Best replacement toilet seat / how about bidet toilet seat?

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timmmay

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#277087 25-Sep-2020 07:54

Our Caroma Opal Smartflush is about ten years old, the self lowering toilet seat doesn't really lower slowly any more, so it's time for a new one. Of course the easy option is to buy the Avalon direct replacement, but I never seem to take the easy option... or at least I do after thinking about the options.

I noticed that we paid $475 for the whole toilet as through the bathroom firm we got about 50% discount, but the replacement seat is $310 list and $250 in the cheapest store. So a replacement seat costs half as much as the toilet! Is there a really good quality third party toilet seat we should consider?

I'm also interested in the bidet toilet seats. I've never used one, but they sound efficient. Our main bathroom would need a new power socket installed, the tap and such is inside the toilet cistern so it might be a pain to do, but our other toilet would be easier. Has anyone used one of these add on toilet seat bidet toilet seats, and can you recommend a brand / model? They seem to range from $500 at bunnings to a couple of grand at the bidet shop.

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#2573918 25-Sep-2020 08:06

Love to see the vid of your first bidet experience!!!!! And, no, I have not tried one🙂

timmmay

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#2573921 25-Sep-2020 08:09

@JaseNZ and @FineWine had some good suggestions in other threads. I thought FineWine's suggestion of the tap / gun was interesting, have used that sort of thing in Asia, but the water here is so cold in winter I won't brush my teeth with it, let along squirt near freezing water where the sun don't shine!

linw:

Love to see the vid of your first bidet experience!!!!! And, no, I have not tried one🙂

I'm sure if you look on youtube there will be videos... used a little in Asia years ago.

Gurezaemon

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#2573930 25-Sep-2020 08:17

timmmay:

I'm also interested in the bidet toilet seats. I've never used one, but they sound efficient. Our main bathroom would need a new power socket installed, the tap and such is inside the toilet cistern so it might be a pain to do, but our other toilet would be easier. Has anyone used one of these add on toilet seat bidet toilet seats, and can you recommend a brand / model? They seem to range from $500 at bunnings to a couple of grand at the bidet shop.

I replaced a bidet recently with the Kogan Smart Wash & Dry Electric Bidet Toilet Seat from Kogan, and I'm pretty happy with it. Installation was a breeze, although I'm not sure how it would work with the tap being inside the cistern, etc. This is currently going for $329, but they frequently have sales where this drops quite a bit.

If I were purchasing again, I'd probably go for the Kogan Smart Wash & Dry Electric Bidet Toilet Seat, a slightly more upmarket version that has the controls on a remote that can be mounted at head height.

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jonathan18

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#2573933 25-Sep-2020 08:22

I too have been looking into these but at the lower end of that price range.

There's a model even lower at the cheap end, which is from Kogan and currently $329 plus shipping (https://www.kogan.com/nz/shop/?q=kogan+toilet&category=bidets). Not sure if it'll be sh!t quality or not...

Edit: Snap... beaten to it... @Gurezaemon - how low has that Kogan been before? I've been tracking it for a few weeks and $329 is the lowest I've seen it. What would be your main reasons for going for the more expensive model? Is the fixed controller on the cheaper one annoying?

I noticed the Bunnings model linked to above has a remote and is priced the same as the more expensive Kogan... Would be good to hear feedback on that one...

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#2573947 25-Sep-2020 08:40

jonathan18:

I too have been looking into these but at the lower end of that price range.

There's a model even lower at the cheap end, which is from Kogan and currently $329 plus shipping (https://www.kogan.com/nz/shop/?q=kogan+toilet&category=bidets). Not sure if it'll be sh!t quality or not...

Edit: Snap... beaten to it... @Gurezaemon - how low has that Kogan been before? I've been tracking it for a few weeks and $329 is the lowest I've seen it. What would be your main reasons for going for the more expensive model? Is the fixed controller on the cheaper one annoying?

I noticed the Bunnings model linked to above has a remote and is priced the same as the more expensive Kogan... Would be good to hear feedback on that one...

I got mine at that price just before the first lockdown - it was great in feeling smug about not having to buy up toilet paper 😂

Most of the time, the controller thing is not an issue - just with my eyesight, reading the small text on the buttons with the bright LEDs next to them can be a bit annoying. Definitely not a deal-breaker.

I'd definitely look at the Bunnings one as well though - if nothing else, returns would be easier than having to ship the whole thing back to wherever Kogan is, and from the description, it appears as capable.

