Which Camping Toilet Should You Buy? Compost Vs. Chemical? | VAN LIFE ESSENTIALS

Not sure brexit justify the price of a plastic bucket 😅 it’s £499 here or €519 in Germany. So very little difference in price considering exchange rate. This would be on at £220 I’d say. Versus £80 for a thetford it is a stretch.

I have the Trelino and put my waste bags in dog poo bins.........

Ok, maybe Thetfords are too cheap but the pricing of those Trelino compost toilets is just ridiculous…

How do you know when the pee jug is full, I can't see a volume indicator anywhere?

Love the idea but it would be a pain to remove the fixed toilet in the van and may devalue it. For a longer term van might consider the change. Seems much cleaner and easier to dispose of.

All I can say is…..glad I’m not a bin man !!!!!

A brave choice Sean taking a dump in the open air...😂😂

The downside of this is that the sort of scummy people who empty their cassette by the roadside would also just lob their bag of ** out of the window too, like so many dog owners do.

I don’t know how the composting toilets come up with their prices, it’s basically just a bucket and container and they charge £300 upwards for it. There is more complex design in the Thetford but they go for from £60.

Sean, you almost had me converted until you dropped the bombshell of the price!! We’ve been happily using a Thetford PP in our Cali and it’s a game changer. We also stick to the number 1’s only rule. If we wanted to go “eco” we could forgo the chemicals seeing as though we only do No.1’s, and in an emergency we could just pop a bag in the pan. The one you’re reviewing isn’t exactly “eco” if you’re having to use a plastic bag and dispose of it in normal bins. Followed you for years and love your videos, and you’ve cost us a fortune lol, but think we’ll stick to the Porta potty for now!

How easy do you find the "positioning" for the children? I do quite like the idea of a compost loo but I still find the prices ridiculous for what is basically a bucket with two compartments. Good video though and glad Lizzy brought up "women's" issues regarding the loos.

Actually as an ex porter potty user years ago then spoilt by a thetford cassette toilet in our caravan, I have been pleasantly surprised about how easy and clean the compost one is.
I'm guessing - through ignorance really - I have never seriously considered a composting toilet, until now I didn't realise I was prejudiced against them.
Nive video, informative and entertaining, thanks for sharing

Great to see you doing a practical video with good advice. ACTION shops in France and Belgium have loads of natural cleaning products including white vinegar which is really cheap. The compost toilets used by campervans are not really "composting toilets" if you dispose of the product in non biodegradable bags in normal bins (( £400-500 !What!)). From last year all communes/villages all over France have to provide large compost bins, for food waste mainly, usually outside the village or at the larger village dumps (déchéterie). If your deposits are in the biodegradable bags I see no reason why you cannot use these, but I will check. I live in remote France and have been on and off grid for 30 years, but always with home made compost toilets, and I have a six x 1 metre cube bin rotation of outside compost bins, on my own property. They are left at least 2 years to allow for high temperatures to build up to kill any pathogens. After that we always had beautiful compost which we used on our vegetable plots and around fruit trees. The current bin in use also had a coil of hosepipe surrounded by hay under the compost and that led to a water barrel (downhill) in the veg garden, which always had enough hot water to clean the compost toilet before taking it back to the house. I use the coconut stuff and bio, no chemical rabbit/ hamster wood chips that are compressed, light and take up minimal space. Sorry, I'm a bit of a compost toilet geek, hope you don't mind me offering some knowledge here. I liked the look of the larger composting toilet you showed, especially the height and the smaller bucket, I'm considering one for the guest accommodation. Jo in France 🇫🇷

That was actually helpful , thankyou Lizzy , coped magnificently I would say . Expertly dealt with . 🫶🐾❤️