Smart Toilets: Are They Right For You?

Smart Toilets: Are They Right For You?

As home automation becomes easier and less expensive, more and more people are starting to automate things in their home. Now, when you think of home automation, you probably think of automating things like home security systems, locks, doors, air conditioning, televisions, and things of that nature. Most people would not think to automate their toilet, but believe it or not, it is a trend that is becoming more popular. In Europe, several well-known brands have already introduced smart toilets into the market, and the trend is already making its way to North America and Australia.

How do they work?

You are probably already familiar with smart toilets if you have gone to a restaurant or other public place that has them. Essentially, smart toilets use sensors to detect when you have gotten off the bowl and begin flushing the toilet. Smart toilets usually also have features that allow the toilets to clean themselves and dispense scented deodorizer to keep the bowl smelling nice and fresh.

Can I get one installed?

Yes, you can, but at the moment you will have to be prepared to do some serious searching and pay bit more than usual to get a smart toilet installed. The smart toilets in public can run anywhere from $100,000 to close to $500,000. Now, if you want one for your home, you will not have to worry about spending that much, but you will have to be prepared to pay a bit more than you would for a regular toilet. A smart toilet in your home will end up running you anywhere from a couple hundred dollars to a couple thousand dollars, but that price is going to be heavily dependent on the number of features on the toilet. If you just want a smart toilet that only flushes automatically when you walk away, then you will be paying a couple hundred dollars at most. But, if you want a smart toilet that flushes automatically, cleans itself, dispenses its own cleaning solution, can be remote controlled, and play music (yes, there are toilets that actually do that), then you are going to end up paying a couple thousand dollars.

What are the advantages of a smart toilet?

Smart toilets (depending on the features yours has) will have a variety of advantages over a conventional toilet.

Easy flushing

Let’s start with the most obvious advantage that smart toilets have, which is that they do not need to be manually flushed. Some smart toilets will require you to waive your hand in front of the toilet to flush, others will simply require you to get off the bowl to start the flushing process. Either way, it is much easier than manually flushing the toilet. Now, I know what you are thinking, “flushing the toilet requires next to no effort, why would I ever want to pay money just to automate something so easy?” It is a valid question and one that can be asked about a lot of home automation systems. For example, turning your air condition up or down requires about as much effort as flushing, and yet plenty of people choose to automate that. The reason being is that it is simply more convenient. Home automation is all about automating small tasks to make life easier. So, while automating your toilet’s flushing mechanism may seem like a waste of time and money, it does end up making your life a bit more convenient, which is the point of home automation. Plus, once you actually automate something like flushing the toilet or turning up the air conditioning, it is really difficult to go back to the old way of doing things because of how convenient the new automated system is.

Also, if you have been “blessed” with a family member who forgets to flush the toilet, then a smart toilet can be a great way of preventing others from walking into a bathroom with a dirty toilet, all because someone consistently forgets to flush.

Preventing overflow

Nothing is worse than having a toilet overflow and cause a huge amount of dirty water to come up and ruin your bathroom. Well, smart toilets often come with methods to prevent overflow. Some smart toilets will prevent you from flushing if the toilet is clogged. Others will have sensors in the tank to detect irregularities in the water level. If the sensor detects that there is too much water it will signal the toilet, which will stop more water from going into the toilet bowl. If you have been burned by toilet overflows in the past, then you might be interested in a smart toilet that has anti-overflow technology.

You don’t have to clean it

Lots of smart toilets come with self-cleaning technology. This means two things. First off, the toilets will automatically dispense cleaning solution to keep the toilet bowl clean. Secondly, the toilet will dispense deodorizer, which will keep the toilet bowl smelling fresh. A lot of people have to spend hours cleaning all the toilets in their homes, but smart toilets eliminate the need to do that.

Other extra features

Smart toilets have a bunch of other advantages over conventional toilets. For example, some smart toilets have heated seating and foot warmers, so if you hate going to the bathroom late at night because it is cold, well you do not have to worry about that. Other smart toilets have nightlights, built in MP3 capabilities, and a variety of other features that will amaze you. We could go on and on about the various advantages offered by smart toilets, but you probably get the point.

If after reading this you want to go out and get a smart toilet installed, then give a call to your local plumber and see what options are available to you. Not every plumber has the ability to install smart toilets, but they should be able to at least give you advice and get rid of your current toilet if you decide to go through with installing a smart toilet.