Pressure assist toilets for a home office?

[Mandochop]

Hi all,

We are remodeling our home in Southern California and I will have a home office. There will be a powder room used by visitors to the office, and it will see fairly frequent use. My central concerns are 1) no clogs, since I cannot be cleaning the powder room out all day long, and 2) ease of cleaning.

I have just barely begun to look at toilets, both for this office and the rest of the house. But I notice that pressure systems are available from some manufacturers.

I'd be grateful to hear from people with these units. Do they work better and more reliably than the newer gravity system toilets (Toto, Caroma?) or the new Kohler Cimmaron? Is the air pressure mechanism liable to break or does it need some type of maintenance? Which are the best ones, or, which is the best one? Do I need one of these or are the Totos and Caromas just as good?

Thanks so much in advance.

[Terry]

For a home office powder room, any of the top toilets on my list would work fine.
Pressure assist does not mean it will clear the bowl better and in fact may need to be flushed twice to clear remaining remnants.

A sanagloss version of the Drake or Ultramax would be a good choice. It's an easier to clean bowl with very complete bowl wash, and you do want that for frequent people in your home, right?

[Mandochop]

Hi Terry,

Thanks for the reply. I'm somewhat surprised to hear that the pressure assist toilets do not necessarily work better than the best gravity flow toilets, and may somehow even work a bit worse if they have to be flushed twice. Why is this so? I'd think the extra air pressure would help force everything away and do it efficiently, much like in commercial buildings.

With regard to the top models on your list, I'm interested in your take on the Caroma. I see -- after being a member of this forum for a few hours -- that you tend to recommend Toto fixtures a great deal. The dual flush mechanism on the Caroma seems well thought out, and from what I can tell it also seems to have the largest outflow capacity as well as an effective gravity method. How would you compare the Toto Ultramax with the G-Max system and the Caroma? The more specific you can be, the better.

And thank you so very much for taking the time and having the interest to help out folks like myself... there are so many choices and it is difficult to sort through all of the data, trying to discern which of it is meaningful and which should be, well, flushed down the toilet.

Mandochop

[Terry]

High pressure jets sometimes "poke" through the mess and even create many smaller particles that swirl around and leave the main river of waste being flushed.
If you were flushing golf balls or rubber sponges, you wouldn't notice this.
I take it your clients are normal people and that they don't poop golf balls?

My take on the Caroma. They work, but not my first choice.
Most people that have used both the Caroma and the Toto, wind up with something Toto unless they need or feel better about the water savings that the dual flush gives you. The Caroma is noiser, the bowl doesn't stay as clean.

If it were only me, that would be one thing, remember that what drives this discussion is the feedback and buying patterns of the public.
I started off years ago selling pressure assist and the homeowners chose the high performance Toto gravity products over and over again instead.
Remember that all toilets use about 1.5 to 1.6 gallons. No matter how you slice it, you are using the same amount of water to flush with.
A little high pressure jet through poop may not be the best thing if you want clean water in the bowl when you are done. It can look kind of murky at times.
Do you really want that murky water with bits of poop in the bowl for the next client? Of course they can always flush twice I guess. The pressure assist would not be my first choice though.

[Mandochop]

Terry, you are a funny guy! I enjoyed your response. I take it that you have no financial arrangements or other conflicts of interest regarding your endorsement of Toto, yes?

Your point regarding the effect of air pressure on a relatively small amount of water makes intuitive sense. The commercial toilets certainly use way more than 1.6 gallons.

And again, thanks for your time answering questions from strangers. One more: how much dirtier is the Caroma than the Toto, and why do you suppose that's the case? Are the dimensions or is the shape of the bowl that different between the two; or does the water enter the bowl differently? Inquiring minds want to know...

Thanks again,

Mandochop

[Terry]

That's a fair question. I don't "get" money from anybody. You will notice that there is no advertising for plumbing companies on the site. I decided years ago that I wanted to "say what I say" without backlash. It's rather freeing.

I have considered putting in a link that would allow donations to the site.

I do sell many of the toilets listed, incuding the pressure assist and the Caroma gravity.
If you want a good wall hung toilet, something like the American Standard Glenwall is really the only way to go now.
For water saving at it's best, the Caroma does well.

Because the Caroma has more of a funnel and less of a water spot, cleaning may be needed more. Not much though. And really all of the 1.6 need more than before.


Glenwall

[Mandochop]

Thanks again, Terry.

I can't resist.... one... more...... question....arrghhh!

How do you compare the AS Glenwall with regard to flushing ability and cleanliness to the Toto Ultramax?

Thank you!

Mandochop

[Terry]

OK, I guess I wasn't clear enough.

I have the Glenwall installed in my gray bathroom.
I had the Ultramax installed in my green bathroom for a year.
It's not even close.
To leave a bowl with clean water, most of the time you would have to flush the glenwall twice. The glenwall is a wall hung toilet, not a floor mount. It uses the Sloan Flushmate. I get black crud growing at the water level line with the Glenwall. A little cleaning and it's gone.
I can tell from 60 feet away whenever someone flushes the glenwall.

The Ultramax is very good with "one" flush. One flush and the bowl is clean.
The porcelain stays cleaner too. It's quieter too.

However, if you want a commerical bathroom in your homeoffice, then maybe a Flushmate is better for you.

I chose to put Ultramax and Drake in the commercial bathrooms in my church.
The womens bathroom has eight Utramax's and one Drake. What can I say, they're working great.

[Mandochop]

Aha, got it.

I truly appreciate the time you've spent to help me out with this. Gathering the incredible amount of information one needs to do a substantial home remodel is daunting, and being able to find a source like your website and bulleting board to use in conjunction with other sites and some pounding of the pavement makes it possible.

Thanks Terry!

Mandochop