Meet the New Super Toilets

by Mike Elgan

With features you never knew you needed, these toilets

may make it hard to go back to standard commodes

 

Indoor plumbing is arguably the greatest invention in the history of humankind. And the porcelain and chrome toilets that grace most bathrooms in the industrialized world work fine. While most people think, "If it ain’t broke, why fix it?" some gadget-happy companies — especially in Japan — say, “Why not?”

Fancy electric high-tech toilets, which the Japanese call super toilets, can be found in more than 72 percent of Japanese households. At minimum they include a bidet feature and often a seat warmer.

High-tech features vary, but most of the toilets use electricity to provide warming, automation and bidet functions.

Numi Toilet
The Kohler Numi’s squarish, angled shape, subtle buttons and strange automatic lid make it look like it's anything but a toilet.

It has a motion-activated lid that automatically opens when anyone stands in front of it and what Kohler calls “advanced bidet functionality,” which is an integrated air dryer.

The appliance, however, goes beyond the normal functions of a toilet and adds atmosphere. It has a heated seat and even a subtle air vent that warms the floor in front of the fixture.

It even has an atmosphere light and a music player. A touch-panel remote, which attaches to the toilet with a magnetic docking station, lets you customize all the settings.


Washlet S300 Toilet
The leading super toilet maker in Japan is a company called Toto. And if you’ve ever visited a nice hotel in Japan with a Toto toilet, you know you’re not in Kansas anymore.

Toto’s most advanced toilets are sold only in Japan, with controls labeled only in Japanese. The most advanced Toto toilet you can buy in the United States is the Washlet S300.

It has a heated seat, a remote-controlled bidet feature with air drying and the option of an oscillating bidet stream of water.



W+W Toilet
Roca W+W, which stands for "washbasin plus water closet," uses advanced technology to help the environment.

The water appliance saves, filters and chemically treats the sink water you use to wash your hands and brush your teeth, then reuses that water for flushing the toilet.

The net effect is that you use the same amount of water in the sink but zero extra water for the toilet.

Cabinet-S-Top

1977  Medina Road, Medina, OH

330-239-3630

www.cabinet-s-top.com