Bidet is a trendy alternative to toilet paper these days. We heard about many benefits of using a bidet, and some people claimed that using bidets can save money.
Does a bidet save money? Yes, it does. In general, using a bidet can save you about $80/year per person. You can decrease the cost of toilet paper by about $92 per year, and the extra energy cost is only $12 per year.
I will show you how a bidet saves money for you and what factors will affect your actual savings.
The cost of your bidet
How much your bidet cost will decide how much or whether or not a bidet saves money. If you decide to buy a bidet with an exorbitant price like $6000, it is possible that you can’t break even before it is broken. Luckily, most bidets have a much lower price.
If you are not familiar with various types of bidets, I want to give you a general idea of how much each bidet costs.
An electric bidet seat often costs about $200 to $1000. The low-end electric bidet seats have a water reservoir, making them a bit bulkier than other tankless counterparts. But they still have self-cleaning nozzles, a heated seat, and an array of pressure and water settings.
Some advanced models could include an auto open and close lid, deodorizer, and electrolyzed water. In addition, brands like TOTO and Kohler have a higher price tag.
Anyway, you can get a pretty good electric bidet seat at around $500. If you want to save more money but still have a bidet seat, you could opt for a non-electric bidet which costs you about $70 to $180.
As for handheld bidet sprayer and attachment, the price usually ranges from $20 to $70, which is not a big deal for almost everyone.
Is there any bidet costs less than $10? Yes, you could choose to buy a portable bidet. As it is composed of a squeeze bottle and a nozzle, you can take it anywhere you want.
In 2020, the US’s average annual expenditure on cleansing and toilet tissue, paper towels, and napkins was 123.1 dollars. On average, you could save 75% on toilet paper, which is $92 per year. When comparing it with the cost of the bidet, you can easily figure out that it will be compensated within a few months or years.
Nevertheless, there is one exception: toilet bidet combo. Toilet bidet combos usually come with a high price tag. The price can be as high as more than $5K. Even the lower-end models will cost more than $1k. So it will take more than ten years or even 20 years for you to break even, but you are likely to replace it with a new one at that moment.
See our recommendation for the best bidet toilet combo here.
Bidet Only Use A Small Amount Of Water
Some people argue that using a bidet can increase your water bill because a bidet uses water to remove debris instead of toilet paper. So how much does a bidet use?
Typically, the spray volume of a bidet seat is about 0.08-0.11 gal/min, and the average session time of the bidet is about 30 seconds to 1 minute. Assume you use 10 minutes of washing per day, the water cost by bidet is about 33 gal/month, which is $0.066 per month.
You see, using a bidet will not increase your water bill much. In fact, you may save more money on water. Why?
We tend to flush our toilet more than once every time we use the toilet to ensure that the plumbing will not get clogged. Federal law currently requires all toilets manufactured in the United States to use no more than 1.6 gallons per flush, and most toilets nowadays use 1 gallon per flush, which is ten times more than the water usage of a bidet.
As we will use much less or no toilet paper, you no longer need to worry about clogging issues. You can cut down the time of flushing, which could save a lot of water in the long run.
Consequently, using a bidet will not increase much and will likely decrease the water bill.
How much electricity does a bidet use? Does your bidet have power-saving mode?
Handheld bidet, bidet attachment, and non-electric bidet seats don’t use electricity, so they will not increase any electricity bill.
If you have an electric bidet seat, the electricity consumption will increase definitely, but the increment varies depending on the models. For example, the one with a tankless design would consume less electricity than the one with a water reservoir.
Besides, the heated seat, air dryer, deodorizer, different spray modes, different water pressure, as well as the automatic open and close lid are associated with the electricity usage of a bidet.
Some models embrace a power-saving mode (also known as “eco mode”), which helps decrease electricity usage to some extent.
On average, the amount of power adds up to $15 to $20 per year. Compared to what you have saved on toilet paper, it will only slightly cut a small chunk of potential savings.
Will you continue to use toilet paper?
As I said, you will save about 75% on toilet paper. This is due to the fact that some people will continue to use one or two sheets of toilet paper to dry themselves off quickly. You could say goodbye to toilet paper forever you have time to air dry or have a powerful bidet dryer. This could help you save even more money.
Some users are used to wiping before using a bidet to clean up some large feces. It will increase some toilet paper consumption. However, it could only cancel out a tiny amount of your savings. Another option is to use a bidet towel which you can reuse after washing.
The quality of the bidet
The longer the bidet lasts, the more money you can save. If your bidet can last for ten years, it can save about $920 on toilet paper. After compensating the bidet cost, water bill, and electricity bill, you still can save a few hundred dollars in most cases.
In addition, it can save more on the repair. Repair fees are usually not cheap. Or you can opt for one with a good warranty.
Verdict
Using a bidet is one of the best ways to save money on toilet paper. While the water bill and electricity bill may increase, the savings on toilet paper can easily compensate for all other costs. So, you can improve your toileting experience and save more money at the same time.