Toto or Caroma?

[Tim A]

I am considering replacing the 5 large volume flush toilets in my new (to me) home (just purchased it - built in 1991) and am considering either the Toto Drake, UltraMax or one of the Caroma's probably the Tasman 270 or one of the others other than the $544 one piece. I am not opposed to having a different kind of toilet for my bathroom vs the 1/2 bath vs the kids bathrooms. Quiet is important for some locations and not others.

What are your preferences and why?

You have a terrific site and have no problem ordering from you provided the shipping isn't prohibitive to Minneapolis. By the way, I have calculated my payback as follows - my cost of water (including the sewer charge that is based on gallons used) is $5.00 per 1,000 gallons. I have approximately 30 flushes per day in my household on average with a 5 gal. per flush savings at 7 days/week for 48 weeks (vacations factored in) is 50,400 gallons a year at $5/ per 1,000 is around $250 if I replaced all of the toilets at once, thus, my payback is around 1 $250 toilet/year. I am not opposed to spending more for the Ultramax or a higher priced Caroma if there is some benefit such as ease of cleaning, quieter, ect.... Some get used more than others and I may replace those that are used more frequently first.

Thanks for any insight.

[Terry]

A home built in 1991 would have a 3.5 GPF toilet not the 5.0 you are thinking about.

In 1992, the standards went to 1.6 GPF.

The 1.6 will save quite a bit of water on your bill though.

I do notice that the 1-piece designs are a little quieter.
The Toto Ultimate could be a good choice here. Quieter than the Caroma and easier to clean.

If water saving is of more importance, then the dual flush Caroma will do that.
They will wind up using less water.

Either of these toilets will perform well.

I wish I could sell in MN, but the shipping is too much.
For Toto, I do shipping around Seattle, LA and Houston
and can arrange will-call in Brooklyn NY.

I've been sellng the Caroma only in the Seattle area.
Both brands have dealer locators on their web site.

Toto Aquia reviews


Looking inside the tank of the Toto Aquia CST414M dual flush toilet.

[dc_homeplumber]

Tim, I'm glad you brought this up. The Toto line seems to be the best in the world based on my extensive research. (I wish I could afford a Neorest. ) But Caroma seems to be the most water conservative. There is a Caroma video posted somewhere on this site where one lady says that she only uses the half-flush (0.8 gallon) option on her Caroma because it is that thorough. Must be that big hole in the bowl of the Caroma that you could lose a foot in.

But, my question about the Caromas (to Terry) is: How available are the replacement/repair parts for the tank? The inside of the Caroma tank looks pretty complicated and something being out of commission for weeks awaiting parts is useless to me, regardless of the water savings, especially in my case with only one bathroom.

Another couple of questions for Terry: I have read about your Kohler Cimarron experience. When you were "testing" your Cimarron, was yours set at the 1.6 or 1.1 gallon flush?

This question is about Flushmate. I had a 1997 American Standard Cadet with the Flushmate which worked very well overall, but sometimes if there was toilet paper too close to the front of the bowl, the water wouldn't "grab" it as it exploded down the drain. Is that a common Flushmate problem or exclusive to the Cadet? Also, after about six months, it was sometimes hard to get it to flush without holding the flush lever down. It would (for lack of a better term) moan and groan and start off sluggish and eventually it would "catch" and flush correctly. But it happened a lot.

Please advise.


Inside the Caroma Sydney tank

[Terry]

Caroma parts for the flush valve?
They assure me that when parts are needed they will rob them from tanks.
So far I haven't needed them.
The fill valve is the plugged Fluidmaster version without the fill tube.

The Cimarron was tested (installed in my home) at 1.6 gallons. It wasn't the amount of water that was the problem, it was the location of the bowl rinsing holes.
Portions of the bowl were never touched
It did sometimes plug, and the handle was stiff for some. It could have used a bigger handle for more leverage. There are more floaters left after the flush than other toilets.

A good value in an elongated bowl with the 16.125" high bowl would be something like the Toto Dalton.
Even better than the Dalton for bowl wash and clearing are the Drake and the Ultramax.
At the pricing of the Cimarron, you can do better with the Toto Dalton.
At this time I have the Toto Dalton installed in my home.
Very quick flush. The handle moves with very little effort.

Cadet Flushmate,
The older version did leave the paper if you left it in the front of the bowl.
That was a very common complaint.
I found that many women leave paper there. The men weren't so apt to notice.
As far as the Flushmate itself glitching, it happens. Sometimes it's a small part that needs replacing.