I have been looking for toilets. The one I have is pretty disgusting, There is something about getting a used toilet that is how should I say uncomfortable. I know it doesn’t make sense because who knows how many people have used this toilet v.s a ‘new, used’ one, after all this condo was a rental for 20 years. So I began looking at my favorite category at Craigslist: ‘FREE STUFF’. Because I didn’t know what I was looking for and what was good or not good, I missed out on some great deals free and not free.
What do you do about toilets in your ‘New Green’, ‘Eco- Friendly’ house? Do you reuse your old stained toilet? Do you find ‘used’ destined for landfill toilets that may or may not have low water usage? Do you buy new? I mean when you sell or rent the house, the buyers or the tenants are not going to ask you to replace a perfectly good toilet, so what difference does it make if it is new or used?
In order to make the choices, I decided to find out what happens to old toilets? I remember reading years ago how Santa Barbara was using old toilets to repave the streets, I know Environglass and other companies use old toilets in some of their surfaces. According to the EPA old toilets can be recycled and have many uses in building foundations, trail pavements, mulch, artificial reefs and more. To find where you can recycled your toilets to go this Municipal Solid Waste website for a listing of toilet recyclers in your area.
After consulting the EPA, it is better to replace your old Toilet with new one because you could save up to 4,000 gallons of water per year.
Did you know:
- Toilets consume up to 40% of a household water usage?
- Replacing an old toilet 3.5 Gal with a 1.6 Gal, can save up to 2 Gallons a flush
- To Calculate how much water you use in your bathroom daily go Here: Water Usage Calculator
This is what I came up for me with using the water usage calculator. About 26 Gallons a day.
- Shower: 2 gallons per minute
- Teeth brushing: 1 gallon
- Hands/face washing: 1 gallon
- Face/leg shaving: 1 gallon
- Dish-washing by hand: 5 gallons/load
- Clothes washing (machine): : 10 gallons/load
- Toilet flush: 3 gallons
- Glasses of water drunk: 8 oz. per glass (1/16th of a gallon)
So after some research here are the things to consider when buying a Toilet
Top 13 Things to Consider When Buying a Toilet
1.) Do you need a Ultra Low Flush Toilet or Dual Flush toilet? Either way, which toilet will remove the most in a ‘1 Flush, Flush. Research shows that Dual Flush does save water, however the water level remains low which makes cleaning a hassle. Toto toilets offer several low flush models
2.) Are Repair Parts, readily available? I had never considered that, but after looking at a Water Ridge toilet (Craigslist for $125) available at Costco only, I have to question where are the parts going to come from? I looked at a ‘Designer Blue’ toilet, but I don’t want the hassle of replacing a broken something on it because you would have to match the blue.
3.) Gravity-Fed Toilets (simplest mechanically, and quieter), but the reviews say, buy only the more expensive type v.s. Pressure -Assist toilets which have the more powerful flush, but they can be noisy and the lower priced work great.
4.) Can you qualify for Rebate?
5.) What toilet will be the most problem free, (clogging etc.)
6.) What toilet will increase the Value of my home.
7.) One Piece or Two Piece Toilets )Who would have ever thought about that issue? One piece bowls are easier to clean but traditionally more expensive. One piece can have less leakage problems. Two piece toilets don’t usually come with a seat,
8.) How easy is it to clean? I hate to clean toilets, so when you have a toilet that only hold a limited amount of water, you might have to clean more often.
9.) Flapperless or Non-Flapperless? This is a gravity flush toilet that controls water flow with a tipping bucket technology which eliminated the rubber flapper in the ta tank. You would save water and parts (thus energy and money) on this type of toilet.
10.) Height of Toilet: To me this is Very Important. I am tall (5’11” ) and quite honestly I don’t want to get hernia getting up from a toilet seat. Now I do love squatters, Every time I go to an Indonesia, I love the squat and go’s! They are easy to use, clean and very little parts! But unfortunately they will not resale here in USA. Plus I am getting older and my knees cannot take the same pressure. If I had my way, I would do an all in one Indonesian bathroom, 100% tiled, a drain, a shower-head and a squatter. Everything gets washed with the daily shower. So easy!
11.) Elongated Bowl? or Regular Bowl? Round bowls are smaller but elongated bowls are more comfortable. (plus is better for disabled)
12. ) This does not even consider composting toilets, grey water water toilets and the like. Compost Toilets are a dry or waterless toilet that allow natural process to change your waste in usable compost or ‘Humanure’. I have seen these on Craigslist, although not for free. If you had more than 1 bathroom, a large yard, larger house, this might be an ideal situation, never have to feed your foliage again! Saves money, environment etc. The gross factor in a small condo might be considerable
13.) Color of course. Fortunately most toilets seem to be white. Although have seen blue and black on craigslist.
At least I know what to look for. I like hassle free products. So my
The Conclusion:
- I will continue to look at Craigslist for Dual Flush Toilets, (Future Trend)
- One piece (for less leakage)
- Elongated Bowl (Comfort)
- Gravity Fed Toilet (quieter and less maintenance)
- I will recycle my old toilet. (to close the loop)
- I will be paying over $200.00 for a new toilet (what experts recommend you would be paying for a hassle free toilet)
- If I buy a new toilet, I will buy local in order to save energy (shipping, packaging etc.)
Resources on Toilet Selection
For the full details about toilets go to this Toilet Report, which will list more detail than you really want to know, but if you scroll to the end, you will find all the Toilet Ratings.
Another good article is from the Green Guide a National Geographic e-publication
Consumer Search: This give a pretty good evaluations on toilets, with links to some manufacutures
Resources on Toilet Salvage
Some Funny but interesting U-Tube Videos
Toilet Tips & Trivia – add it to your Web site. 🙂