Bathroom

Hello everyone, a little bit about what I’m wanting to do, I am from Nz, and currently planning my earthship (probably minus the car Tyers and use something else) and I am trying to work out why the bathrooms are always by the glass house, is there a reason for this other than for plumbing to garden? Any help is greatly appreciated!

Hi Andrew,
I am not an expert in earthships, but yes, I think you are right. Having the bathroom close to the front so the water can go out and water things is a big part of it. In cold climates where things freeze, it is also closer to the heat source to reduce the chance of freezing.

One of the helpful things that I learned about plumbing is that usually, plumbing is placed so that it is the most economical design.

At my house, all the plumbing is on one exterior wall.

It starts with the placement of the sewer pipe that goes to the septic tank.

Then we designed the bathroom around that pipe.

Next, we designed the kitchen so that the least amount of pipe was used and the kitchen is next to the bathroom.  Our sink is on the outer wall so that the grey water is easily moved outside.

On the other side of the bathroom is the washer with it also on an outer wall to move the grey water outside.

That was my case, in the case of the Earthship the water is moved to the inside garden area.

From what I have seen, earthships have a very specific sequence of water-handling fixtures and steps. The bathroom is in a particular place for best efficiency of the process. How much have you studied the original designs and their operation?

Yes, the sequence of the water usage is very important, but having it at the back or by the glass house won’t affect it other than more grey water plumbing. But I am curious if it’s got more to do with heat transfer, so the heat and moisture from the bathroom goes direct into the greenhouse. But I can also achieve this by simply venting direct through the roof.

I would think that having a moisture source at the back of the house against exterior walls would give more risk of condensation than having it near the front "greenhouse" type space. One recent video I saw emphasized the shortest path for water use and treatment. If that gives a good layout for living, great. If not, I would adjust things to suit while maintaining the function.

Hi Glenn do you still know which video this was? But yes, the. Moisture could be more of reason to me.

Andrew Bob wrote: But yes, the Moisture could be more of reason to me.

I'm no expert, but most of the Earthships I've seen pictured are in desert-like environments where the extra humidity in the greenhouse could be very important for the plants. Depending on the natural humidity of your location, you may feel that greenhouse humidity can easily be managed with other methods.

This isn't the original video I saw, but it covers the same info on the same house.