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In this buyers guide, we're going to be looking at tankless toilets in detail. There are many advantages in owning one, such as their aesthetic appeal, technology, and flush performance.
We shall be picking out several of our favorites from the market and exploring where they excel and what their flaws are. All of this is designed to help you make an informed decision and avoid buyers remorse.
The Karing is a smooth sided smart toilet with plenty of intelligent functionality inside. You can enjoy the cleaning power of the bidet spray, the very efficient Power Lite mechanism which empties the bowl, and the smaller luxuries like the seat heating and night light.
You also get access to a dryer and various water pressure settings. All of which can be controlled via a remote. This is certainly a modern take on using the toilet, and one which improves hygiene and your overall experience.
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| Kohler Karing | Toto Neorest | Kohler Veil | Saniflo SaniCompact |
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| Model number | K-4026 | MS992CUMFG | K-5401-0 | 023 |
| Rough in | 12" | 12" | 12" | |
| Flush type | Power Lite | Tornado | Dual | Upflush |
| Touchless | ||||
| Trip lever | ||||
| Button | ||||
| GPF | 1.28 | 0.8 / 1.0 | 0.8 / 1.28 | 1.3 |
| WaterSense | ||||
| MaP | 600g | 800g | ||
| ADA | ||||
Rim height
Height without seat
|
15-1/2" | 15 9/16" | 15-5/8" | 18.5" |
| Elongated | . | |||
| Round | ||||
| Square | ||||
WSA
Water surface area
|
12" x 9-1/2" | 8-3/4" x 7-1/4" | 7-15/16" x 5-5/8" | |
Water level
Rim to surface |
4-7/8" | |||
| Dimensions | 25 x 22 x 32" | 32.5 x 15.5 x 21.5" | 26.4 x 17.2 x 21.4" | 18.2 x 14.5 x 15.8" |
| Weight | 110 lbs | 120 lbs | 110 lbs | 62.2 lbs |
| Trap size | 2-7/8" | 2-1/8” | 1-15/16" | |
| Flush valve | 3" | 3" | ||
| Concealed trap | . | |||
| Skirted | . | |||
| One piece | . | |||
| Two piece | ||||
| Intelligent | ||||
| Floor mount | . | |||
| Wall mounted | ||||
| Colors | White | White | White | White |
| Seat | . | |||
| Soft close | ||||
| Bidet | ||||
| Supply | ||||
| Rating | 85% | 85% | 84% | 85% |
While a traditional toilet will utilize the force of gravity to remove waste, a tankless toilet will need to be hooked up directly to your water supply line. They will also have a pump that operates electronically within the bowl to activate the flush.
There will also be a flush valve in place that is designed to limit the volume of water that goes through the bowl. This is a measure taken by manufacturers to avoid water overflowing. The waste outlet and drainage pipes will then handle the rest similarly to traditional units.
Compact - Toilets without a tank are lower profile and tend to be shorter in depth. If you've got a small bathroom, having one of these installed can make a compact room appear spacious. It can also free up floor space for other sanitary ware like sinks and showers.
Aesthetics - It can be argued that they are more appealing than standard toilets. They often have seamless, one piece exteriors that we'd describe as a contemporary style.
Technology - They often have modern technology and innovations built in, that are designed to bring more comfort and convenience to the user. Some examples of these innovations include bidets, heated seats, and nightlights. Because of this, they are sometimes described as smart.
Electrical - The problem with requiring electricity to flush the toilet is the fact that during power cuts you won't have the option to flush. Some models do offer a manual overide for this, but not all.
Costs - As they tend to come with unique technology, they are typically more expensive than your standard units. If you're on a tight budget, and have a choice between traditional or no tank, we recommend sticking with traditional designs. They are generally more affordable and easier to find replacement parts for.
If your home isn't blessed with a big bathroom, you'll appreciate the space saving properties of the K-4026. The depth doesn't extend to far from the wall and will give plenty of leg room when you're sitting down. The fact that its elongated helps too, adding to the comfort levels and giving yourself more bowl to aim for.
It's manufactured by Kohler, a name with a great reputation in the home and bath industry. Such a reputation is built over a long period of time, through building numerous products that have been reliable and effective. We think the K-4026 is another example.
It uses tech to its advantage, with a very useful LED night along with a bidet which will enable you to rinse your back and front thoroughly and more effectively than paper. This bidet is operated by a wand that pops out and shoots a jet of water at the necessary regions. The wand is self cleaning too, rinsing itself thoroughly and ridding itself of germs.
Have you ever got up in the middle of the night and found that your seat feels a bit too cold for comfort? Well this unit has eliminated that problem through the ability to warm up the seat. I'm sure this is something that will be appreciated by everyone.
Users will get a control panel to change all the options to their liking, and will also have the choice of setting up user profiles to account for the different peoples preferences in the family.
Its power lite flushing mechanism is designed to be powerful but efficient. This is demonstrated by its 1.28 GPF flow rate, which is the mark that EPA set to be WaterSense compliant. Over the years, this can even reduce your water bills.
The Neorest comes in a number of different forms. But the model we're focusing our attention on today is the MS992CUMFG. This is a toilet made by Toto and has some solid specifications that could be really beneficial to anyone in a residential environment.
They're one of the market leading brands and one of our favorites. We rate them highly due to their reliability and ability to handle waste in bulk without wasting too much water. If you look around the web, you'll find that many professional plumbers have shared similar experiences using their products. But what about the specs of this particular unit? What are its pros and cons? How does it differentiate itself?
