Exactly that. We first got a Hometech bidet around 2001 or 2002 and all the sudden nobody wanted to use the bathroom when away from home without feeling the need to take a shower afterwards.
By 2010 the old Hometech still worked but had developed a crack in the seat.
I then saw this Bondell S1000 as a sponsored deal via deals.woot for 448.95 shipped (which was the lowest I’d ever seen it at the time) and got one. It is leaps and bounds better than the Hometech was, and has worked flawlessly for 3 years so far.
The Hometech had only a little warm water tank in it that would run for a short while and then the water would get cold. The Brondell can spray warm water indefinitely, which is a huge improvement. The deodorizer also reduces bathroom odors significantly, and the water nozzles are stainless steel (the old Hometech had plastic nozzles as did some of the Toto models).
This does seem like a lot to spend on a “toilet seat,” but when compared to many other home improvement or electronic items it’s not so bad. It has been well worth it to us, and if it ends up lasting 8-9 years like the old one, all the better.
I’m almost tempted to buy another one now that the warranty on ours is up, but it’s too much money to spend on something to just put on a shelf waiting until the day the current one dies, which could potentially be several years away.
Overall, highly recommended if you can afford it. Sure the Toto models operate faster (there’s a bit of a delay with the Brondell when you hit the wash button) but Toto is also a LOT more expensive (the S300e is about the closest current Toto model to the S1000, and does have a few extra bells and whistles but also a much larger price tag). The Brondell seems to be a good quality product at a more reasonable price point.
I had a Brondell S1000 installed last summer after having rectal surgery. Using TP at the time was very painful.
I have continued to use it after things healed following the surgery. It has: heated seat, deodorizer, 4 nozzle positions to clean your brown eye. The nozzle can also be made to move forward and backward. The water pressure can be set to 3 different settings. The water flow temperature has 3 settings. There is also a fan with 3 temperature settings to dry yourself.
I will admit the fan is kind of weak. For me it takes 2 fan cycles to get things dry.
Overall it’s a nice luxury to have. Think about it. If you get poop on your fingers your not going to just wipe it off with dry tissue paper! So why would you think you can get the brown eye clean using only dry tissue paper?
I’ve gotten used to using the S1000 so much. If I’m out of the house and need to drop a log the first thing I do when I get home is to wash my bung hole with the bidet. I always feel much cleaner on the backside than just using TP.
Before tossing 4 hundred bucks to Woot, I may just duct tape a lawn sprinkler inside one of our toilets. That should be a good way to test out this whole ‘bidet’ thing.
I bought one of the Luxe bidets that were on sale last month. It was the first bidet I’ve ever used. Now there’s no going back. I had to order 2 more right away for my other bathrooms. There really is no comparison to just using dry tp.
Now I must admit I’ve always been a fan of holding the deuce for “home field advantage” when I’m out of the house but now it’s way more important because I don’t want to go without my friendly butt washing device!
I think that’s kind of the point of the cheap one (the “FreshSpa”), but it looks like that one has no heater so during the winter might be an unfortunate time to test it out.
Aside from people who need one for medical reasons it’s pretty clearly an optional “luxury” type item, but then again so are a lot of other things people pay a very significant amount of money for. It’s mostly up to personal preference, but I don’t think I’ve ever heard of anyone who actually started using a good quality bidet and then said they prefer dry paper.
I need to convince my wife to let me buy one of these. I’ll even put off my next pistol purchase to get one and I have never used a bidet (I have used a pistol…).
True, once you have one you’ll never go back. We’ve had ours for three years (it’s the S1000 model) and it’s been a long time since we bought TP (only for guests). We use wash cloths to dry as the heater would be time consuming on a regular basis. You will need an outlet near the toilet (or extension cord) as the Brondell cord is only three feet but fortunately Hubby is handy and installed them. The warm water is heated in the bidet so your water source is the same as the toilet, not from the sink.
One caveat, this model has a split second of cold water before the warm dispenses so I just put a hand back to take that first spritz until it gets warm.
Lots of good reviews at Amazon. There is a seller on Ebay that regularly sells them for $479 and that’s the best deal I’ve see aside from Woot. If you have the money, you won’t be sorry getting one of these.
I have a box of wet wipes by the toilet at all times, for when i know the toilet paper didn’t get everything. That’s why i decided to get one of these. it arrives Monday. Wanted one for the past couple of years… wife didn’t need much convincing.
From someone who used to live in Japan, these things are amazing!
When you wash your hands (or your body) you use water! You dont just rub a tissue over your hands or your body. Why would you do it with your booty hole?
wife didn’t need much convincing.