Bathroom tech - I’m just not ready

[Retiree_Having_Fun]

Alexa: “OMG! What did you eat”

My Alexa warns DO NOT GO IN THERE!!!!

 

[Retiree_Having_Fun]

...the first thing that came to mind was that some poor engineer, or more likely several of them, went to four or more years of engineering school to redesign something that's been working just fine for more than a century.

As apposed to some of the world's best engineering talent trying to get you to click a "like" button or ad link on the internet? Here's some Facebook salaries - most are engineers - most are people under 30 years old.

I once saw a toilet engineered to help people get up / down without injury - claimed also to save the most common back injuries for elder care workers. Now that's good engineering.

 

[Spock]

The headline for this that I saw was:
"Kohler's smart toilet promises a 'fully-immersive experience'"

 

[Rianne]

Not for me, but there's always someone who will pay for it. I've read where there's toilets in Japan that actually diagnose what you drop off, ie blood in your stool,etc.

This is the future! You can detect all sorts of stuff in your urine and other "drop offs." Who needs a doctor to diagnose? These tests can be done in the comfort of your home. I'm on board with that.

 

[Badger]

My toilet sit right next to the air duct so I get a warm seat in the winter and a cool seat in the summer. The TP is just above the vent so I get temperature controlled TP as well.



However, that bidet seat sounds nice. Only had the opportunity to try a bidet a couple of times but really liked them.


Cheers!

 

[Out of Steam]

One aspect of all this is clear to me.
All new builds and major bathroom renovations should have an electrical outlet installed near the toilet. The additional cost is very low. Doing it later is expensive.

We did a major bathroom renovation several years ago and decided to add the outlet near the toilet. Last I looked, it was being used as a seated spot for hair drying.

 

[GalaxyBoy]

I traveled to Japan a few years ago for w*rk and those fancy toilet seats with about a dozen buttons were ubiquitous. Unfortunately, the bathrooms were laid out for skinny Japanese people, not fat-@$$ Americans like me. When I sat down I somehow pushed one or more random buttons. Scared the bejeezus out of me! ("What the hell's going on down there??")

 

[NW-Bound]

It will not be long now until they have a smart toilet that can give you a colonoscopy.

 

[txtig]

This would have made a great Christmas present! The laughs and comments as DW opened this would be worth the price of admission!

-ERD50

I bought DW two Christmas presents last year that I thought she would like, but wasn’t sure if she would like receiving them for Christmas. A cordless vacuum cleaner and a bidet toilet seat (Toto Washlet). I thought that I was was really walking on thin ice with that selection. Lucky for me, she loved them both and bragged to everyone that I gave them to her. It was actually kind of embarrassing to me the way she went on about them. And, I love the bidet seat too. I may get one for our other downstairs bathroom.

 

[RetiredAt55.5]

Not quite there, but I did get one of these.

https://www.homedepot.com/p/TOTO-A1...VwgOGCh3KsAPNEAQYAiABEgKp-fD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

Having raised 3 boys (2 of which are still in college and come home between semesters), I can't imagine having one of those in our house.

I see that control panel right next to the seat and shudder. I'll just volunteer that the boys aim isn't always accurate, and I can never identify the culprit.

 

[Jerry1]

Having raised 3 boys (2 of which are still in college and come home between semesters), I can't imagine having one of those in our house.

I see that control panel right next to the seat and shudder. I'll just volunteer that the boys aim isn't always accurate, and I can never identify the culprit.

Completely understand, however, it is a sealed unit and can be cleaned. After all, it is a toilet seat. They think about those things. Second, hopefully you have more than one bathroom. We only installed it in the main bathroom which is one we don’t let the grandsons use unless it’s critical.

 

[CaptTom]

...from ambient colored lighting to wireless Bluetooth®* music sync capability...

I'm sorry, this one had me ROFL, thinking about syncing the music to the "activities" on the toilet.

Sort of like one of those synchronized fireworks displays on on the Fourth of July.

Perhaps something from John Philip Sousa would be an appropriate selection.

 

[MichaelB]

I'm sorry, this one had me ROFL, thinking about syncing the music to the "activities" on the toilet.

Sort of like one of those synchronized fireworks displays on on the Fourth of July.

Perhaps something from John Philip Sousa would be an appropriate selection.

JP Sousa is good. I was thinking more along the lines of Tchaikovsky 1812 Overture.

 

[braumeister]

I'd probably opt for Handel's Water Music.

 

[REWahoo]

JP Sousa is good. I was thinking more along the lines of Tchaikovsky 1812 Overture.

I'd opt for something a bit more mellow - like Mason Williams "Classical Gas"

 

[Winemaker]

Neither do I!



I deleted everything Facebook'ish from my phone when a rumour started going around about their app listening in on everything you say. Not sure if it's true but don't trust Zuch a bit and don't have the energy to find out properly.

How else do you think these AI systems get algorithms to make these robots more human-like? You think they're there to be at your beck and call, but they're listening and categorizing anything and everything you do. But I don't think there is a human on the other end listening to your dribble and writing electronic/digital paperback novels.

