Toilet Solutions for Tiny, Mobile, & Off-Grid Structures – What are your options?

In the world of tiny living, rolling homes, and off-grid adventures, the search for the perfect toilet solution is complicated.

Toilets can be a maze of complex plumbing, holding tanks, pumps, septic systems, dump stations and Health department regulations that can leave you feeling lost. Making the wrong toilet choice can lead to a literal and figurative crappy decision.

To find the best toilet for your Tiny Space, understanding all the available options is essential for making the right decision. 

Having personally wrestled with toilet decisions numerous times while outfitting bathrooms in our Airstream Travel Trailer, Off-Grid Tiny House, and Ford Transit Camper Van, I’m eager to share my insights and hopefully bring some clarity to the array of options available.

Each toilet option has its own advantages, disadvantages, and price points. This article aims to compile & outline all the current toilet options giving you a summary of each followed by my thoughts.

In this article you will find:

• A summary of the various types of toilet options
• Pros and cons for each option as it relates to Tiny, Mobile or Off-Grid Structures
• General price ranges for each option
• Some of my personal experiences and thoughts on each option
• A list of questions to answer that will help you select the best option
• Links & Resources along the way for further reading 

Here are the toilet options:

Flush Toilet

The standard porcelain toilet is a familiar choice and the flush toilet brings a touch of normalcy to your bathroom. Unlike some of the alternative options below there is no strange factor, special use instructions or learning curve. While convenient, the flush toilet is big, heavy and requires tons of water. This is only an option if you have a consistent sewer connection to a city sewer or septic system. Not recommended for a nomadic setup as you would be left without a toilet between sewer connections.

Blank Tank / RV Toilet

A staple in manufactured RV’s & Travel Trailers these toilets are much like the flush toilet but are coupled with a holding tank. While these toilets use less water than a standard flush toilet water is still required. With regular use the tank can fill quickly and needs to be consistently emptied at special dumping stations. Even with added chemicals that are used to subdue the smell they do have a smell – especially when it’s hot outside or the tank is full. Dumping the black tank is a chore and finding a dump station when you need it can be a challenge or an added cost. Most RV campgrounds have dump stations so if you plan to primarily stay at campgrounds then the RV toilet could be an easy choice. If you’re wanting to retro-fit an RV toilet into a space like a DIY camper or Skoolie Bus Conversion it’s a complex, labor intensive and spendy process. You’ll need the toilet, water supply plumbing, tank and tank plumbing. Just for parts you’d be over $1k+ plus the labor to install.

My 2-Cents: My grandparents had several RV’s as I grew up and even when the tanks were empty they had that particular RV toilet lingering smell. Even today when I smell that black tank smell my mind floods with fond memories with my grandparents – even though the smell isn’t fond.

Cassette or Chemical Toilets

These toilets are akin to the RV toilet but have a small on-board holding tank. Think of a tiny portable-potty in a box. They are popular in small campers and vans as they are compact and fit in tight spaces. With the small size they have to be emptied frequently. Like the RV toilet these use chemicals to mitigate smell which works marginally at best. Dumping and cleaning the cassette toilet is a chore which you’ll be doing constantly if you have a family or if you’re using it more than the weekend trip.

My 2-Cents: While I don’t have any firsthand experience with the cassette toilet I know several van-life dwellers that have used the cassette as their primary toilet. Oh the stories they can tell of overfilling, spillage & cleaning mishaps! Cassette toilets are readily available and very affordable with prices ranging from $100-200.

Incinerating Toilet

This futuristic option uses heat (via power or propane) to ignite your waste and makes it disappear (or at least turns it into ash). A paper liner is placed inside the toilet bowl then this liner drops into the burn chamber to be incinerated. These units are fairly compact but do require an exterior exhaust system. With the power demands these aren’t the best options for off-grid setup in my opinion. But If you need an alternative toilet that is a bonafide for Health Departments regulations the Incinerating Option may be your go to solution.

My 2-Cents: A bachelor friend uses an incinerating toilet in his Tiny House and he is pleased with it. He travels a lot and wanted a toilet that didn’t require consistent maintenance. The venting adds complexity and cost over the price of the units which is an investment as most options are $2-3k.

Compost Toilet

Compost toilets are a dry toilet (they don’t use water) and they hold the contents for future composting in a separate outdoor bin or bagged and disposed of in a traditional waste stream much like diapers. They generally come in two variations: all-in-one and urine separating.

All-in-One

The all-in-one collects both the solids and liquids in a single container. These are also called a bucket toilet and popular with DIY’ers. Moist carbon rich material is added with the liquid and solids to mitigate smell. Joseph Jenkins popularized this options with his

Urine Separating

The urine separating compost toilet has a diverter underneath the seat which separates and funnels the liquids from the solids. This gives you a much larger holding capacity which means less emptying. A well maintained compost toilet is stink free and the chores and maintenance are more tame compared to the cassette or RV toilet.

My 2-Cents: We have used both methods of compost toilet in our Airstream, 5th-Wheel Travel Trailer, Tiny House and Camper van. We DIY’d our toilet with a diverter custom to our space and it worked perfectly for our family of 4! We had to empty our 2 gallon liquid jug every 5 days and our solids bin every 2 weeks. Composting was easy and enjoyable. There is a wide range of compost toilet options and price points. The All-in-one can be built virtually for free with scrap wood and a bucket and a urine separating toilet can be constructed affordably with a Urine Diverter costing less than $100. Manufactured turn-key Compost Toilets can range in price from $700-1000.

Biogas Toilet

The Biogas Toilet uses a large digester tank that feeds on manures and food scraps. As the Microbes feed they produce Methane Gas (very similar to Propane) which is harvested and can be used as a cooking fuel. For efficient gas production the digester needs to be warm (95-100f) and fed consistently. If you are plumbing a toilet directly to the digester then water is required. You can manually feed a digester though the tank does require water. The Biogas toilet looks like an ideal off-grid option if you are stationary and can keep the tank at the required temperature.

My 2-Cents: As an off-grid dweller that uses a compost toilet I’m intrigued by integrating a digester to our composting process and harvesting Biogas to supplement our propane usage. While I don’t have any personal experience with Biogas it’s on my hit list for the future! A manufactured Biogas toilet setup cost about $2k for the toilet and digester. Plumbing and tank placement would need to be thought through and could be complex. You can DIY a digester and manually load the humanure instead of plumbing directly to the tank which could be an effective and affordable option.

Conclusion: With all the options, what’s the best choice for me?

With all the toilet options the best choice is not one size fits all. To select the perfect toilet there are lots of considerations and questions to answer like:

• Will you be nomadic or stationary?
• Do you have access to consistent water & sewage hookups?
• Do you have eco-friendly aspirations and like the idea of composting?
• What size space do you have and what is the frequency of use?
• Do you need to navigate any Health Department regulations?
• What’s your budget?

As we answered each of these questions for our family and our various spaces the composting toilet was the clear winner.

Hopefully this article gave you a birds eye view of the options available and a nudge in the right direction. If you have any personal experience with any of these options tell us about them in the comments below! If you have any questions about toilet options get in touch! Our team has a cumulative 50yrs of alternative toilet experience and we are happy to help.