Dry closet for a summer residence - how to choose the best option and what you should pay attention to (110 photos)

Each summer resident is faced with a “toilet issue”. Connecting to a complete sewer system is expensive, and often simply impossible. The classic solution is a street wooden booth above the pit. It’s cheap, but you don’t have to talk about practicality and comfort. Nowadays, manufacturers offer an excellent alternative - dry closets.

Once this accessory was the prerogative of astronauts and pilots, today odorless, non-pumping toilets are available to everyone.

The essence of functioning is extremely simple. Externally, such a toilet does not differ from an ordinary toilet, only instead of a sewer or cesspool, an autonomous system works. The market offers many models with different characteristics and operating principles.

In general terms, toilets can be classified according to two criteria - the method of waste treatment and mobility. There are stationary, portable and limitedly portable options, each of which is endowed with its own advantages and disadvantages.

In addition to the scope of the toilet, the criterion of mobility is dictated by the method of disposal. We will talk in more detail about the types of dry closets for this characteristic.

Summary of the article:

Peaty

There is an opinion that the best dry closets for a summer residence and a kitchen garden are peat. And this statement is not without meaning, because only environmentally friendly ingredients - peat and bacteria living in it act as absorbent.

This means that processed products with a light heart can be sent to a compost heap, and subsequently used as fertilizer. It can be placed both indoors and outdoors, but in the first case ventilation will be required.

pros

Absolute environmental cleanliness.
Slow filling of the waste tank.
Cheap operation. Despite the fact that peat is required special (usually insufficient microorganisms), this does not particularly affect the cost of maintenance, and peat dry closet is considered to be the cheapest in the service team.
Frosts are not terrible, which makes it possible to use on the street.

Minuses

If installed indoors, additional ventilation is required.
A heavy waste tank, which can create inconvenience for people with disabilities.
For the above reasons, it requires a fixed installation.
Uneven distribution of processing material on waste.

Liquid

The ideal combination of work efficiency and mobility are liquid toilets. The working substance in them is a special liquid, depending on the type of which certain conditions of use are imposed.

Liquids based on live bacteria are an environmentally friendly and more expensive option. Waste with this approach can be placed in a compost pit, and in a few years high-quality natural fertilizer will be ready.

Formaldehyde liquids are rarely used for summer cottages, due to extreme toxicity. However, there is no doubt in efficiency in this case, and if it is possible to transport waste to the place of centralized sewage, then this option can be considered.

Hazardous to garden crops and waste processed using ammonium-based liquids, but only partially. Such a replenishment will not be harmful for garden trees or a lawn, but it is better to keep such a substance from vegetables and berries.

The device is elementary - the upper part is an impromptu toilet bowl with a miniature flush cistern.The lower part is the reservoir in which the waste products are treated with a liquid to a state of homogeneous mass without offensive odors.

pros

High mobility. Easy to move to the right place. It is enough to fill up - and the toilet is in working order, without any stationary troubles. You can take such a toilet with you on vacation by placing it in the trunk, which will be very pleasant for conscious gardeners leading an active lifestyle.
Even excrement handling.
Using the appropriate refueling can be completely environmentally friendly.
Relatively inexpensive service.

Minuses

Frequent refueling, in the case of expensive refueling, this can be expensive.
You will have to quite often empty the contents of the storage tank, of course, if there is no desire to sacrifice portable qualities by installing a larger tank.
It can not be used in cold weather, which imposes restrictions in the winter.

Electric

With the development of suburban infrastructure and the welfare of the population, such toilets are gaining popularity. Depending on the design, they are miniature dryers or crematoria. The second definition sounds scary, but you should not worry - only feces will suffer. Dried excrement or ashes from their burning can be used as fertilizer.

Liquid waste is usually discharged into the drainage system or to the ground, rarely there are models that completely dry all waste, but do not have wide distribution, since they require a large amount of energy.

As many have already guessed, all that is needed to operate such a toilet is electricity and ventilation, or flavoring devices as an alternative to ventilation.

Attachment to power grids implies a stationary form of use, however, there are models with autonomous power supplies.

pros

Fast processing.
Easy to maintain - the output balance is very light.
Compact, can be harmoniously integrated into any interior.

Minuses

High price of purchase and service.
The need for electrical networks.
Ventilation is mandatory if the design does not provide for special devices to neutralize unpleasant odors.
High probability of damage. The toilets described above can only be broken physically.
Liquid waste models are unreasonably expensive to maintain.

Which to choose?

From a variety of offers on the market, one's eyes widen, and the consumer inevitably wonders - how to choose a toilet that suits him. First you need to decide how and where you will use the toilet.

For a summer residence, a garden, a country house, when portability does not really matter, the option with peat is ideal. The combination of price and simplicity casts into the background all the shortcomings of such toilets. It can be installed safely on the street, and the waste received at the outlet will go to fertilizers for the household plot.

If mobility is important, then there is nothing better than liquid toilets, they can serve you both at home and on the road, and when you think about rearrangement / redevelopment in the room - there will be no problems.

Are you a fan of green technology, and most of all you care about aesthetics and operational advantages? Then the electric version is your option.

The next thing you should pay attention to is how many people will use and how intensively. If mass parties often take place in your country house, then in the case of liquid devices an unpleasant incident can happen - the waste tank will simply fill up and you cannot use the toilet until it is cleaned. If you do not want to spoil your vacation with an unpleasant routine, it is better to choose another option, or a model with spare tanks.

And, of course, one cannot ignore the financial side of the issue. It is necessary to soberly assess your financial capabilities and relate them to needs, discarding the desire to show off to a neighbor. In addition to the already mentioned basic differences in prices for the purchase and service, there is also a factor of the manufacturer.

Numerous online stores are full of photos of dry closets for summer cottages from various manufacturers for every taste and budget. It is not entirely objective to agitate for one’s own people, but nevertheless I will take the responsibility of asserting that domestic manufacturers are in no way inferior to the best German and Finnish companies, which today are considered the best.

And yet, as in the case with any household appliances, the price is often unreasonably overpriced just for a big name. Therefore, blindly follow the most popular company is not worth it, study the market and you will surely find goods of the same quality much cheaper.

You should consider the cost of consumables. Tempted by the low price of the device itself, you can bitterly regret it if it turns out that the absorbent and other dressings for this toilet require special ones and cost a lot of money.