 

[ERD50]

Is there a more basic version of one of these? I'd be looking for the bidet with heated bidet water, nothing else. No fancy control panel or voice command or anything.

Seems like that could be a simple mechanical water valve, and if there were a small reservoir for the bidet water heater, I would think a low voltage, low watt heater would suffice - after all, you just need to take the chill off, and it would typically have lots of time between uses. You don't need to heat the entire tank water.

-ERD50

 

[ERD50]

I'm sorry, this one had me ROFL, thinking about syncing the music to the "activities" on the toilet.

Sort of like one of those synchronized fireworks displays on on the Fourth of July.

Perhaps something from John Philip Sousa would be an appropriate selection.

"Alexa, playlist #1" or "Alexa, playlist #2"?

-ERD50

 

[Christine]

I guess the bluetooth function is for shy people who in other situations flood the sink of public bathrooms to create noise camouflaging their bathroom noises. Now they can play soothing music or perhaps let Beatles sing HELP!

But I don't think there is a human on the other end listening to your dribble and writing electronic/digital paperback novels.

I don't think so either. But I know it would be possible if someone on the other side of this wanted to.



For security systems it's worse since they have cameras too so that they can spot fires and intruders. But to do that they must be able to turn on the camera and microphones. So not in my home, thank you.

 

[MichaelB]

Perhaps something from John Philip Sousa would be an appropriate selection.

Just heard “Stars and Stripes Foverer” on the radio. It truly is a great selection for the thread topic.

 

[Bestwifeever]

Yeah, those auto flushing toilets freaked out our 2+ year old grand daughter to the point where we couldn’t get her to go to the bathroom one a road trip we were on. I won major points when I stoped at a hotel to use their lobby bathroom that was not only clean, it didn’t have the automatic flush.

I don’t do that often, but I’ve come to learn that most hotels have a nice bathroom near the lobby. I try to use only ones where I typically stay. Mostly Hampton Inns. Better than a gas station - especially for the ladies.

When we stay at the Hsmpton, we call that lobby restroom DH’s powder room.

Friends are almost done building an amazing home with all the latest. We saw it last week. The three toilets were posted “do not use” because the megabatteries for whatever functions had shorted out during installations and replacements aren’t readily available. Technology!

(I loved the bidet toilets in Japan but wouldn’t want them in my house.)

 

[JoeWras]

I guess the bluetooth function is for shy people who in other situations flood the sink of public bathrooms to create noise camouflaging their bathroom noises. Now they can play soothing music or perhaps let Beatles sing HELP!

Absolutely! Especially in Japan.

I recently got served up a video of interest to me by Youtube from BBC called "The Toilet An unspoken history." Highly recommended, seriously.

The host went into different cultural norms. Some of the show was hosted from Japan, and he mentioned that the Japanese really like to mask any noises, hence the sweet sounds from the toilet (about minute 36). You will recognize the control panels as they are about the same as the Toto seat linked above.

The serious part of the documentary is the last 1/3. It is a real eye opener, as he visits the squatters section of the city of Dhaka. Here, he makes a point that over 2 billion people on earth do not have access to good sanitation. Don't watch this part while eating. Still, people are working on the problem trying to come up with solutions for small villages that cost less than $25.

 

[Jerry1]

Is there a more basic version of one of these? I'd be looking for the bidet with heated bidet water, nothing else. No fancy control panel or voice command or anything.

Seems like that could be a simple mechanical water valve, and if there were a small reservoir for the bidet water heater, I would think a low voltage, low watt heater would suffice - after all, you just need to take the chill off, and it would typically have lots of time between uses. You don't need to heat the entire tank water.

-ERD50

We had a simple one for our first one. It wasn’t a seat, just a spray. No heat. It wasn’t as nice as the heated water, but seriously, it wasn’t that cold. It’s just tap water. I suppose you could run hot water to your toilet depending on your access to plumbing, that wouldn’t be too hard. You could also install a small water heater and run the water from that to the bidet. I think by then, however, you may just as well get one with a heater. I don’t think they make one without a heated seat. Frankly, I like the heated seat more than I care about the heated water.

Our first one was one like this:
https://www.bidetsplus.com/bio-bidet-bb-70-simplet.html

And then depending on you access, you could use something like this:
https://www.homedepot.com/p/Bosch-2-5-Gal-Electric-Point-of-Use-Water-Heater-ES-2-5/206428467

 

[txtig]

Having raised 3 boys (2 of which are still in college and come home between semesters), I can't imagine having one of those in our house.

I see that control panel right next to the seat and shudder. I'll just volunteer that the boys aim isn't always accurate, and I can never identify the culprit.

When I bought ours, this was one consideration, and the reason I bought one with a separate wall-mount remote control. And, I was just as worried about my own aim as I was of any sons or grandsons. [emoji6]

 

[Scrapr]

I'd probably opt for Handel's Water Music.

you know those people that need a faucet turned on to get started? Perfect!