Your bathroom is the workhorse of your home. It’s designed to be useful and durable. But, at some point, fixtures will need to be replaced.
Thankfully, when you replace an old toilet, the chances are quite good that you’ll be choosing a more efficient model which will pay for itself over time. According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, this is especially true if the current toilet was manufactured before 1980.
Those toilets use up to six gallons of water during each flush. In fact, toilets are the water hogs of the entire home, “… accounting for nearly 30 percent of an average home’s indoor water consumption,” according to the experts at EPA.gov.
When you replace the old model with a new, more efficient one, you’ll save water and money. Go for a WaterSense-labeled toilet and you can save “… more than $110 per year in water costs, and $2,200 over the lifetime of the toilet,” according to the EPA.
The sheer volume of different brands and models of toilets you’ll find at the local home improvement store can make shopping for one a bit challenging. We’ve rounded up some tips for buying a new toilet that will help.
Prior to Purchasing a New Toilet
Before spending time and money on a new toilet purchase and installation, it is advised to examine the current toilet to see if it can be fixed or otherwise enhanced. It’s time to choose a new toilet if the toilet cannot be fixed or if you have attempted too many repairs and are just seeking an improvement. Make sure the new toilet has strong enough flushing power to handle waste in a single flush in addition to good water efficiency. Otherwise, repeated flushes could negate the financial savings you would anticipate from a low-flow toilet.
One piece or two?
Depending on the model, a toilet can be one piece or constructed of two pieces (the more traditional design).
A one-piece toilet, because it lacks gaps between the tank and the bowl, is easier to keep clean and is recommended for families with children.
The two-piece or traditional-style toilet may cost less and it is easier to install, especially if you’ll be doing the installation solo.
Get the right size
While examining the room’s arrangement, consider the toilet’s size. You can measure the existing toilet to get an estimate of its size, but you don’t need to choose the exact same size as long as it fits. Then, measure from the toilet’s wall to its bolts.
Toilet “rough-in” sizes are 10 inches, 12 inches, and 14 inches. Measuring from the finished wall to the floor-level toilet bolts will indicate the rough-in size toilet you require. When measuring the rough-in, keep in mind that the goal is to put the toilet tank as close to the wall as possible; most tank covers have a lip that takes up 1/4 to 1/2 inch of space. The tank cover won’t fit if it’s against the wall.
If the rough-in is less than 11 inches, you may have to re-plumb the waste pipe or choose a smaller toilet. Elongated, compact-elongated, and round-front toilet bowls are available. Elongated bowls take up more space than round-front toilets.
Standard toilets feature 17-inch seats, whereas chair-height toilets have 19-inch seats. Mobility-challenged people may seek a “comfort height” toilet.
How much water does it use?
Different toilet models come with different flush options. All modern toilets (those manufactured since the mid-1990s) use a maximum of 1.6 gallons per flush. That’s the standard toilet.
Low-flush toilets, on the other hand, may use as little as 1.28 gallons. “While low-flow toilets are often more expensive to install and maintain than traditional toilet fixtures, they can also save you a significant amount of money over time,” according to the experts at home warranty company, American Home Shield.
Since the bathroom is the most frequently used room in the home, and the toilet is the biggest water user, choosing a new toilet with care will pay off in the long run.
