TOTOSW3036R#01 WASHLET K300 Electronic Bidet Toilet Seat, Cotton White

I was looking at upgrading to an electric bidet for a while, and Toto seems to be the best brand. I chose this model because it has unlimited hot water instead of a hot water tank that empties quickly. The bidet was much easier to install than much cheaper bidets, no fiddling with electrical tape at all. The toilet had to have the water shut off, tank drained with a couple of flushes, and then unscrew the water line and put it into the T-connector, screw the other line into the T-connector and then plug it in. The seat comes with secure metal screws, not cheap plastic ones and the washlet slides right into the screws, there is no movement while on the seat. The features work amazing, there is a heated seat, energy saving mode which turns off the heated seat and walk up feature if you’re gone for a while or overnight, and it is easy to clean and remove for cleaning under the seat. It’s only missing a toilet nightlight, but this isn’t a deal breaker for me.

This toilet seat is great. When you sit down to do your -ahem- "buisiness", an air purifier starts, water begins to coat the bowl to keep it clean, and the seat is warm. When you are finished, it cleans you with a pleasant stream of warm water, and dries you with a pleasant, clean-smelling stream of warm air. When you stand, the air is power cleaned to prevent odors from escaping into the room (or your nose), and after a short delay, the wand that sprays water cleans itself. Everything is adjustable from the position of the water jet, to the intensity. It can pulsate, oscillate, and add air bubbles to the water to make it feel softer. The temperature of the seat, the water and the air dryer can also be adjusted and customized. Settings can all be saved for two separate users, and it never runs out of warm water unlike many other products of this type, which is not a fun thing to have happen. There is a button that moves the stream forward a few inches for feminine cleansing as well. The air coming out of the bowl smells a lot like the air after a thunderstorm, rather than less pleasant smells. There is a handy remote to control it all, with a wall mounting bracket. It feels really clean and refreshing when you are done, and you will probably not go through more than one roll of toilet paper in a month as it is now only used for a final pat dry. There are definitely a lot of positives to this product.When it arrived, it was well packaged, with three instruction books (three languages). The English instructions were not written by a native speaker, but are good nontheless. It is obviously a well made product.Now let's go through the negatives.Installation: Putting the bidet on your toilet is fairly straight forward. I won't go through the entire process, but there are a few things to consider. The first is that you need an electrical outlet near your toilet for the bidet to operate, something that is not very common in construction unless you specifically ask for it. If you do not have one, an electrician can usually install one for around one to two hundred dollars (your area may be slightly more or less). The outlet should have a breaker on it since it will probably be fairly near the water hose that fills the tank on your toilet. The bidet is not cheap, so make sure you factor this cost into the total cost of your project. If you are handy, you can install the outlet yourself for about fifty dollars, including parts, but rememberto get an outlet with a breaker on it.The bidet is secured to your toilet with brass fittlings in rubber sleeves that are inserted through the screw holes built into the porcelain for the lid and then tightened. This compresses the rubber sleeve, holding the unit firmly in place. The instructions indicate that you should lubricate the rubber sleeve with water to help it slip through. In my case, on one side it would not fit. I first tried lubricant, then using a Dremel to bore out the hole a bit and next thinned the rubber sleeve, and finally put a metal rod against the threaded brass piece on the top, screwed the bolt in on the bottom to pull it down and used a mallet to pound it through. It barely did the job, but I managed to get it in without cracking the porcelain.The rest of the installation was easy. The water line and cord are a bit long. I am sure the extra length is needed for some installs, but looks untidy on mine (see photo). I may have to cut and splice, but that is for another day.The product itself has a few areas that I feel could use some improvement, and there are some things that you should know about.The top lid is LONG. When it is raised the tip stands a full two feet off of the surface of the porcelain. This is something to consider if you are planning to use an over the toilet space saver shelf, as it might prevent the lid from fully opening. In my case it is not a problem as the lid is 9 1/2 inches from the wall and most of these shelves stand nine inches from the wall. With the moulding, it -just- fits. The plastic lid is also thin, and the instructions warn you not to lean back on it, I assume so that you don't break it. The whole thing can be easily removed for cleaning (with the exception of the mounting bracket that stays attached to your toilet), so perhaps if it does get broken, the lid can be replaced.Electricity and water use: The seat is heated all of the time unless you turn it off, the water is heated on demand, and the LED lights are always on. Used as intended, the bidet will be drawing power all of the time. All of the water used by the bidet is water that would not have otherwise been used, from the pre-mist on the bowl to cleaning the wand to cleaning you. You can turn some of these functions off, though and there are two eco modes. You can also set it to turn off for either six or nine hours a day but if you live in an area where it is already warm, power is pricey, or you worry about impact to the environment you might want to turn the seat heating functions off altogether. Honestly, I think most of this is offset by the reduced toilet paper usage.If you lose the remote, or it is damaged, there is no way to use the bidet as there are no controls on the bidet itself, and a replacement is around $200. Don't lose the remote, people! The mounting bracket has an insert that lets the remote be permanently mounted unless you use a screwdriver, in case you are worried someone will move or take it.Finally, there is a decent amount of maintenance for this product. Toto recommends that it be unplugged daily and cleaned with a wet cloth (not toilet paper), although I doubt anyone does this. If you use toilet bowl cleaner, wash it off within three minutes to prevent funes from causingany issues. If you are going to be gone for an extended period, or there is the possibility of a freeze, you should drain the water from the unit and unplug it.Once a month the following maintenance is recommended: There is a filter for the deodorizer (basically a plastic screen) that should be removed and cleaned with a toothbrush; the wand that sprays water should be wiped down (there is a whole procedure for this); The bidet should be removed and the gap should be cleaned; the lid should be removed and the gap there cleaned; and then every six months remove and clean the water filter. To be honest, I'm guessing not many people do many of the periodic maintenance tasks unless there is a problem or noticable dirt, but I could be wrong.Is it perfect? No. But it is damn good, and using the washlet not only makes you feel clean, but suddenly an unpleasant task is not quite so unpleasant. The clean air smell alone is worth the price of admission in my humble opinion, especially if you have a partner that wants to use the bathroom for any purpose after you do your business, or they use the bathroom before you. If you are asking yourself if you really need a bidet, imagine getting dog poo on your hand and then just wiping it with a paper towel and then going about your day. Would it be clean? No? You need water to get things clean, and this is an area that gets dirty every day. So do you need one? I think we can agree that you get cleaner, it actually feels nice to use and smells nicer with one than without one.

Bought this unit based on the positive reviews. The biggest challenge in installing the unit was to have a power outlet near the toilet. I was able to tie into a 15 amp line directly below in my basement. Once the power lines were in place, I installed a GFCI outlet (may be required by code). The rest of the install was elementary as all the needed parts and full instructions make it a straight forward install. I bought the elongated model as I have an elongated toilet. After using this unit for over a week I can say I am very pleased with its options and operation. The seat is comfortable, the seat can be heated if desired, and the fit and finish of the installed product is excellent I encountered no leakage and I find the remote control to work flawlessly. This is luxury and practical as well when you consider it will reduce your consumption of toilet paper while improving hygiene. Highly recommended. BTW the unit is programmable with respect to power saving options, temperature of the heated seat, flow strength of water cleanse, temperature of the water, and spray coverage of the cleansing water stream. Excellent purchase.