Sunmar Excel NE Composting Toilet

[emilyjane]

Hey everyone,

I've received so much useful information on this forum and figured it's about time I gave something back. I thought a review/starting a discussion on the Sunmar composting toilet we have may be a good start.

The Sunmar Excel NE is a self-contained, waterless composting toilet that doesn't require any electricity and is said to be suitable for full time use for 2-3 people. We chose it for those reasons - it seemed like the best off-the-grid option on the market.

Unfortunately, the information we got with the toilet from the Australian supplier (we got ours from Solazone) said that if the temperature shouldn't be maintained above 14oC for continuous use of the toilet. This wasn't stated anywhere in any of the advertising material (we did our best to research before buying, especially as it cost around three grand).

During Summer it seemed to compost fine and there was no smell, even though where we are nights are regularly below 14oC even in Summer. Now that Autumn has come along composting has pretty much stopped. Winter is going to suck!

We have also had issues with the excess liquid in the bottom of the unit not draining properly. The drain is too high so it excess liquid builds up and even with the toilet sitting up on a pallet we have to tip it back every few weeks for it to drain (we've checked for blockages etc, so that's not the issue).

Anyway, I would definitely not recommend this toilet at this stage. We've emailed the company we bought it from to see if they can provide a solution to the temperature problem, but for three grand you could do a lot better - next time we'd look at building one ourselves.

If anyone else has the same model and has had similar problems, or has a solution I'd love to hear about it, or even information on good composting toilets.

[gardenlen]

i think nature-loo sell that brand as well around $2k in price sounds ideal for just sitting in a spot in the bathroom in a dwelling space being there of course, we had the nature-loo very good great to see they have a trolley now, best thing for urban/rural dwellings leave those home sewerage systems for dead. sad bit now yuppy councils give you a hard time if you want to install a unit though they are epa approved.

added in; great to see nature-loo going ahead with other co's going broke they NL are going ahead in leaps and bounds, great to see their system is simple by design and nature.

len

[Sun-Mar]

We are sorry that your experience with one of our composting toilets was not a good one. For Winter use, we do recommend that the unit should be kept in a warm place. Below 55 degrees F (13 C), composting actions slows dramatically so if it is in a place that falls below this temperature, a source of heat should be provided for the unit so that it can keep up with constant use.
The bottom of the unit is the evaporating chamber, there will be liquid in this area at all times. The liquid in an Excel NE should be contained behind the finishing drawer. If this liquid is spilling over into the area under the drawer, it could be due to clogged or incorrectly installed drains. Please contact us for a current copy of the owners manual and for suggestions on how to rectify this issue. If you have any questions regarding the operation of your Sun-Mar composting toilet, please e-mail us at compost@sun-mar.com. We would be happy to assist you. Your Sun-Mar service team.

[sweetpea]

emilyjane, it's easy to pee in large yogurt containers and dispense it into gallon plastic milk jugs, boys can go directly into the milk jug then into the garden (it's full of nitrogen and trace elements), either on the composting pile or mixed with water and poured around perennials, so that your composting toilet doesn't turn into sludge.

I also like to keep a tall waste basket of rosemary, lavender and scented geranium clippings nearby to add to the pile. They make it very nice.