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jonathan18

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#2573961 25-Sep-2020 08:59

Thanks for that info; yeah, my eyesight's rubbish so that could well be a problem for me too!

The NZ Bunnings site has next-to-no detail on that "Evacare" EVA0199 model, which is annoying; the Aus site has an "Evekare" EVK-0199-MCE which does have the installation manual etc, and is clearly this model. Do you reckon the NZ and AU models are one and the same?

Also, weirdly the AU model has a three-year warranty while the NZ model claims 15 years (bet that's just for the plastic seat or something!).

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robjg63

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#2574047 25-Sep-2020 09:41

Buying a replacement toilet seat is a real pain.
I stood in the aisle at bunnings and lost the will to live. No idea really how you select the right one - lots of different measurements to consider. Would be easier to take the old seat in to compare, but that's hardly hygienic.
After buying a cheap generic seat for our coroma toilet which didnt fit well, I managed to find the caroma part number and got them from plumbing world from memory. Was a bit over $100 which is pretty pricey. That was a couple of years back too.

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rogercruse

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#2574057 25-Sep-2020 09:51

My choice would be any toilet seat with 'Soft Close' and with a lid that's strong enough so you can seat on it.

jamesrt

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#2574068 25-Sep-2020 10:05

Gurezaemon: I replaced a bidet recently with the Kogan Smart Wash & Dry Electric Bidet Toilet Seat from Kogan, and I'm pretty happy with it.

@Gurezaemon; FYI, that link is bad...

My inLaws built recently and put fancy bidet seats in, etc; there were a number of issues that required fairly expensive plumbing to ensure were fully compliant, so beware the "hidden costs"...

jonathan18

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#2574073 25-Sep-2020 10:10

jamesrt:

@Gurezaemon; FYI, that link is bad...

https://www.kogan.com/nz/buy/kogan-smart-wash-dry-electric-bidet-toilet-seat/

timmmay

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#2574080 25-Sep-2020 10:23

jamesrt:

@Gurezaemon; FYI, that link is bad...

My inLaws built recently and put fancy bidet seats in, etc; there were a number of issues that required fairly expensive plumbing to ensure were fully compliant, so beware the "hidden costs"...

Do you recall what was required? If it's $500 for a seat, that's fine, but if there's a plumber required and plumbing changes that's out the window (which is I guess is also the backup plan if the toilets fail).

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JaseNZ

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#2574151 25-Sep-2020 12:05

They are all bolt on solutions though, Wonder if anybody here makes the full on all built in solution like the Japanese have.

All the bells and whistles (literally) ,We love your butt long time sort of thing.

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Gurezaemon

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#2574153 25-Sep-2020 12:10

JaseNZ:

They are all bolt on solutions though, Wonder if anybody here makes the full on all built in solution like the Japanese have.

All the bells and whistles (literally) ,We love your butt long time sort of thing.

FWIW, even most of the fancy Japanese ones are bolt-ons, that include lifting the lid and seat when they detect a guy walking towards it, a padded lid interior for when you fall asleep on the throne after a big night out, and Bluetooth connectivity so you can enjoy your music.

I ran into some of the more spectacular versions of these in my 16 years in Japan, and have worked on the documentation and PR materials :)

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Journeyman

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#2574475 25-Sep-2020 20:10

jamesrt:

Gurezaemon: I replaced a bidet recently with the Kogan Smart Wash & Dry Electric Bidet Toilet Seat from Kogan, and I'm pretty happy with it.

@Gurezaemon; FYI, that link is bad...

My inLaws built recently and put fancy bidet seats in, etc; there were a number of issues that required fairly expensive plumbing to ensure were fully compliant, so beware the "hidden costs"...

Did those issues include the backflow valve / reduced pressure zone valve?

I've been looking at bidet seats and every seller says something different about the valve required. Some say it is built into the seat, some say a plastic doodackey from Bunnings will suffice, others say you must get the most high compliance valve out there.

I contacted a plumber who is a backflow valve expert and he said that the only toilet I should trust that claims to have a backflow valve built in is a $3200 whole-toilet-replacement that his supplier happens to sell. I asked him how much it would cost to have a valve fitted to a bidet seat that doesn't have one built in and he went all quiet on me.

I asked another plumber who admitted he had no real experience with bidets and could only do a google search to find a seat that said it had one built in.

So please if anyone has some experience or has a plumber that knows about bidet seats, let the collective know all about it!

mattwnz

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#2574478 25-Sep-2020 20:17

Toilet seat pricing from some NZ suppliers are so high, I ..... I understand bunnings sell cheaper third party ones.

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