Your bathroom is the most important room in the home. It’s time you started treating it like it. You can start by getting yourself a nice new toilet with a powerful flush.James Woodrow
In a way, that’s why this site was created. We saw a gap in the market for plumbing knowledge. As a online resource, we are dedicated to bringing our readers detailed information and buying guides for toilets. We have a passion for digging deep into flushing mechanisms to gauge their quality and effectiveness in handling waste, as well as the design aspects that make them comfortable for your average user.
The toilet bowl
A good toilet bowl should be coated in a type of glazing that has anti microbial attributes. Without this, you leave yourself open to ceramic damage over time due to bacteria getting caught in the porous surface. This can really limit the toilets durability, in what could otherwise have lasted you decades.
Typical examples of this include EverClean from American Standard, and CEFIONTECT from TOTO. Manufacturers may not lead consumers to believe this is an important feature to have, but don’t be fooled. The glazing or gloss as it is sometimes known can help the bowl fight off germs, mold, and mildew, resulting in a less smelly bathroom environment too.
You should also look at the shape of the bowl. Round bowls are my go to choice for more compact spaces, but in terms of overall comfort and relaxation, you can’t beat a nice and large, elongated toilet. They are a sensible choice for males biologically too.
You should know the difference between a comfort height toilet, and a standard height one. ToiletBrains.com have a helpful guide on ADA compliant toilets that is worth a read. But to keep it short, comfort height bowls measure between 17″ and 19″, offering easier access to the elderly and infirm. The less they have to bend down, the better it is on their body. Of course, you could also make the argument that they are better for tall people too, but that isn’t their primary purpose.
The toilet tank
The tank is where the flushing mechanism resides. It is arguably the most important part of the toilet as it will determine how well it flushes waste through the outlet, how much water it uses, and the overall performance. The list below are things to look out for that are of high importance.
- MaP flush rating – A unbiased rating system that measures a toilets flushing performance. Anything that scores 300 grams and below on their scale, readers should avoid. Anything you choose that scores 500 grams and upwards, you’ve found a strong flushing product, and something worth researching into further. If you can’t find these in the product description in online shops, visit the MaP toilet testing home page.
- Class Five flush – Associated with Kohler toilets, models that have class five flushing performance offer excellent performance that handles heavy duty usage easily.
- Trip lever – Visualize how you see yourself activating the toilets flush. Will you prefer to be using a trip lever, or perhaps a button. Think about user friendliness and accessibility for the people you’re currently living with.
We’ve spent countless hours analyzing toilets from many different manufacturers. We can rank these without a doubt in order. This is our opinion based on personal experiences, consumer feedback, performance, and aesthetics.
Depending on the type of toilet you choose, the price point can be very different. Intelligent units with built in bidet seats can cost over $2000. However, for a standard, floor mounted unit, you should be expecting to pay around $500. That doesn’t include the costs of a plumber installing it though. For people working on a tight budget, we recommend the Mansfield brand, they have cheap models that are effective for day to day usage, but not the nicest looking.