[Rhodes22-list] The C-Head Composting Toilet

[The Rhodes 22 Email List]

There has been some discussion on the list about composting heads in the past.  Most of that discussion revolved around the two most common brands, Nature’s Head, and Air Head.

These models are similar in design, which means they share the same problem: the seat is about 20” above the floor.  Still, according to some notes I made while cruising the archives, Dana installed a Nature’s Head in 2011 and Peter Klappert installed an Air Head in 2012.  I believe that Stan actually did the installation of Peter’s Air Head.

When I visited General Boats in November, I as Stan about the feasibility of having a composting toilet installed, and he basically talked me out of it.  The units themselves are expensive (around $1,000), and the installation is complicated and therefor also expensive.  I don’t recall if Stan specifically said the seat hight was part of what makes the installation complicated, but I’m pretty sure it is.  The other part is the ventilation hose that needs to be routed up to and through the deck.  So, I told Stan that we’d take the simple approach with a porta-potty.  

Somewhere recently I came across a reference to a third brand in this space, the C-Head, and out of curiosity I went to take a look at it (http://www.c-head.com <http://www.c-head.com/>).

I quickly found that the seat height on the standard unit is 18” above the floor.  Not a huge difference.  But there are a lot of design variations available, including a recently added “shorty” version, which has a seat only 15” above the floor. (I know, it’s a boat.  I shouldn’t keep calling it the ‘floor’.)

The guy who builds and sells the C-Heads claims that they usually do not need to be vented, eliminating the hose.  Customer reviews back him up on this.

And, the C-Head is significantly cheaper that the other composting toilets, $600 - $700, which includes shipping.

Since I do not yet have a boat, I can’t confirm that one of these units would fit and work in the head space of a Rhodes 22.  But, it’s something I’ll be keeping in the back of my mind.

Peter Nyberg
Coventry, CT
No Boat Yet