We take our toilets for granted. We no longer consider them a luxury item like people did when they were first brought into homes in the 1890s. Nowadays, toilets are a standard fixture in our homes, a long way from the chamber pots and outhouses of our past.
But the marvel of modern toilets is that they offer so many features for your comfort. The new generation of contemporary commodes offers a kind of affordable luxury you might not have known about.
Streamlined Design:
Gone are the big wooden boxes that housed a chamber pot or the huge clunky toilets of old with large wall-mounted, pull-chain tanks. Modern toilets are sleek in design and function, offering an efficient, clean line even for the smallest of bathrooms.
Choose between a one-piece toilet or a two-piece toilet. One-piece toilets are more expensive but make for easier cleaning, maintenance, and installation because the tank, bowl, and trapway are all one seamless unit.
Standard two-piece toilets cost less, but they are more cumbersome and take more effort to install.
Both one-piece and two-piece toilets offer streamlined designs and a kind of essential architecture to your bathroom.
Bowl Shapes for Your Behind:
While we may not even think of it as a luxury, even the bowl-shapes of our toilets can be chosen to best benefit your behind.
In the past, all toilets were round, but now we have the option of an elongated bowl. An elongated bowl is more like an extended oval, and many people think they’re more comfortable than the traditional round bowl.
In addition to the comfort factor, the shape of the bowl should be determined by the amount of space you have. A round bowl will extend about 28” from the wall. An elongated bowl will extend 31”, so if space is an issue, go round. The luxury is that you have a choice!
The Height of Personal Luxury:
Nowadays, not only can you choose the design and the shape of your toilet, but you can also choose the height of it, depending on what works best for you and your family.
The standard height of toilets is 14”-15” from the floor. However, many people think this is too low.
The American Disabilities Act, ADA, declared that toilets should be 16”-18” off the floor which makes them easier for sitting and standing.
Many modern manufacturers of bathroom fixtures make toilets in what is called a “comfort height,” rising 17”-19” from the floor.
The Luxury of Choices:
Is your bathroom small or do you have plenty of space to move around? No matter the size of your room, you can still get the feel of luxury with a wall-hung toilet versus one that sits on the floor.
Traditionally, we place toilets on the floor with the waste pipe going down, but there is another option.
Consider a wall-mounted toilet that looks great and saves as much as one foot of floor space.
Wall-hung toilets are more expensive and may require additional plumbing to install since the waste pipe goes into the wall, not into the floor.
The Splendor of Saving Water:
If water is a precious commodity in your community, OR if you value money and want to keep from spending it unnecessarily, consider the option of having not just one flush lever on your toilet, but TWO flush options.
Many modern toilets have what is known as a dual-flush. Two buttons are placed at the top of the tank. One button is for fluid waste and one button is for solid waste, #1 and #2, respectively. Button #1 releases enough water to completely flush the liquid down the drain. Button #2 releases more water, but no more than is needed to flush the solid stuff down.
Most dual-flush toilets release about .8 gallons for liquid and 1.6 gallons of water to flush the solids, significantly less than the standard flush of about 3.5 gallons per flush (gpf) of older toilets.
All in all, a dual flush offers you the luxury of saving money by using 67% less water than a standard toilet.
Posh for Your Posterior
Did you know that are dozens of manufacturers now creating toilets partnered with bidets?
Bidets have long been standard equipment in Europe after first appearing in the 1600s. The word “bidet” actually is based on the French word for “pony,” partly because the fixture had to be straddled, but also partly because the royalty used bidets to be clean and odorless after long horseback rides.
Four centuries ago in Europe, people accepted bidets as common hygiene. Bidets were faster and much easier than baths, and they offered quick cleanliness, a quick wash for your private parts.
Now, bidets are catching on in the States. In fact, many combination bidets and toilets exist in the modern marketplace. More and more people are finding that bidets are a relatively inexpensive kind of daily luxury that they can afford.
Contemporary combo toilet and bidets rinse your parts with water, then dry them with warm air. The benefit is that toilet paper is not required.
Models come with “luxury” features like heated seats, adjustable water pressure for rinsing, and adjustable water temperature. Two more factors that people love? Built-in deodorizers and automatic flushes so that you don’t have to touch the toilet and have hands free as soon as you stand up.
If that’s not enough….
If you’re tired of hearing slamming toilet lids, opt for a “quiet close.” You may have seen a similar feature on your cabinets…that “quiet close,” that keeps a drawer or door from slamming. This is the same thing for the toilet bowl lid. It lowers and closes without noise.
If that’s not enough, you can get toilets that also serve as nightlights. It may sound a bit wild, but really, it makes sense. Most of us have had to get up in the dark to use the restroom. Young children, senior citizens, the ill, the elderly, or those of us who have a hard time seeing in the dark will appreciate the luxury of a gentle light or two coming from the toilet guiding us in the right direction.
Some manufacturers allow you to change the color of the lights. Most lighted toilets operate on batteries, so there are no cords, and two AA batteries can light your bathroom for ten months.
ServiceOne Air Conditioning and Plumbing can help you with whatever HVAC or plumbing needs you have. Call us. We care about your comfort – and are excited to help you find the simple modern luxuries that abound in your bathroom.