-one solution.
This means that the solids tank as well as the urine tank are already placed in the toilet. In addition to its attractive appearance, it is also very compact.
Due to its size, it also fits into a smaller bathroom. All components fit tightly, so you can also use it in a camper van.
The urine tank and solids container are also removed from the top. You can simply open the entire top panel.
The separation is done by a modern separating insert - which goes over the complete width and length of the dry toilet.
This is suitable for both men and women. A viewing flap for the solids is not currently provided.
The solids bucket is relatively small, but will last two people for a few days. The 10 litre urine canister is also easy to handle.
Since a standard toilet seat with soft-close is installed, the toilet is quite comfortable. Like all other separation toilets, I recommend installing the ventilator as well or using one that is already in use.
This composting toilet from the carpenter is well suited for motorhomes, weekend houses and TinyHouses.
You can find more information here: Designer Separation Toilet.
You can get the Designer Separation Toilet from the carpenter here in the shop from 1349 EUR.
Trelino L - Elegant separation toilet
All variants come fully equipped with urine and solids containers. This means they are ready for immediate use. Depending on the selection, the fan set is also included. This completes the Trelino L. In principle, however, it also works wonderfully without an integrated fan. Only the litter is used to dry the solids. After about 1 week, the litter should be emptied. The fan insert extends the emptying interval, as the condensation can be removed.
All versions of the Trelino L have a very attractive appearance. The plastic versions are particularly robust and resistant. They are also suitable for damp rooms, despite the wooden lid. This is glued several times and is very resistant. It has survived long-term outdoor tests in all weather conditions without swelling.
The wood versions are for our wood lovers. The okoume wood used is an eye-catcher and particularly resistant. Precise milling work gives it a noble look.
The Trelino L composting toilets are available from EUR 649.
Natures Head - The composting toilet among the separation toilets
This separation toilet or composting toilet is also a dry toilet made of plastic.
The NaturesHead is manufactured in the USA and is primarily used in boats and mobile homes. Visually, it looks more like a typical marine toilet, which is what it was originally designed for.
It should withstand the demands of the high seas, and it can.
The plastic is not quite as smooth and shiny as the Separett. But this separation toilet has other advantages.
The NaturesHead basically consists of two parts. An upper part with a separation area and a lower part that also serves as a solids container.
The separation toilet is very compact and an all-in-one toilet. This means that it has both the solids tank and the liquid tank built right in.
In addition to the actual separation system, the NaturesHead has another decisive feature:
It has a built-in agitator in the solids tank. This means that it is no longer necessary to scatter the manure.
The manure is simply stirred in after each "big toilet". This has the decisive advantage that no additional litter has to be added.
By extracting moisture through the fan built into the NaturesHead, the volume is also reduced and pre-composted.
According to NaturesHead, the toilet can be used up to 60 times without emptying the solids tank.
Then it is not so important that the Natures Head compost toilet has to be disassembled and completely "taken out" to empty the solids tank.
By the way: In order to be able to stir in, you first dissolve a coconut brick in water to have the starting material for stirring in the NaturesHead tank.
How the NaturesHead works
How the NaturesHead works
Separation is done via the built-in separation area in the upper part of the NaturesHead toilet. The NaturesHead also has a flap that closes the solids area when not in use. However, the flap is also responsible for urine drainage.
Since the built-in urine tank holds 8.3 litres, it has to be emptied after about 2 days. Of course, this amount of urine is very easy to handle and dispose of.
If you need a larger urine tank, you can of course connect it separately outside the NaturesHead separation toilet and pipe the urine there via a hose.
The toilet seat is not quite as comfortable, but the NaturesHead composting toilet is also very good for women to use, especially because of the flap.
You can get the NaturesHead here in the shop!
Separett TINY - automated separation toilet
The Separett TINY is Separett's latest separation toilet and will be available for the first time from March 2021.
The interior and design have been completely redesigned compared to other Separett separation toilets. It features a privacy flap to prevent a direct view of the solids tank. The clear plastic design is reminiscent of the domestic toilet. Here, care has been taken to ensure that the surface is free of any levers or connection pipes. This makes the separation toilet look particularly chic.
