Are Smart Toilets Worth the Money?
Smart toilets are eco-friendly and ensure your bathroom feels swankier. Whether remodeling your bathroom or simply considering a new toilet, smart toilets are always worth looking at. Not just are they super techy and cool, but they also make your life a little much easier. Read further to find out why.
What is a Smart Toilet?
The term ‘smart toilet’ is a bit misleading, as often, it is not the toilet itself that can be considered smart. Instead, it is the toilet seat. Thus, you may be wondering, what makes a toilet seat smart?
For anyone who has never been to Japan—or knows someone that has been—you are probably aware of the main concept of the smart toilet seat, or the bidet seat as it’s often called. But if you’re not, keep reading.
You see, bidet-style smart toilet seats have been utilized in Japan for many years now and are the most hygienic way of cleaning after using the toilet. Smart toilet seats are more like a standalone bidet that shoots jets of water to clean you.
The concept itself may look weird to most New Zealanders at first, but it makes more sense if you think about it. Imagine this: you have something unpleasant on your hand. What do you do? You do not just wipe it off with a piece of paper, do you? As an alternative, you wash it off from the idea that you made the smart toilet.
What Can a Smart Toilet Do?
In a nutshell, smart toilets refer to the added functionality given by the seats, even though other models provide more features. In addition, the seats can be interchanged, thus allowing you to upgrade your toilet for the cost of a seat.
When we say smart toilets, it normally means they add a layer of convenience. However, in the case of such smart toilets, others provide automatically lifting lids, bidet wands, auto-flushing, and all provide hygiene benefits apart from convenience.
Smart toilets seats have a lot of functions that come along with their remote control. Apart from the bidet cleaning function, they can also have the following:
Energy-saving mode
You are not going to be using your seat all the time. Therefore, your smart toilet seat has an energy-saving mode, activated when it is not in use like your computer or television.Automated cleaning functions
No one wishes to get in amongst their toilet seats. That’s why bidet seats feature automated cleaning functions to keep the nozzles from getting blocked up.Deodoriser
A smart toilet keeps your bathroom from smelling after each use. Awesome, right?Air dryer
It is only natural that you’ll like to dry yourself after cleaning yourself with water. The good thing about smart bidet is that it can help you on that aspect as well. You will find different temperature levels that you can set for your comfort. In addition, you can the dryer function on the remote control.Front and rear cleanse mode
Bidet seats also come with a front (or female) cleanse apart from the standard rear cleanse. The nozzle positions are totally adjustable through the remote control, and the water pressure and temperature are adjustable too.Night light
Do you often wake up in the night and need to visit the bathroom? Typically, you would have to fumble your way to the toilet, turn on the bright light, and potentially wake up others in the room. So often, it can wake you up too much that you cannot get back to sleep after.
The good thing about smart toilets is that others feature a night light on them, guiding you to the toilet without turning the other lights on.
Heated seat
Do you often get an unpleasant shock on cold mornings when you first sit on the toilet seat? Most smart toilet seats are heated! Thus, you will get rid of that morning unpleasantness permanently.
Are They Worth It?
There is no denying that those advanced features can substantially enhance your overall bathroom experience. A cleaner feel, cleaner hands, and the knowledge that you will be saving money and helping the environment are all awesome bonuses when going with a smart toilet.
Smart toilets can do many things. However, how much does a smart toilet cost?
Released in 2011, the Kohler Numi is considered the globe’s first smart toilet. However, it cost NZ$ 9,000, which is quite a big tag.
Nowadays, smart toilets could range from at least NZ$1,000 too many thousands of NZ dollars for higher-end models. That is while a standard toilet could cost as little as NZ$490 on Amazon. There is no way around it—smart toilets are surely an investment.
Nonetheless, smart toilets save in other different ways, too, especially in water consumption. The mandated maximum water use for any toilet is 1.6 gallons per flush. But today, that is considered too much water, and most toilets go lower than that.
The good thing is smart toilets go as low as 0.6 gallons per flush. So that is some efficient water use right there, which is not bad. But on the other side, it takes energy to power and runs all those added features we told you about.
Power for these smart toilets comes in two ways—either from a plugin to the wall or a battery, just like any other type of appliance.
For instance, the Kohler Avoir One-Piece Tankless Toilet functions for a year on four AA batteries. Are you planning on opting for a battery-powered smart toilet? Then you’ll have to purchase new batteries frequently and expend energy and time installing them.
Thus, what you save in water usage balances out the cost of new batteries and labor. Therefore, the average person can replace the batteries in a battery-ran smart toilet. That only means you don’t need to call or pay an electrician or plumber.
On top of that, all smart toilets are energy efficient. That’s why plugging one in is not going to add much to your energy bills. In addition, plug-in-style smart toilets will save you the hassle and expense of replacing the battery.
Overall, are smart toilets worth your money? So far, we have discussed added features, energy efficiency, water usage, and cost. Now it’s time we consider the benefits of owning a smart toilet.
What are the Perks of Owning a Smart Toilet?
To help you further decide if a smart toilet is good for you, you might want to consider some benefits.
Space savings
Apart from water, smart toilets definitely save space. That’s because they are often smaller than standard toilets. You can opt for a one-piece toilet along with a tankless design, and you will realise even additional space savings.
Ideal for aging or alter-abled
Added hygiene features also make smart toilets perfect for the alter-abled and seniors, most of whom can’t longer reach the small spaces and hidden surfaces of a traditional toilet when cleaning.
Moreover, smart toilets come with chair-height seating or comfort height, making sitting down and standing up much simpler for many adults.
Extra hygienic
We have already covered some reasons smart toilets are very much hygienic compared to standard models. However, did you know that a lot of smart toilets are self-cleaning as well? You can easily check that off your to-do list.
Can You Install a Smart Toilet on Your Own?
As you can visualise, installing the toilet seats is a much simpler task than getting rid of the entire toilet and installing the new and more complex appliance. Even though it’s possible to make a go-it for yourself, make sure you consider the possible ramifications if it does not go quite properly.
Leaks of unpleasantness in your bathroom and your pipes will lead to a far less sanitary situation than you’d hoped for.
Thus, unless you have firsthand professional knowledge and expertise installing such complex toilets, you may prefer to call in the experts. Further, consider how costly that piece of equipment is. The security and support of the professional touch guarantee you will properly handle your investment with utmost care.
What’s Next for These Smart Toilets?
Some bathroom specialists noticed the smart toilet becoming as prevalent in Auckland, New Zealand, as it has in the last few years. At the moment, no one is predicting where smart toilets might be in few more years. Nonetheless, their growing fame will surely indicate that we notice an influx of competitively priced smart toilets enters the market soon.
So, there you have it, a quick look at smart toilets or smart toilet seats, if you will. We hope that you’ve found this blog post informative and entertaining.
If you need assistance with your residential plumbing needs, Progress Plumbing Limited can help! We are an inclusive plumbing service, one of the leading plumbers in Auckland, New Zealand, where customer satisfaction is 100% guaranteed. Feel free to call us today at 0800 776756 to request a free quote!