“The Japanese love those things!” That’s what I’ve heard a lot of people say when I’ve talked to them about my latest obsession, the Coco 6035Re Bidet toilet seat. As part of OSAlert’ ongoing project, “Building The Wired Home,” I wanted to try to see what the march of technological progress has brought to the bathroom, so we installed a bidet seat in OSAlert’ House of the Future. It turns out, I’m pretty impressed.First, a warning: if you’re not interested in reading a frank discussion of personal hygiene, go ahead and hit that back button now. Similarly, if you’re already thinking, “what does this have to do with operating systems?” — Back button.
OSAlert readers in some parts of the world will wonder what’s so “wired” about a bidet seat, or might marvel at the fact that I’m impressed by anything so mundane. The truth is, however, that while traditional bidets are ubiquitous in some places, and electronic bidets are common in others, in the United States, they’re still somewhat of an oddity. For many people who are unfamiliar with them, the idea of squirting water on your nether regions after using the toilet strikes them as a superfluous luxury at best, and at worst, ironically, a somewhat-dirty self-indulgence. Keep in mind though, that only a couple of centuries ago, most Europeans and Americans felt largely the same way about bathing.
Bidet users, however, find the idea of relying on toilet paper to be somewhat barbaric and certainly sub-par from a cleanliness standpoint. Someone likened it to trying to clean up spilled peanut butter by smearing it in with a dry towel. If you can excuse this apt but somewhat crude observation, I’ve discovered that the water vs. paper controversy actually makes more sense when you consider some differences in human anatomy. Some people’s anal area and sphincter position is shaped so that there is very little soiling, and other people end up with a major cleanup project. So the people in column A, when they use paper, make one little wipe and all is well. The unfortunates in column B have a much harder time of it. I must admit that I’m a column B guy, and so I’ve been unhappy living in a toilet paper world. That’s why the bidet seat has been such a revelation to me.
While I’m grossing everyone out, I should also mention that anyone who suffers from hemorrhoids will benefit tremendously from using water to clean up rather than toilet paper.
The traditional bidet, used for all kinds of personal washing, has been around for 300 years, but the bidet seat, used strictly for post-toilet use, is strictly a modern-era innovation, starting to achieve widespread adoption in Japan in the eighties. Japanese plumbing giant Toto has been the leader in the field, but over the past decade, several other manufacturers have entered the market, including Coco, a US-based company that’s new to the market but has produced a very polished and functional product.
Bidet seats range in price from around $100 to well over $1000. The Coco model I installed is in the middle of the price range at just under $600. The inexpensive units are essentially a nozzle to channel cold water from the toilet hookup into the bowl. As you move up the price range, you start to have comfort and convenience features like heated water, heated seats, built-in deodorizer, a hot air blowdryer, adjustable nozzles with different spray patterns, convenient remote controls, etc. As you get to the high end of the price range some of the features move into the realm of the silly: seats that raise and lower by remote control, seat massage features, automatic flushing, etc.
Installing my Coco bidet seat involved removing the regular toilet seat, screwing in a mounting plate onto the toilet bowl, sliding the bidet in, unhooking the water supply from the toilet tank, installing the included T valve and water filter, and connecting the bidet seat to the water supply. All in all, it took me about ten minutes, and only that long because I dropped an O ring seal when I was unpacking, and had to find it.
Probably the most difficult thing about installing a bidet seat in most homes is that electricians rarely install electrical outlets behind or near toilets. It’s not required in the International Residential code, which dictates the location of electrical outlets in most homes. A GFCI electrical outlet (that won’t electrocute you if an appliance is dropped in water) is required to run any electronic bidet seat, obviously, so it might be necessary to have an electrician retrofit an outlet. They can usually tap into a nearby outlet, so it may or may not be a huge job. In my case, I was specifically interested in these things when I built this house, so I made sure to include an outlet behind the toilet.
This particular bidet seat has a wireless remote control, which attaches to the wall (I put it right above the toilet paper roll). Less-expensive units often have the controls to the side of the seat, which isn’t as convenient. There are a lot of buttons on this control. If I were to design it, I would have tried to make the interface a little more intuitive, but once you know what all the buttons do, and what your preferences are, it’s pretty easy to use.
It has an LCD screen that displays the time of day and status information. It has several “programming buttons” that let you specify what temperature you’d like the water heated to, temperature of the heated seat, etc. The rest of the buttons control the various features: rear cleaning, front (feminine) cleaning, a (gentler) kids’ setting, the hot air dryer, and IIP, which pulses the water to help out with constipation.
The Coco has one of the best energy efficiency settings in the industry, only heating the seat and water when you’re using it. The downside is that the water can be a little cooler unless you’re on the toilet for a long time before activating it. The upside is less electricity use. Bidet seat manufacturers often tout the environmental benefits of using bidets instead of paper. I think those claims are overblown, especially if, like me, your electricity is generated from burning coal. Paper, electricity, six of one, half a dozen of another.
