So you are finally living the dream and taking that cross country road trip in your new RV, or maybe you are looking to scale back on things that weigh you down and move to home on wheels.
Whatever your scenario is, your RV should feel like home when you are in it, and one of the most crucial aspects of any place to be called home is a clean, functional and comfortable bathroom to handle your most important business.
Naturally, a bathroom is centered around the toilet, so this is why taking care to ensure that you choose the best possible toilet for your RV is essential.
Here we will look at some ideas and information that can help you determine which throne is best suited for your throne room, so you can feel like the king of your mobile kingdom, who rules justly from the best RV toilet available.
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Rank | Name Product | Score | |
|---|---|---|---|
1 |
|
99
/100
| |
2 |
Palm Springs Outdoor 5 Gal Portable Outdoor Camping Recreation Toilet |
97
/100
| |
3 |
Thetford 31671 Aqua-Magic V Toilet, High / Pedal Flush / White |
96
/100
| |
4 |
|
96
/100
| |
5 |
|
95
/100
|
Things To Look For When Buying A Toilet For Your RV
To choose the best toilet for your RV or mobile home requires some careful attention to detail.
The fact is that nothing will make an otherwise fun road trip stink like an RV toilet that is faulty, leaky, poorly designed or flat out broken. The results of an RV toilet gone bad can be extremely crappy and even dangerous in extreme cases.
We will want to learn a bit about the technology that goes into designing a functional toilet on wheels in order to make sure that our toilet will accomplish the following items:
- Overall function – It does the basic things a toilet should do.
- Prevents odors – Once something is flushed, we want it out of sight, smell and mind
- Prevents leaks – Wear in parts over time or poorly designed toilets can leak black water in very undesirable ways.
- Easily installed – Ease of installation and maintenance is a must, particularly if you are remodeling your RV rather than starting from scratch.
- Ease of maintenance and cleaning – We will want a toilet that is easy to keep clean and maintain.
- Durability – Can it take a clocking and keep on plopping?
- Comfort – How well can you relax and feel at home while using your RV toilet?
As you can see, those are quite a few items to consider. Aside from the basic necessities which the toilet should feature, there is quite a bit of freedom in selecting a toilet with features that match your own personal preferences.
These features can be things like:
- Height, material of which the toilet is made.
- The type of toilet seat.
- The shape and location of the flushing lever mechanism.
- The color, the addition of a hand spraying device.
- The pressure in which the toilet uses to propel water down the hatch and more.
While many of these details are a matter of personal preference, some of them may be details that you may not have thought about yet, so I will give you some Ideas and recommendations on what might work best for you.
Frequently Asked Question When Buying An RV Toilet
What is the usual height for an RV toilet?
If you want to give yourself the feeling of being at home while saving your knees, it’s probably best to get a toilet that has standard height in your RV.
Many RV toilets are not full size. This is probably due to the fact that the designers are working under a space constraint.
The puzzling thing about these designs is that the need to conserve space is likely to be more of an issue in dealing with the horizontal floor plan of an RV bathroom, and so the need to make a short toilet is sort of mute unless such a design is specifically requested by someone who requires a short toilet for whatever reason.
If you want to give yourself the feeling of being at home while saving your knees, it’s probably best to get a toilet that has standard height in your RV.
What are the materials that toilets in RV use?
One thing that makes a big difference between feeling at home in your bathroom and feeling like you are in a port-a-potty is the material from which the toilet bowl is crafted.
In my personal experience, one thing that makes a big difference between feeling at home in your bathroom and feeling like you are in a port-a-potty is the material from which the toilet bowl is crafted.
For instance, most home toilets are made of porcelain, while many RV toilets are made of plastic. I personally prefer the porcelain toilets for several reasons. Aside from just providing a more home-like experience, they feel more sturdy.
Plastic toilets can feel flimsy, particularly if you are a large person with above average body weight. No one wants to sit down on the toilet and feel like they are going to fall through it, causing a nasty mess or embarrassing mishap.
It stands to reason that a toilet that feels sturdy is less likely to bend or flex, making it less likely to break or leak also.
What is the recommended design and materials for the toilet seat?
The seat is one of the most important aspects when designing a toilet for comfort.
The seat is one of the most important aspects when designing a toilet for comfort. Many RV toilets use plastic seats which can feel flimsy or uncomfortable – even on a porcelain toilet.
