Composting Toilet Installation

Installation of the composting toilet itself is pretty straight forward. Much more effort was required removing the old toilet and adjusting the floor than was required for the actual installation of the toilet.

Remove the existing toilet system parts, including:

• Holding tank
• Holding tank pump piping
• Y-valve
• Toilet and piping. Removing the toilet itself proved most difficult since the bolts holding it in place were stripped. A hacksaw was the final solution.

Test fit

Test fit the Airhead toilet. The back few inches of my head has a significant sloped area. This greatly reduces the working area of the toilet. After test fitting I decided to add a raised floor so that I could get the maximum front-to-back clearance.

 Make raised floor. I made the raised floor out of 1/2" plywood, cut to shape using a cardboard template and supported by 1x3 spruce boards. I stained and varnished the floor to match the rest of my bright-work. I used brass L-brackets to hold the raised floor in place. This will allow for easy removal if I need to get access below.

Install Airhead unit. The toilet unit itself is literally as easy as screwing in 4 screws into the two brackets.

Installed with raised floor

Install air fan. I have an existing cowl vent into the bathroom. I simply screwed the fan assembly on top of the existing vent whole.

Fan assembly attached to cowl vent

Run vent hose. I used 6 feet of vent hose and simply attached it to the wall with 1 1/2" plastic pipe brackets. Once the pipe is tucked in properly it isn't as ugly as I expected.

Run wiring.  I used standard 14 gauge wire (overkill I think) to wire directly from the fan to my auxiliary battery. I have two medium sized solar panels that keep up the charge on the battery. I don't even notice the load of the vent fan on my electrical. 

Test run! I will update later with my production review of the toilet.