Toilet Replacement Lids - Potty plan: Loving the loo: New technology brings efficiency and style to toilets - This Old Toilet 650-483-1139

TOTO Ltd./Toto Ltd.

Squeaky clean - Toto’s skirted, one-piece G500 toilet is tankless and has a double cyclone flushing system. A heated Washlet bidet seat has temperature and pressure controls. From $3,000 

Soft music is playing; the seat is warm and a soft glow lights the night. Is this a seat in a luxury automobile or a ski lodge? On the contrary, it’s a toilet.

Since the forerunner to the modern flush system was patented in 1775 by Alexander Cummings, a watchmaker in London, designers and inventors have worked to create a more user-friendly experience.

“The first thing is performance. Everybody wants their toilet to work. If the toilet performs, they’re happy about that,” says Betsy Hoag, owner of the wholesale showroom TKO Associates in the Dallas Design District.

Kohler Company/Kohler

Light it up - With a touch-screen remote, users of the Kohler Numi toilet can pre-set personalized functions such as a heated seat, bidet, foot warmer and music options through wireless streaming. From $5,900

Since January, the Health and Safety Code of Texas, Chapter 372, requires toilets sold or distributed in the state to have a single flush average of 1.28 gallons per flush (GPF). Dual-flush, high-efficiency toilets, with a typical flush capacity of 0.8 GPF for water waste and 1.6 GPF for solid waste, must meet the same standard for the single average flush.

This change in volume, although it conserves water, is foreign to consumers with older toilets that use between 3 and 6 gallons per flush.

“We have to explain quite a bit if a person has had a toilet for 25 years. We have to explain that with the new technology, it will flush as well,” says Shameika Love, a showroom consultant at Ferguson Bath, Kitchen & Lighting Gallery in McKinney.

Beyond performance, the look and usability of the toilet are of prime importance. To meet that demand, manufacturers offer a variety of bowl and tank shapes, colors and heights.

Design preference is influenced by the age of the homeowner, the style of the residence and the size of the toilet’s location. “Do we want a sleek, modern, contemporary look, or do we want a traditional look?” says Hoag.

“For younger customers, styling is important. They like it nice and streamlined. It could be very square or very round.” Toilets with round bowls are more compact, fitting easily in the powder rooms of small houses and condominiums.

Older homeowners prefer transitional or traditional styles, often at a chair height. A standard height toilet is 14.5 inches from the floor to the bowl’s rim. Many new toilets are 16 inches or even the 17 to 18 inches required by the Americans with Disabilities Act.

“You’re seeing more people asking for the taller toilet rather than the shorter toilet. That’s because people are aging in place,” says Love.

Tankless toilets, whether wall-mounted or floor-mounted, also are growing in popularity. However, not all are truly tankless. For most, the tank and carrier system fits inside the wall behind the bowl, concealing the mechanics of the flushing system. Some models have the carrier system concealed in a boxlike part mounted on the wall, in full view.

Other tankless toilets are connected directly to water supply lines rather than from a cistern holding water. Both styles allow the tank to disappear, saving space in the bathroom.

Toilet cleansing systems also are becoming important. Offered by manufacturers as either an integrated option or as an accessory addition to a toilet, they function as a bidet in a single unit.

“We sell them to both sexes. It saves space and money vs. a bidet,” says Hoag.

With most toilets, a variety of options is available from manufacturers to personalize the sanitary event. Choices include soft-close and heated seats, auto-open and auto-flush functions, night light, touchless flush and a selection of decorator colors.

Homeowners concerned about hygiene can retrofit their toilets with a touchless system from Kohler. The kit utilizes a sensor module that attaches to the tank with a metal bracket and responds to a hand movement.

To ensure an especially singular experience, some toilets offer programmable details complete with wall-mount or handheld remote control. Functions including heating, flushing, cleansing, drying, music and lighting can be pre-set to the comfort of the user.

“They almost drive themselves,” says Hoag.

source: http://www.dallasnews.com/lifestyles/home-and-gardening/headlines/20140711-loving-the-loo-new-technology-brings-efficiency-and-style-to-toilets.ece

by Nancy Baldwin

http://www.thisoldtoilet.com