Probably my major gripes with this product is that, as someone who’s accustomed to being able to customize the software I use everyday, I found myself wanting to reprogram the device’s controls a bit, and wishing for some slightly more sophisticated technology. I don’t miss the whiz-bang features that other products have, like the motorized automatically opening toilet lid. What I’m interested in is more of a open platform that would allow me to configure presets for the controls. For example, to set the spray to the oscillating version that I prefer, and to get the wand extended so it sprays in the right place, I have to make several button presses on the remote. I’d like to be able to program the remote so I’d only have to press one button. I’d like to be able to have presets for each member of the family, or even have the toilet seat identify me by my weight and know my preferences.
Additional uses of computing technology in the WC don’t need to stop with bidet features. A few years ago, Toto developed a toilet that monitors your health by analyzing sugar levels in your urine and including a blood pressure cuff attachment and scales to measure Body Mass Index. All this data is uploaded to a server that can track the data points over time. A British company in working on an even more comprehensive health-monitoring toilet. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, as they say, and since checking your bodily waste is the most convenient way of identifying many health problems, it makes a lot of sense to integrate health monitoring technology into the toilet.
What will the everyday toilet work like in 100 years? Will computing technology and networking play a large part in the average household, or will these features stay confined to technophiles and Japanese people? From my experience with the Coco bidet, I’d venture to say that we’ll see a lot more people using high tech toilets in the coming decades. I’ll classify it in the same category as the internet, Wi-Fi, Netflix, and mobile phones: before it existed I didn’t know I needed it, but now that I’m used to it, you’ll have to pry it from my cold, dead hands.
As a postscript, people have become so dependent on these things that they’re now marketing poerable ones.
To learn more about the Coco Bidet, visit Bio Life Technologies
This article was awesome! And especially useful for those who need help flushing their heads out of their nether regions!
I dated a girl with a bidet in her house and thought it was the greatest thing since sliced bread. You really do feel cleaner than after you use paper….
++ Indeed, when you get used to a bidet, using only paper feels a step back. IIMC Arabs use only water to clean, saw that a day before yesterday in an Arab restaurant. I must say I miss it everywhere else then home!
If you have the space then a bidet with cold and warm water can also look nice, if you don’t then there are ‘mini-showers’ with a regulator for hot/cold/amount of water and a button on/off which is be even better.
I speak from personal experience, 2 bathrooms, 2 systems in them and both are a step up.
Hey, nice article! I liked the piece where you classify people according to their “anal area and sphincter position”.
I’m wondering which column I am… will take my mirror and find out when I get home today.
I know as a fact that I’m a “Column B” guy as well… I can definitely relate to David’s experience.
Definitely column B here.
Ever heard of the flushing threshold? There’s an x amount of toilet paper you can flush in one go, and feeding your toilet x+1 results in… Well, use your imagination.
Kinda sucks.
(actually, it doesn’t “suck”
)
These are really interesting, but I’d need some additional wiring.
I’ve been thinking about getting an electrician to come in and do a bunch of wall-fishing to hook up some new electrical jacks, ethernet, etc. because there are some areas in this house that I simply can’t get to.
Does anyone know what it might cost to get someone out here for 1-2 hours? I’m in the U.S.A.
It depends on whether you can find someone who will come work on an hourly “time and materials” basis and not try to charge you a high minimum or a big trip charge. My electrician charges $50-65 per hour. If you get a good electrician, they’ll be able to fish the wires quite quickly, but it takes a lot of skill and special equipment, so it’s really not a good DIY. Worth it to hire an expert.
The first house I owned only had one electrical outlet per room and that outlet was connected to the light switch. (Built in 1948) Luckily, it was built with a crawl space underneath, so I was able to run more outlets to each room when I bought the place.
If you seriously need to use that much toilet paper good fiber diet should do job. And to be most eco you just wipe with hand. Keep mind that fresh water is going to be next reason for war, atleast according to “experts”.
But seriously try eating more fibers it should solve muzzle problem :p.
Yeah… we have two different toilets in the house, one being newer (the renovated bathroom) and one being older.
I have to use the older one because I constantly plug the newer one somehow.
It sometimes takes 3 or 4 flushes before I’m “finished”.
Edit: I’m sure if my wife ever reads these comments, she’s gonna laugh.
Edited 2008-07-23 20:22 UTC
I never thought I’d see the words “anal” and “sphincter” in an OSAlert article — ever.
Interesting review.
In an article, maybe not, but in a comment, definitely
How many times… They HAVE to cover the new developments at Microsoft too!
After reading TFA, the words “global warming” keep spinning round in my mind. Fast forward 50 years, and imagine a conversation you’re having with a future child / grandchild:
Offspring : Why were people in your time so greedy – they could have saved the planet by using less energy?