Similar to the K-4026, there are some clever functions that will benefit everyone in the household. The washlet offers the same heating cleaning properties, with the ability to wash either the front and back through the use of a remote. The ability to do all this hands free will be great news for the germaphobes among you.
The flush utilizes the powerful double cyclone technology, which rinses the bowl clean with a siphonic jet system. It's still dual flush though, and has a partial and full flush with GPF rates of 0.8 and 1.0.
The seat is included and has slow closing hinges which are designed to protect the exterior and also prevent it from slamming shut. The dimensions given are 32.5 by 15.5 by 21.5 inches and it weighs 124 pounds.
The Veil collection has a number of convenient, innovative features. There are specs focused on user hygiene, and others which focus on improving comfort. Let's take a look at these specs in more detail below.
Starting with the external design, we see the bowl is elongated which can feel far more spacious than their round counterparts. In turn, this will ensure consumers feel more relaxed while seated. The bowl itself measures 15-5/8 inches, however, which means that it isn't built to the ADA standard. This may not present any issues for you, but for some people, they need a taller bowl to relieve stress from the joints.
There are three things we search for when researching a products flushing capabilities. The MaP rating, the type of mechanism used, and how many gallons is consumed. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to find the MaP score for this model, but I was able to find that it utilizes a dual flush system in which users can pick either a 0.8 or 1.28 gallon flush. Both of these specifications will help you save water.
It doesn't have the largest water surface area on the market, a key factor in keeping odors down, but it does have its own deodrizer built in that makes up for this my filtering out bad smells. This means the bathroom environment quickly evolves after each use and will be more pleasant for the next person who visits.
In terms of cleaning up, there is a clever bidet wand built into it, which shoots out water on the press of a button. One can certainly understand the advantages in this, hygiene wise. You can even change the positioning and temperature of the water to a level you're comfortable with.
The SaniCompact is made by Saniflo. It's slightly different to the others listed above. It's specifically designed for temporary and half bath installations. It's also got the ability to be installed in locations below the sewer pipelines due to its macerator, which churns up waste and sends it upwards in more manageable portions. There is a limitation in how far it can pump waste, but it is probably flexible enough for most homes. The actual figures given by the manufacturer in this regard is up to 9 Feet vertically, and 100 feet horizontally.
It has quite a low profile exterior with a elongated shape bowl that's finished in white and measures 18.2 by 14.5 by 15.8 inches. The fixtures it comes with can be attached to your sink to deal with its waste water too.
If you're looking for something low flowing and not wasteful, you'll like that it only uses 1.0 gallons per flush. As more and more companies and consumers opt for green solutions, this is something it holds its own in against its competitors.
Rough in - You will need to be aware and take note of the distance from the wall to the middle of your hold down bolts. This is your rough in size. A typical household will need a unit which fits a 12" rough. However, there are cases where people will need to get either a 10" or 14". There are some work arounds to avoid specific sizes, such a the Toto Unifit.
GPF - The GPF is the toilets flow rate. In other words, how much water does it use once the flush is activated? This is an important spec that will determine how environmentally friendly it is. Those that use smaller quantities of water are often referred to as low flow and come with a WaterSense label. They utilize up to 1.28 gallons, but can be significantly lower. The alternative to this is to get a standard 1.6 GPF unit. They are not as economically friendly, but they are an improvement on the 3.5 / 5.0 GPF. Put into numbers, it can mean you save tens of thousands of gallons every year depending on the amount of people living in your home and how often they visit the bathroom.
Bathroom location - Most residential homes will have their bathrooms in a convenient location where all the plumbing fixtures are able to utilize gravity to send waste to the sewage lines. However, in the event that your bathroom is located below these lines, such as a basement, you'll need to install a toilet with a macerating pump because the waste will need to be pushed upwards.
Waste outlet - You'll have a choice of either rear outlet or floor outlet. For the majority of our readers, this will be an easy decision as many of you will have a plumbing system in place with all the pipes set. But for people who don't have that luxury, you may find those with a rear flushing mechanism are better suited to your requirements. More often than not, units that send waste through the back have to utilize a completely different air assist mechanism because it can't rely on gravity. One positive of this is that they are more powerful in general, often scoring 1000g MaP. However, there is a price to pay for this level of performance, and that's how noisy they are.
Glazing - For additional protection against the build up of mold, mildew, germs, and dirt, manufacturers add a special layer of glazing above the ceramic. A few examples of these are known as EverClean by American Standard, WonderGliss by Duravit, or SanaGloss by Toto. What's more, instead of there only being a layer on the bowls surface, most companies are now extending it so that the trapway is fully glazed too. This will allow waste to exit through the trap passage smoothly, helping prevent blockages and streak marks.
Consumer feedback - It's easy to read through our guide and make a decision based on our thoughts. However, you should still be doing your own due diligence on top of this. A good place to get started is by reading customer reviews online. Lowes, Home Depot, Amazon, and a number of plumbing forums like Terry Love are all contain feedback from people who've purchased a toilet recently. You can find out about any problems early by doing this.
Having analyzed how they work and what you can expect from them above, we conclude that no tank toilets aren't for everyone. Sure, there are plenty of ways in which they can benefit you, but you also need to consider the downsides too. If you have the right plumbing in place, as well as an electrical outlet nearby, then they can have a very positive impact on your bathroom visits. Just be aware that they are generally more expensive and not really suited to people working with a low budget.