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Cheap(ish), fancy(ish) toilets - Toto, Vitra, Grohe


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I'm somewhat convinced that a water spray is a more hygienic way to deal with poo, as opposed to just spreading it all around with paper until a low-ish amount remains. 

 

But, well, the price for such a marvel of modern shittorial science goes up real quick depending on what features you need. Would love to know which toilets people have experience with? Some thoughts:

 

I *think* the only feature that's crucial is an upward-ish spray, which, somewhat strangely, eliminates the cheapest option, which is the 

Vitra Aquacare - 550GBP, which seems to just tick that box. But I have the impression it wouldn't be able to 'hit the spot'. 

- fixed sprayer

 

The cheapest device with an upward-ish spray I've found is the more electronic and has a lot more fluff-ish features

Vitra V-Care Basic, 1100 GBP

- pretty flexible sprayer - e.g. a bit more gentle for women, adjustable extension

- seat heating

 

Only slightly more expensive is the 

Aqua Lava device, which is 1198 GBP

- Adjustable spray, temp, pressure

- Nozzle Oscillation
- Warm Air Drying: 5 settings

 

The warm air is somewhat interesting, but I would suspect it will take much too long to do its job vs just using a bit of paper. Does anyone have a toilet with a butt dryer? How long until you're dry?

 

Once we get into the 1500-2000 range, there's a range of devices that are somewhat similarly featured:

Grohe Sensia - 1669

- All of the above plus heated toilet seat. 

 

And then, as far as I'm aware, the cheapest toilet from the most premium brand:

Toto Washlet RG Lite - 1949

- Doesn't have air dryer. 
 

So.. thoughts? The Aqua Lava seems to be the best deal but will it be poorly designed or break after 2 monsterpoops?

 

 

 

 

Edited by puntloos
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4 hours ago, puntloos said:

But, well, the price for such a marvel of modern shittorial science goes up real quick depending on what features you need. Would love to know which toilets people have experience with?

 

Have you thought about a bidet? 🤔

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2 hours ago, Miek said:

I have one of these. £30 well spent IMO

 

Screenshot_20230312_081044_Chrome.thumb.jpg.79c1dc5e8b29b87e670dcd9828575c99.jpg

 

Dry with paper. Can also be used to clean the toilet

 

Buy an extra thermostatic shower bar mixer and plumb it in to the wall.  A poo on every other non shataff equipped lol will be like a dirty protest in comparison. 

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2 hours ago, Dreadnaught said:

Buy a normal toilet and add one of these?

 

https://www.samodrahome.com/collections/bidet-attachment/products/samodra-minimalist-bidet?variant=40198313509062

 

samodra.450_1800x1800.jpg?v=1656143895

 

They are available on AliExpress, Wish, eBay, etc. If you search, you can find lefthanded ones too.

 

I don't have one but its a solution I am considering.

 

Exactly the kind our friends have, they are very happy with it. 

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4 hours ago, Miek said:

I have one of these. £30 well spent IMO

 

Screenshot_20230312_081044_Chrome.thumb.jpg.79c1dc5e8b29b87e670dcd9828575c99.jpg

 

Dry with paper. Can also be used to clean the toilet

Perhaps this is the answer, as long - I guess - there's warm water :)

 

One thing though which is that someone in my area expressed the concern installing these would violate building regs. (something about a water source being able to touch a dirty water point aka the toilet bowl.)

Anyone able to confirm or refute that a separate sprayer (shataf?) is legal? Or is there perhaps some valve you can build that makes it legal?

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1 minute ago, puntloos said:

Perhaps this is the answer, as long - I guess - there's warm water :)

 

One thing though which is that someone in my area expressed the concern installing these would violate building regs. (something about a water source being able to touch a dirty water point aka the toilet bowl.)

Anyone able to confirm or refute that a separate sprayer (shataf?) is legal? Or is there perhaps some valve you can build that makes it legal?

I'm not positive but I think if it had a double check valve it would be OK, like a regular shower IMO . 

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But nobody have an actual Fancy Toilet? :) Would love to understand the extra value for money. 

 

My main concern around the simple hose+sprayer is that there's still a good amount of poo flying around with the water, including getting on your hands and the actual shataf itself. You'll be Shat AF. <rimshot>. If there's a device that can really clean to a good degree without hands, that might sway me, but if it just adds "some" water to the situation, not sure if that suffices.

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3 hours ago, Dreadnaught said:

 

Good to hear. Not tempted by one yourself?

 

I am. If I get a plumber around I might ask to drop hot water feed down. The problem is when the previous owners had a very nice bathroom / toilet upgrade the installers boxed the toilet in a completely non-serviceable way. I haven't replaced a dripping valve which drives me crazy for years because I know once I remove this rear panel it's going to be ugly forever. 

 

20230312_164552.thumb.jpg.2fe282f38d18e2b711ea762aa2acd497.jpg

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On 12/03/2023 at 09:08, Dreadnaught said:

Buy a normal toilet and add one of these?

 

In case anyone is interested, I just received one of these, plumbed it in, and it really does work.

 

Impressed! I ordered it as a test and have installed it on my temporary site toilet. Will probably now use it on the finished ones when I get to that stage.

 

The model I bought is Samodra Minimalist Bidet, dual nozzle. I paid under £20 for it.

 

Happy to answer questions if there are any.

 

minimalist-bidet_1_1800x1800.jpg?v=16561

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  • 4 weeks later...

 

@puntloos The Aqua-lava one has a limescale filter that needs to be and replaced every year and I didn't like that. I've bought a Vitra V-Care Essential few month ago and very happy with it. The heated seat is a godsend in winter and it uses liquid limescale remover which I can pour into the system myself whenever necessary. I'll be getting another Japanese WC and is considering upgrading to Vitra Prime or Duravit one. Both looks neat.

 

The Grohe Sensia does not have any heated toilet seat although it has a dryer. I would want to have a heated seat for that money. I have used many Japanese toilet when visiting overseas and most of the times the dryer function were slow and I am not sure if I have the patience if I'm not on on holiday mode, although the UK models may be different. 

 

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On 11/04/2023 at 09:42, VickyBH said:

 

@puntloos The Aqua-lava one has a limescale filter that needs to be and replaced every year and I didn't like that. I've bought a Vitra V-Care Essential few month ago and very happy with it. The heated seat is a godsend in winter and it uses liquid limescale remover which I can pour into the system myself whenever necessary. I'll be getting another Japanese WC and is considering upgrading to Vitra Prime or Duravit one. Both looks neat.

 

The Grohe Sensia does not have any heated toilet seat although it has a dryer. I would want to have a heated seat for that money. I have used many Japanese toilet when visiting overseas and most of the times the dryer function were slow and I am not sure if I have the patience if I'm not on on holiday mode, although the UK models may be different. 

 

Great to hear the info Vicky, why is a limescale replacement once a year a problem? Of course less hassle is better but I guess once a year isn't huge?

Given that my house is a passivhaus I imagine I don't really need a heated seat (toilet room wouldn't be cold in winter).

Other than the filter and potentially the seat, the aqua lava was fine, in your experience? 

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