This leads me to another point in which finding a toilet that is of standard size is likely to be a wise move.
A standard sized toilet will enable you to easily replace the seat with your own custom seat, leaving the entire world of standard sized toilet seats available to you as options.
A variation in the size of the toilet can limit you to fewer choices in toilet seats, or even limit you to seats that only come from the manufacturer of the toilet itself.
What are some additional features and upgrades available for your RV toilet?
A hand spray device could be helpful for RV toilet users in some circumtances.
Some toilets have additional features which can be bought initially upon purchase or added at a later time. Such features include things like a hand spray device.
A hand spray device is a hose which attaches to the water supply of the toilet and an easily controlled nozzle at the end, making it easy to clean up, rinse off and remove stuck debris from the inner toilet bowl.
I personally find this add-on to be a must. If it’s not a function that you care about, then there's no need to think any further about it, however, I think it’s a good idea to select a toilet that has a hand spray device, or at least the option to add one at some point.
The 5 Best RV Toilet For Your Mobile Home
Rank | Name Product | Score | |
|---|---|---|---|
1 |
|
99
/100
| |
2 |
Palm Springs Outdoor 5 Gal Portable Outdoor Camping Recreation Toilet |
97
/100
| |
3 |
Thetford 31671 Aqua-Magic V Toilet, High / Pedal Flush / White |
96
/100
| |
4 |
|
96
/100
| |
5 |
|
95
/100
|
Many of these various options and features are difficult to really inspect by just reading a description or looking at a picture.
For me personally, conveying the subtle details and experience of using a particular RV toilet, in situations where a physical test run is impossible, becomes most easily accomplished by comparing several of the products out there and looking at how their performances all pile up against one another.
To give you a broader idea of what is available, I have selected my own top 5 choices for what I think is the best RV toilet on the market and compiled the results for you here.
In all my findings, this model has taken the spot for the best RV toilet based on its overall performance across all of the previously mentioned criteria, along with overall cost. It has all the features that I find useful and conducive to maximum comfort.
It also has many customizable features like seats and add-ons, is made of an antimicrobial material to help inhibit odor and spread of germs and uses good, efficient pressure mechanisms for flushing, which clean up while conserving water.
PROS
- Full sized
- Full featured
- Comfortable
- Customizable
- Clean
- Modern design
CONS
- It is quite a bit more expensive than more economic models.
Next up, the Thetford 31671 proved to be a solid option. Its design is sturdy, simple, easy to install and maintain, and it is marked at a reasonable cost.
PROS
- Sturdy
- Lightweight
- Standard height
- Stable performance
- Easy installation
CONS
- Not made of porcelain, which in this instance was executed well and therefore not a huge drawback.
This model by Dometic is comparable to some of the more high-end models of RV toilet out there. It features a home-like euro design and standard height. Of all the ones I put to the test, this one was perhaps the most reminiscent of a home experience.
PROS
- It is so easy to setup because it feels like a home toilet installation.
CONS
- Higher price tag without all of the features that commonly come with other products of a similar price.
This Camco model is another solid choice for situations which require a solid design that is straightforward and cost-effective.
While it may not have some of the bells and whistles of the other products, it features a well thought-out holding tank that can be detached for ease of cleaning and a careful design that prevent leaking.
PROS
- Simple, straightforward and its price is really affordable.
CONS
- Lacks many of the more luxurious features of some of the other models.
This model made by Palm Springs Outdoor company is a bit different than the others in in a sense that it is a completely self-contained toilet system.
This has the advantage of being completely portable, as it is not designed to hook into the septic tank storage system of an RV.
While this may not be the solution that cuts it for you, in some instances a self-contained unit is necessary or can serve as a good backup in case something goes wrong or needs repair in the RV bathroom.
PROS
- Fully portable and self-contained.
CONS
- Lacks the ability to hook up to an RV’s built in storage tank system.
Conclusion
So there you have it. All 5 products reviewed here were good, solid options which each have their own strengths and weaknesses.
In the end, the best one for you relies heavily on your own unique situation, however, I hope this has given you some helpful insight in making your RV toilet selection.
But for me, the Camco 41545 Travel Toilet, 5.3 gallon is by far your best bet for an RV toilet. It has everything that you need for a reasonable price.
Did you have a wonderful experience with an RV toilet that is not listed here? Please feel free to comment and share!
