Nowadays, people are paying more attention to hygiene in the bathroom. If you’re worried about germs spreading in your bathroom, it’s time to consider upgrading to an automatic toilet. The right unit can prevent its spread to your home. But how exactly does it work?
Dive into the mechanics and systems of these fixtures, and find out how automatic toilets work. Learn how they work to fully grasp how one can help you maintain proper hygiene in your home. Protect your family’s health and well-being with an automatic flush toilet upgrade!
Automatic Toilets vs. Smart Toilets
If you get confused when buying, automatic toilets are considered a subset of smart toilets. Most smart toilets are automatic toilets, but not all automatic toilets are smart toilets. If you need basic automatic functions in the toilet, go for automatic toilets. Smart toilets have more advanced features, which also make them relatively more expensive.
Key Features for Enhanced Convenience and Hygiene
Automatic toilets, or automatic flush toilets, offer the following features that can enhance your bathroom experience:
Hands-Free Toilet Use
With an automatic system, you don’t have to touch the toilet after doing your business. Their design ensures that once you’re done, they will automatically flush. This makes going to the bathroom easier for some people.
Improved Hygiene
Some people often forget to flush their toilets after using them. This is unsanitary and can cause germs to spread and possibly endanger your family’s health. With automatic flushing, you can maintain the toilet’s cleanliness and prevent germs from spreading. It also makes it easier to clean the whole toilet since many systems are designed to use water efficiently to keep the bowl clean every flush.
Extra Advanced Features
Some models have more than automatic flushing, especially “smart” toilets. They can be equipped with heated seats that make the seats more comfortable to use, especially on colder seasons. Smart toilets also have bidet functions that can replace your use of toilet paper for cleaning yourself after every use. These, combined with auto flushing, make things more convenient in the bathroom.
4 Basic Components of Automatic Toilets
Automatic toilets are also called automatic flush toilets. They’re equipped with technologies to trigger that flushing mechanism automatically. To be specific, these are the main components that make that possible:
Infrared Sensor
This is the eye of the system, and it detects the movement of people around the toilet. Most of the time, it’s placed on a stainless steel or plastic faceplate. Its main function is to inform the toilet’s system when to start or stop, depending on its detected motions. Inside this sensor, there are two infrared LEDs: one emits the infrared beams, while one receives the beams.
Solenoid Valve
The valve is another key part of an auto toilet. Its main function is to open and close the water flow of the toilet for flushing. It's also controlled by the signals from the sensor. Whether that’s a positive or negative signal dictates the action the valve should take.
Power Source
Automatic toilets rely on electricity to work because of their electronic parts. The power source of automatic toilets can be one of these three: DC batteries, AC adapters, or combined AC/DC. These supply power to the system, so both the sensor and valve work. DC batteries are normally 6V 4xAA or 3V 2XAA alkaline batteries. Meanwhile, AC adapters often use 110V to 380V. What your unit uses depends on what comes with it.
Connector Cables
These are waterproof cables that connect every other component of the toilet. It connects the sensor to the valve and to the power supply. Remember that they should be waterproof since the bathroom is a humid environment. So, these cables often have an IP67 waterproof grade.
3 Key Steps on How an Automatic Toilet Works
Since you know the main parts that make these toilets work, here’s an overview of the process of the automatic operation:
Detection
The sensor emits infrared beams, like those you can see on TV remote controls. Using these light beams, the sensor checks if they reflect off a person. The light being reflected signals the presence of a user to a microchip in the sensor.
Trigger
After this detection, the sensor will wait for the person to leave. This means the light is not being reflected anymore. Once the sensor detects this absence, this is where a signal is sent to the solenoid valve.
Flushing
Once the valve receives the pulse signal, it will open, and the water will be released. This is the specific flushing part, and it can last for different amounts of time. For example, a normal mode flush often lasts nine seconds. Meanwhile, toilet models with water-saving modes can flush for four seconds if you use the toilet for under a minute or nine seconds if you use it for a longer time.
Types of Automatic Toilet Flush Systems
The whole automatic flushing process is the same for all automatic toilets. But they can have different flush systems with varying designs and power sources. Here are your options:
Exposed or Concealed Systems
Exposed systems are visible and often made of brass. They have a manual override button for backup flushing if the sensor doesn’t work. You’ll often see these in commercial restrooms. On the other hand, concealed systems are hidden within the toilet or the wall where the toilet is installed. They offer a sleek, modern look in residential and commercial spaces.
Battery-Powered or Hardwired
Battery-powered toilets come in kits and use batteries, often 4xAA, that you can use for 100,000 flushes. They’re suitable for homes, and if you want something you can install without extensive electrical modifications.
But your toilet can also be hardwired instead of using batteries for power. This means you can connect it to your house’s electrical systems. Hardwired systems remove your need for frequent battery replacements. However, since you’ll connect your toilet to your home’s power supply, you will need professional help for installation. This is why they’re more popular options if you’re renovating your bathroom or you have a newly constructed house.
Conclusion
An automatic toilet allows you to use the toilet hands-free and more quickly. This is all possible thanks to its detection system. From the time you approach the toilet to the time you leave, the toilet’s sensor detects everything to determine when it’s time to do the flushing for you. Of course, if you want more convenient features, opt for smarter toilets, like smart bidet toilets—they have automatic flushing and more.
Interested in looking at some units? Visit our massive toilet collection. We have a wide range of selections that offer you different ways to upgrade your bathroom experience!
