As you’ve been browsing for a new toilet - or maybe just looking to see what the newest bathroom trends are - you may have come across the ‘smart’ toilet from the likes of Geberit and Toto. You may then have choked on your tea as you saw the price tag - anything from £1,000 up to an over £10,000!! Over the next few minutes, we’ll look to answer all your questions, starting with the obvious: what is a smart toilet? We’ll also be finding out whether you can get a smart toilet for less than the price of a family car.
What is a Smart Toilet?
The term ‘smart toilet’ is actually slightly misleading, as more often than not it’s not the toilet itself that can be considered smart, it’s actually the toilet seat. So, what makes a toilet seat smart? For anyone that has ever been to Japan - or know someone that’s been - you’re probably already familiar with the main concept of the smart toilet seat, or bidet seat as it is often referred to. If you’re not, then read on.
Bidet-style smart toilet seats have been used in Japan for many years now and are considered the most hygienic way to clean after using the toilet. Much like a standalone bidet, smart toilet seats shoot jets of water to clean you, and whilst the concept of this may seem weird to us Brits, it actually makes a lot more sense if you think about it. Picture this; you have something unpleasant on your hand - what do you do? You don’t simply wipe it off with a piece of paper, do you? Instead, you wash it off, and it’s from that concept that the smart toilet was created.
What Else Can a Smart Toilet Seat Do?
Smart toilet seats have so many functions that they come with their own remote control. As well as the bidet cleaning function, they can also have the following:
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Heated seat - Do you get a nasty shock on cold mornings when you first sit on your toilet seat? Many smart toilet seats are heated and therefore completely eliminate this morning unpleasantness.
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Night light - If you wake up in the night and need the toilet, normally you’d either have to fumble your way to the toilet, or turn on a big light and either potentially wake up others in the house, or wake yourself up too much that you can’t get back to sleep afterwards. Some smart toilet seats have a night light on them to guide you to the toilet without the need to turn other lights on.
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Front and rear cleanse mode - As well as the standard rear cleanse, bidet seats also come with a front - or female - cleanse. The nozzle positions are completely adjustable using the remote control, and the water temperature and pressure are also adjustable.
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Air dryer - After cleaning yourself with water, it’s only natural that you’ll want to dry yourself, and the smart bidet seat can help you there as well. On the remote control is a dryer function, and again, there are multiple temperature levels that can be set for your comfort.
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Deodoriser - Keeps your bathroom smelling fresh after every use.
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Automated cleaning functions - Because no one wants to get in amongst their toilet seat, bidet seats have automated cleaning functions to keep your nozzles from getting blocked up.
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Energy saving mode - You’re not going to be using your seat all the time, so like your TV or your computer, your smart toilet seat also has an energy saving mode that is activated when it’s not in use.
Now we've gone through the fantastic range of features smart toilets can offer, let's take a look at the sublime toilets we offer here at Tap Warehouse!
Smart Toilet with Adjustable Bidet Wash Function, Heated Seat & Dryer with Control
When it comes to our smart toilets, we really do go all out. Not only does this beauty look like something you'd expect to see in the background during Bladerunner, but this piece of kit boasts a list of impressive features longer than... well, a really long list!
With a sleek modern look, this smart toilet doesn't skimp on the practical parts either. We're talking front and rear cleaning modes; a heated seat with temperature adjuster; a dryer with temperature adjuster; a soft close mechanism to keep noise to a minimum; a deodoriser; auto and manual cleaning modes; and a very comforting 3 year manufacturer's guarantee - what more could you ever need from a toilet?
As we all know, the devil is in the details, which is why we're thrilled to tell you that this Tap Warehouse smart toilet comes with a water-saving WRAS approved dual flush cistern, meaning you can simultaneously save the planet, and save your bank account, all the while being sure of your toilet's stellar quality!
Vellamo Smart Japanese Style Bidet Toilet Seat
If you're not in the business of fully replacing your toilet or redesigning your bathroom, but still love the ideal of having a smart toilet, the Vellamo Smart Japanese Style Bidet Toilet Seat is exactly what you need.
The Vellamo Smart seat brings every incredible feature you could ever imagine right into your bathroom. It boasts front and rear cleanse modes; a heated function with adjustable temperature setting; LED light and night light so you never bump into the toilet in the dark again; a deodoriser function to keep things fresh; an energy saving mode to save your money and our planet; and a fully automated cleaning function.
Now, shall we get onto those pressing final questions before buying a smart toilet?
Why Are Geberit and Toto Smart Toilets So Much More Expensive?
There are a few reasons why they are more expensive. Like with anything, you will pay more for the name, even if the product is exactly the same. Geberit and Toto are also huge companies with worldwide reputations and have been manufacturing smart toilet seats for many years. This isn’t to say that other products won’t be of the same quality, and in fact, Tap Warehouse’s smart toilet comes with a WRAS approved cistern.
Some Geberit and Toto smart toilets also have other functions not found on Tap Warehouse’s smart toilet which can include an automatically opening seat, although unfortunately the constant playing of Toto’s hit “Africa” on repeat is not one of the features of Toto smart toilets. Whether this is enough for you to justify the price difference is not for us to say, but we have yet to have any negative feedback about our smart toilet.
What Next For Smart Toilets?
Few bathroom experts saw the smart toilet becoming as popular in the UK as it has in the last couple of years, so at the moment, no-one is predicting where smart toilets might be in a few more years. However, their growing popularity will almost certainly mean that we see an influx of competitively priced smart toilets enter the market in the near future. Whether they come with a range of new functions remains to be seen, but with the growing popularity of Bluetooth mirrors, it’s not beyond the realms of possibility that someone might decide to make the Bluetooth toilet seat. As soon as we know what they come up with, we will be sure to share with you.
So, there we have it, a brief look at smart toilets, or smart toilet seats if you will. We hope that you have found this blog post helpful, and if you have any questions or suggestions on how we can improve our blog, please let us know.