The Separett TINY is available in 2 different versions:
- including urine canister or
- prepared for external urine drainage
Separett has reacted to the different needs of its customers and now offers both versions. No special conversion measures that would be necessary in order to carry out external urine drainage. The appropriate variant is selected according to individual requirements. However, you can also easily convert the TINY separation toilet to internal urine canister or external urine drainage later on with the help of a module, without any great effort. The Separett TINY is ideal for TinyHouses, holiday homes, motorhomes and vans.
The Separett TINY is available from EUR 879.
Trelino L Wood
The Trelino L wood separation toilet is manufactured to a particularly high standard. The wooden separation toilet is made of okoumé, a particularly light wood with a velvety-soft surface. The wood is known for its excellent gluing properties and high resistance with a natural wood look. The attached wooden lid is flush with the body and does not protrude backwards when opened. The toilet seat is inserted positively from above and sits precisely on the robust body. The Trelino L Wood impresses with its simple yet elegant look with straight shapes and precisely milled edges. The rounded radii allow the thighs to rest comfortably when sitting and enhance the velvety-soft feel of the seat. The included divider insert ensures maximum freedom of movement. Operating the Trelino L Wood is as intuitive as it is child's play. Intervention aids also make handling easier. Thanks to the intuitive plug-in mechanism of the separator insert, both hands are free for emptying the containers (buckets/canisters). The grey Trelino L wood has a robust HPL coating and is therefore insensitive to fingerprints and scratch-resistant.
Like the plastic version, the compact shape fits into very narrow bathrooms. The Trelino L Wood is available from EUR 799.
Separett Villa 9010 - the classic separating toilet
I'll start with what is probably the most widespread separating toilet from the Separett company. This is the Villa 9010 or Villa 9000 (230V version).
This toilet comes from Sweden and is very popular in the Nordic countries.
There, the composting toilet is often installed in weekend houses. In addition to its appearance, this toilet is particularly impressive because of the accessories it comes with. Everything is included except for the urine canister.
It is one of the few separation toilets that looks very similar to a normal toilet.
The Separett Villa 9010 is made of very high quality plastic. Equipped with a comfortable toilet seat and easy to use.
The built-in divider is the same as the Privy 400 from Separett, except that it is colour-coordinated (white) with the toilet.
The dry toilet itself has a built-in black bucket for solids. You can remove it simply by opening the upper toilet area - like a bonnet.
In addition to the built-in buckets, the scope of delivery includes two further buckets with lids. So you can store your solids accordingly during longer stays.
What I and especially my wife like is the built-in privacy flap for the solids area.
The flap is basically closed, but is opened automatically by a mechanism when you sit up.
When you get up again from the sitting position, the flap closes again. This means that when you open the toilet lid, you do not immediately see what you have left in the solids container.
The liquid is drained to the front via the separating insert and led to the back through the toilet via a hose.
There is no canister built into the dry toilet. This must be installed separately outside the toilet. It is not included in the scope of delivery.
However, Separett has already installed a fan as standard, which can be powered with 12V or 230V.
The scope of delivery includes 3 solid buckets with lids as well as various connection materials for ventilating or dehumidifying the toilet.
So if you attach importance to a visually high-quality composting toilet and have the space for it, you are well served by the Separett Villa 9010.
By the way, the toilet comes with a 5-year manufacturer's guarantee.
Mein Fazit
In the meantime, there is a good selection of composting toilets or dry toilets. So you don't always have to build your own.
Depending on where you want to use the toilet, one or the other has its advantages.
As is often the case, the decision depends on your personal references.
Here you will find an overview of the most common separation toilets with prices (click).
As a rule, you will decide according to space, purpose and appearance. All the separation toilets listed here are well thought-out and easy to use.
If you have a TinyHouse in which an "almost standard toilet" is to be installed, then the Separett Villa 9010 or Separett TINY is your first choice.
If you are on the road for a long time with your motorhome and you also want to dispose of your solid waste as rarely as possible, then you should opt for the NaturesHead.
If you are short of space and have a narrow bathroom, the Trelino L models are particularly interesting.
I myself currently use the Designer Schreiner separation toilet in my motorhome, as it is comfortable, compact and visually appealing.
I look forward to your comments and your experiences with your separation toilet.
Yours, Markus.
PS: I regularly publish videos on Youtube where you can find many short films about the individual separation toilets.
You can find a comparison of the best divider inserts for do-it-yourself construction of a divider toilet in this blog post:
The best divider inserts for your divider toilet.
Important links
- To the divider inserts
- To the separation toilets
- To the kits