Me/You : Dunno sweetie, but on the plus side, I had an electronic toilet seat….
Seriously, though…… WHY?????!!!!?!?
I can see the headlines now…
“New Bidet OS Wars”
“Man Still Dirty After Harrowing MS-Bidet BSOD”
“Haiku – The New Bidet OS King”
“‘Anal’ Bidet Virus Spreads”
“Bidet Software Crash Scolds Child, Parents Told They Cannot Sue”
“Man Commits Suicide After Bidet HIV False-Positive”
hmm… I like this topic
Nice article, I’m just interested to see how many prudes decide to comment.
–The loon
Aw man, and to think this shows up after just recently renovating one of my bathrooms…
It had *never* occurred to me that there might actually be a good reason to put an outlet next to my toilet.
I SO want to visit David after reading this stuff.
I lived in Japan back in the 80s and I used to think it was funny to go to appliance stores and see displays of toilets all shooting water up like a fountain.
These bidet seats used to be something you’d only see in people’s homes, but when I went to Japan last year, many of the public restrooms had them too.
I’m glad to see them marketed to some degree in the U.S., where I currently live. I think they are much more hygienic than paper alone.
I guess if you don’t have one, you could always use a wet shower curtain or the sink though.
Edited 2008-07-23 19:36 UTC
“I think they are much more hygienic than paper alone.”
Am I the only one who runs a bit of toilet paper under the sink? I mean, does everyone else really use “paper alone“? Dampened paper works wonders, without needing to shoot a jet of water up your rear.
And I’d like to add my voice saying I never thought I’d be discussing this at OSAlert
I lived in South America and we had bidets in almost every bathroom. Now I live in Spain and it’s very common to see bidets, but analog ones. No electronic or fancy remote control.
I couldn’t live without one.
Even though the article is gross and weird, it was a fun read. I would love to see more articles like this (fun new technologies)
“Even though the article is gross and weird”
Only in our backward part of the world is this true. In most of this world human waste is just that and not dwelt on in negative ways. It’s just something you have to get rid of once in awhile and there are good ways and bad ways to do this as well as good and bad ways to clean yourself.
Notice how people take showers and baths instead of using wood based products to clean themselves with. In most places you don’t even use wood based products to dry yourself, which is different than cleaning yourself.
Don’t get me started on hypocritical conservatives when it comes to nudity and perversions.
I live in the Seattle, WA area and not in Europe. I’m not a nudist. If I were I wouldn’t live in Seattle.
Any time I even think of how those things might work, I can’t imagine them spraying the A-hole dead-on, as intended. On the other hand, I can imagine those things spraying the nut sack as a result of missing the hole.
On a side note, this was one of the stupidest articles I’ve ever read on OSAlert. Maybe you should start up a new site–ToiletNews.com?
And yet you read it and replied to it. He gave you, in writing, at least two times to click on the back button and yet you didn’t. So what is stupid…?
I read it thinking maybe, in its own way, it would be an interesting article–yes, even forgetting the name of this site. If it was the slightest bit interesting, I wouldn’t mind this being on OSAlert as much… but no. Maybe a little (good) humor thrown in would’ve gone a long way, but no… TP vs. water for cleaning your ass… woohoo. This article would probably even bore Beavis.
By the way–I only read maybe halfway before realizing it was a waste of time. Now, I’m done in this thread. Enough time wasted.
Edited 2008-07-23 23:03 UTC
“I can’t imagine them spraying the A-hole dead-on, as intended. On the other hand, I can imagine those things spraying the nut sack as a result of missing the hole.”
Yeah, really.
I can imagine thinking in the morning, “Well, if I wasn’t awake before… I sure as hell am now” Jesus. I know the way we do things in the US is pretty backwards and stupid, but using a bidet would definitely take a while to get used to.
The position of the spray is adjustable with the remote control.
“/bin/english: stuipdest: word not found”
For those in “column B” according to the article, but not willing to drop the cash necessary to get a bidet, flushable wipes are wonderful. They’re like wipes you use on babies, except a) they’re flushable (duh) and b) they are not just geared towards children. As a column B man myself, I keep a pack at work and I feel much cleaner then I ever did before.
Some day, though, I’ll upgrade to the bidet. If I can convince my wife.
The article’s topic reminds me of something funny-but-OT. Back in the 12th grade, I took a building design course – while doing the floor plans, we used stencils that had icons for stuff like doors, toilets, etc.
Oddly enough, there was also an icon in the stencil that we didn’t recognize; someone asked the teacher and was told that it was a bidet. Being high school students in a rural area, none of us had the slightest clue what a bidet was. And, also due to the fact that we were high school students, we of course found the idea hilarious once the teacher told us what bidets were.
The resulting silliness should be easy enough to imagine. E.g., one of my fellow students made a draft floor plan that contained a “bidet room” (in place of the living room) with, of course, a row of bidets where the couch would normally go, etc.
Ah, memories…