Best Composting Toilet For A Skoolie

Everybody does it, but nobody wants to talk about it.  You all know what we are talking about.  The deed that no one speaks of.  The deuce, number two, making potty, dookie, poop.  I could go on and on, but I digress.

Yes, we all do the “doo” and we have to do it somewhere.  I can’t think of a better place to do so than in our own skoolie.  

Get this though, no stinky smells.  It doesn’t smell like a gas station bathroom and neither should it.  Going potty in your own bus should be easy, pleasant, and with no foul side effects.

It all starts with the proper toilet for your skoolie.  

What is the best composting toilet for a skoolie?  The biggest surprise here is that it may not be a composting toilet at all.

What Kind Of Toilet Does A Skoolie Use?

To ask what kind of toilet does a skoolie uses is like asking what kind of shoes do humans wear.

It’s too subjective of a question to give an intelligent and meaningful answer.  

What kind of toilet goes into a skoolie?  The kind of toilet that works best for you!  It is a statement we repeat often.  The best “insert subject” for a skoolie is what works best for you!

In our first build, we tried a homemade composting toilet with a urine diverter to our grey tank.  Don loved it and Nat hated it.  

Suffice it to say, in our second DIY conversion we used a cassette toilet.  Nat loved it and Don tolerated it.  Well, Don tolerated emptying it.  It was easy to “dump” and really no big deal.  He just really didn’t like the product that he was dumping.

On to our third conversion.  We have not decided yet what we will put in our skoolie bathroom, but we are leaning towards a different kind of composting toilet.  

We are looking for something that has good qualities of both of the toilets we have used without the “yukky” parts.

Let’s take a look at a couple of composting toilets on the market.

What Is The Best Composting Toilet On The Market?

The best composting toilet on the market is obviously going to differ from one person’s opinion to another.  For the purposes of this post, we will look at the two best-selling composting toilets.  

We’ll talk about the good and the not so good of each and let you decide which you think would be best for you.  

C-Head Composting Toilet

The C-Head composting toilet is a very solid and viable choice for your skoolie.  

Cost:  $1,005

The above cost includes a urine diverter, rubber tie-down, and a shower seal kit.  

The footprint for the C-Head is only 16” wide and 20” deep.  It is advised to allow for another 16” of knee space while sitting and a minimum of an additional 36” of headroom.

The C-head does not use an agitator to mix the composting medium with your waste.  It does have a fan and ventilation system but advises it is not necessary to use if you empty it once per week.  

Nature’s Head Composting Toilet

Cost: $1,030

The Nature’s Head composting toilet seems to be the most popular choice for composting toilets in the skoolie community.  

Honestly, we still don’t understand why this is so.  The Nature’s Head is the most expensive composting toilet on the market and it has an internal agitator that mixes the composting medium with the human waste.

These agitators have to be cleaned as they tend to get “caked” on waste and compost medium on them.

As far as size and footprint go, the Nature’s Head toilet is 22” L x 20.5” W x 21.7” H.

The price above is with a urine container bucket.  Only one of them by the way.  They fill up fast. 

If you want to divert your urine to your grey tank, you are going to have to do the modifications yourself.  Nature’s Head does not have a urine diverter kit as an accessory item.   

What Are The Drawbacks Of A Composting Toilet?

The composting toilet is a very good option for skoolie life.  No black tank to contend with ever!  That means not having to find and pay for dump sites!

Even better than that, is you do not have to deal with the stink and mess of dumping a black tank!

There are a few drawbacks to the composting toilet thought.  As great as it is for off-grid living, you still have to put your waste somewhere.  Whether you bag it up and properly dispose of it in a trashcan, or burn it in a contained campfire, it has to go somewhere.

The urine tanks do fill up rather quickly.  We do not know if you have ever had to drain a gallon or so of urine, but good lord it smells bad!  Urine, when it has sit a few days, smells as bad or worse than solid wastes.  

This is why diverting it to your grey water tank is so popular.

Another drawback to composting toilets really just has to do with the Nature’s Head toilet.  As we mentioned earlier, the agitator has to be periodically cleaned as it does get caked up with poo and compost medium.

Aside from the few inconveniences, the composting toilet is a great option and we look forward to making our own for our current build.

How Do You Run Plumbing In A Skoolie?

Running plumbing in a skoolie is no different than running plumbing in an RV.  It is different than running plumbing in a sticks and bricks type of dwelling. 

We prefer to use Pex plumbing with Sharkbite connections.  The reason is that it is flexible and reliable against leaks.  A skoolie can get awfully “bumpy” sometimes and we want to make sure our plumbing connections stay together.

Running plumbing in a skoolie is surprisingly quite simple and easy.

We wrote an in-depth post on Skoolie Plumbing here.  Check it out and let us know if we missed something.  

What Is A Cassette Toilet?

A cassette toilet is a portable toilet that is permanently affixed to your skoolie or RV.  It has a holding tank where liquids and solids are collected.  When the holding tank is at or near capacity, you detach the holding tank from the upper toilet for disposal. 

You dispose of the waste product in either a normal toilet at a rest area or public toilet and then reattach to the other half.  It is important to remember that liquids and waste weigh approximately 8 pounds per gallon and the typical holding tank is three to five gallons.  

Basically, a cassette toilet and a portable toilet are the same things, but a portable toilet is not attached to or affixed to the skoolie or RV. 

DIY Skoolie Composting Toilet

It is understandable that so many people are opting to make their own composting toilet rather than dish out a thousand dollars or more for a toilet.  I mean, composting toilets are a lot of money.  

It feels like flushing money down the drain.  *rim shot*

Best Skoolie Toilet

The best skoolie toilet is the toilet that works best for you, your family and your own needs.  It may be a toilet with a black tank or it may be a bucket with a bag.  

The best toilet for us has been the Thetford portable toilet.  Basically a cassette toilet but not permanently attached.  For our next skoolie project, we are going to do a modified composting toilet. 

It just all depends on your rig and your current situation.  The thing we would encourage everyone most of all is that if a toilet situation is not exactly working for you, do not be afraid to change it mid-stream.  (pun intended)

Skoolie Essentials

There are some skoolie essential items that should go right along with your toilet and bathroom.  Here are a few suggestions we have 

Glass Spray Bottles with Labels

We love these bottles!  They are made out of glass, so no worries about them cracking or breaking down from cleaning solutions.  They also come with labels which is great!

We use them for vinegar to spray down our urine diverter and another with essential oils for air freshener.  

Essential Oils

Having natural air freshener oils keeps our bathroom smelling clean and fresh.  Mix a little oil with some distilled water and spray onto a hand towel or mat to keep it light and fresh.

Floor Mat

Having a floor mat to rest your feet on while doing your business seems like an insignificant thing, but on those cold mornings, having a rug between your piggies and the floor is nice!

Motion Sensor Bathroom Light

This is one of our favorite items for our bathroom.  As you stumble to the bathroom like a zombie at 4:38 am, you don’t have to worry about finding a light switch.  It is soft but bright enough to see what you need to see without blinding you.  

Wrap Up – Best Composting Toilet For A Skoolie

What is the best composting toilet for a skoolie?  The one that works best for you.  Granted, it is not realistic to pay a thousand dollars a pop until you find a good composting toilet you are happy with.  

Honestly, if you are dead set on a composting toilet, we suggest you make one before dropping a grand on a shitter.  

If the homemade one doesn’t work for you, then consider investing money in a more luxurious and pre-made composting toilet.

Whatever you choose, we would love to hear how happy and satisfied you are with yours.

Leave a comment and let us know!  We look forward to connecting with you.