Stunning Off-Grid Bathhouses
Bathhouses are a great way to get a lot more space for tiny living. Move the shower/bath, commode, and maybe even laundry to a separate structure and you’ll jump for joy at all the additional space you have inside your tiny home.
It doesn’t have to be far away. It could even be part of the deck or porch. I would consider building a second trailer that is part covered deck and part bathhouse.
Turn that bathroom space into a walk-in closet or a mud room. 
The outdoor shower shown above has a tankless water heater mounted on the tiny house wall and bamboo walls from The Home Depot.
Bamboo is a sustainable building material because it grows 15 times faster than other traditional lumber like pine. Bamboo also self-regenerates, using its own roots to replenish the grass after harvest. It’s also bug- and water-resistant. Bamboo walls are great for outdoor showers and high moisture areas.
Bathhouse Benefits
There are several other benefits to moving your shower out of your tiny house with the toilet facilities. You don’t want to get rid of your indoor bathroom completely. You’ll still need a place to put on your makeup, dress, and get ready for your day. But consider these benefits:
You get all that moisture out of the house
Even with a vent fan, the shower still adds an enormous amount of moisture to the air in your tiny house. Condensation and humidity are major issues in tiny houses.
Wet towels add moisture to the air for hours while they dry. Doing laundry in a tiny house can also be a moisture-creating event.
You’ll remove the smells and noises from your living/entertaining area
If you have a composting toilet it’s almost as simple as picking it up and carrying it to the new location. The vent is the only thing that needs to be installed. See more details on my page about Modern Outhouses.
You’ll have room for a full-sized residential water heater
You could use a tankless water heater, but you would have room for a full-sized 40-gallon residential water heater. See my page on the Best Tiny House Water Heaters.
The Eccotemp EM-7.0 ETL Certified is a point-of-use Mini-Tank Water Heater with a tank capacity of 7 gallons. It is designed to supply on-demand instant hot water to any faucet or water outlet without the wait. The Eccotemp EM-7.0 is the only real instant hot water mini-storage tank designed to fit the needs of their demanding customers. With its small, compact, and lightweight design, the Eccotemp EM-7.0 is perfect for both RVs and tiny homes.
The plumbing system is easier
Shower and laundry water can drain right onto the ground without any ecological damage. Gray water does need some filtering before use in the garden. See more on using gray water here.
Urine is not gray water. It is not safe to pour out onto the ground in the quantity you get from an outhouse or composting toilet. See more about septic systems here.
Rainwater can be used for showering and laundry without much filtering.
Take a Look at this Great Bathhouse
Tiny house bathhouse constructed of mostly recycled material.
Emmett, in this episode of Living Big In A Tiny House, incorporated many clever ideas. Most of it was made from recycled material.
Notice how the commode is elevated so he can use a 50-gallon trash container as a composter.
See all of the details of this clever bathhouse on Living Big In A Tiny House YouTube® video. See more about Living Big In A Tiny House on this page.
Making a Mobile Bathhouse
You could build your bathhouse on its own trailer so its moveable if need be.
Because it’s on a similar trailer as the tiny house or RV, it will be the same elevation. Pull it up alongside and you also increase your outdoor living space with a nice covered porch.
Mobile bath houses have been in use for firefighters for some time. You can buy a Restroom/Bathhouse like this on EBay. Check it out.
“Shabin” by JLG Woodscapes
Here’s a beautiful DIY off-grid bathhouse/outhouse by JLG Woodscapes.
They chose a 2′ by 4′ stock tank as a tub/shower base. Two wooden wine boxes make handy shelves.
In their YouTube® video, Laura shows off all the little things like shelves and hooks that make their off-grid bathhouse usable.
They use a Gasland tankless water heater that puts out 1.58 gallons per minute. I would recommend you visit my page on water heaters to see what other choices are available.
You must remember to pull the anti-freezing drain plug to discharge the residual water to avoid freezing in cold areas, or in case of inactivity. This Gasland tankless water heater does not require 110 volts. It uses two D batteries for the igniter. The one I linked to has a 2.64 GPM output.
Tankless water heaters are fine but…
If you want robust water pressure, you need a tankless water heater that can put out a powerful stream of water. Consider this Eccotemp Luxe 3.0 portable outdoor tankless water heater.
The Eccotemp 3.0 GPM Luxé Portable Tankless Water Heater with EccoFlo 12V Water Pump and Strainer (EL10-PS) is one of the highest rated GPM portable water heaters in the world, thanks to its durable steel carrying handle and compact portable body. This Luxé Portable Tankless Water Heater features an extreme all-weather rain cap and tri-coat pearl-white painted outer body to withstand some of the harshest conditions, allowing you to take hot water anywhere. Reg. Price $509.00*. Through this link just $299.00*
It includes the EccoFlo Triplex Diaphragm 12V Water Pump and Strainer, carrying bag, CSA certified gas regulator and hose, mounting hardware, garden hose quick connect and adapter, plus a 2-year warranty.
Off-Grid Outhouse With Rainwater Collection System for Shower
Here’s a screenshot from another great YouTube® video that shows the behind the scenes working of the off-grid shower. Steve from “BuildLife” built the structure on skids in his workshop where it was clean, warm, and dry, then moved it to his off-grid property for the setup.
Notice the rainwater collection system saved into a 275 gallon IBC Tote. There’s a Camp Chef On-Demand Water Heater. See my discussion on an-demand water heaters on this page to help you decide if that’s the route you want to take.
He runs a water pump with a 12-volt battery.
Steve’s shower drain is just a PVC pipe out from under the building that eventually drains into the nearby creek. Personally I’d make that a little better gray water handling system. I’ll bet he does that in the spring.
IBC Shower Cubicle
Using two IBC totes, one on top of the other, creates a fast, usable shower stall. Each one is 45″ tall so your shower stall will be 90″ high. They are about 40″ wide on the inside. The metal basket surround is sturdy enough to hold a propane tankless water heater.
These are perfect for off-grid living. I have seen them with wood floors so you’re not standing in water. They come with a drain valve in the bottom and a 6″ fill opening at the top center.
Use the cut out sections to form a shelf for soap and shampoo. Add a shower curtain or door. You can use an additional IBC tote to catch rain water as shown above.
Add a shower head from the low-flow models shown on this page: Tiny House Showers Sinks Tubs
See more ideas like this in my Pinterest board.
Other pages of Tiny Life Consulting you’ll be interested in:
Vinyl Outdoor Shower Enclosure from The Home Depot
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