If you’re thinking about renovating your bathroom, en-suite, or downstairs loo this year, at some stage, you’ll need to think ‘toilet’.
Admittedly, it’s not the most glamorous of home essentials, but it does need careful consideration. There are more options than you might think when it comes to the most important throne in your house.
For instance, have you ever heard of a comfort height toilet?
What’s a comfort height toilet?
Comfort height toilets are increasingly popular in both domestic and public UK bathrooms.
Standing at around two to four inches taller than standard flush units, they’ve been a common fixture in Japanese bathrooms for many years and are designed with comfort in mind.
This makes comfort height toilets perfect for people who are elderly, disabled, or particularly tall.
How high are they, and why does height matter?
There’s no one-size-fits all height for comfort height toilets, and they vary in size. Most feature a seat that stands around 17 to 19 inches from the floor (that’s five to 12 centimetres in new money).
The height of a toilet is more important than you might think. Comfort height toilets put less strain on the back and relieve pressure on your joints compared to traditional toilets.
For the elderly or those who suffer from significant strain on their joints, they can be a godsend.
Why choose comfort height over standard height?
Comfort height toilets aren’t right for everyone, but the same is true for standard height toilets. It’s just that few people are aware of the former’s existence.
Before you lay down any hard-earned money, here are the pros and cons of both.
Comfort height toilets
Pros
- Relieves pressure on the lower back and your joints
- More comfortable if you’re tall
- Ideal for elderly people who need more support
Cons
- Your feet may dangle from the floor, which can negatively impact blood circulation
- Uncomfortable for children and shorter people
- Makes it harder to adopt a squatting position, which may not help to relieve constipation.
Standard height toilets
Pros
- Better for a natural squatting position
- Great for kids
- Ideal for shorter people
Cons
- Tricky to use if you’re elderly or infirm
- Difficult to get up from
- Puts greater pressure on the lower back and joints
Are comfort height toilets bad?
As demonstrated above, comfort height toilets have their positive and negative points. Their suitability will depend very much on the user.
It’s important to remember that these units are designed to benefit people who need a more comfortable position in which to sit, compared to what’s available with a standard height toilet.
Comfort height toilets are perfect for people whose joints are already under strain either due to their age, height, disability, or an injury. For those people, such toilets will offer greater levels of comfort and ease pain that might otherwise be experienced.
However, if you don’t suffer from such strains, the downsides of a comfort height toilet probably outweigh the positives. For instance, adopting a squat position is beneficial for most people when going to the loo, hence the dominance of standard height toilets.
Should I get a comfort height toilet?
This depends very much on the current strains and stresses you experience on your body. The benefits you’ll get from a toilet of this kind will come down to how important the benefits we’ve described are to you.
Comfort height toilets are at their most effective when installed in homes with elderly people or those who are particularly tall.
If your bathroom is used by children or by people who are shorter in stature, a traditional height toilet is probably the way to go. The problems associated with comfort height units can lead to difficulties going to the toilet and, for kids, the risk of falling from a greater height.
If you’d like to talk about this or any other aspect of your bathroom installation, please do get in touch with the Modern Homes team today. Even better, you can pop into our showroom to test one of our demo units for size (although we hasten to add they’re for checking the height only!).