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Comment by wincy | Hacker News Reader

I bought myself a $400 bidet for my birthday 6 or so years ago. It’s totally cured my hemorrhoids (and my wifes!) which were a major problem before.

South Park recently had a very funny (and tame for them) episode about toilet paper and bidets. Obviously it’s fictionalized but a combination of marketing and non historical usage keeps people in the US from widely adopting something that would be hugely beneficial to them.

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> South Park recently had a very funny (and tame for them) episode about toilet paper and bidets.

s26e03. "Randy Discovers Japanese Toilets":

* https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uRL4l2GOqXk

As someone else with haemorrhoids, my Toto bidet seat really did improve my life significantly. I've now moved to the UK, where the lack of power outlets in bathrooms (and the fact that our flat has toilets with in-wall tanks) means I'm bidetless, and it's made my life worse again. :(

As a UK electrician, you can have power outlets in your bathroom. However, it has to obey certain rules. For example, if it is a BS1363 socket, it must be 2.5 metres outside of zone 2 (basically not close to any sinks or baths). This restriction does not apply to switched-fused connection units [1] so you can have an electrician install one of those next to your toilet regardless of how close that is to your bath or sink. These are also used for e.g. heated towel rails.

[1] https://media.screwfix.com/is/image/ae235/13479_P

Why would you need a power outlet for a bidet? The one I have just hooks straight into the toilet's water line and uses the water pressure from it.

Power is needed for the full “smart toilet” experience, which can include a heated seat and warm water, and other less useful features like a self-opening toilet seat. It’s hard to go back to a regular toilet or a cold-water bidet!

This is really starting to sound like the recent "Japanese Toilet" episode from South Park.

The fancy ones have are built with a heated toilet seat, a water warmer, timed shutoff, and automated spray patterns. You pay a lot more money for those features, but they are nice to haves vs your basic cold water wash.

You must live in a warm climate. The water from my tap is frigid in the winter, especially upstairs.

No, I live in the Rockies so my water is plenty cold. It just doesn't bother me that much. I suppose if I could make it warmer I would do that but I don't care enough to deal with putting an outlet in to warm the water.

A perfect shot of refreshment, the silver bullet.

I guess it's a good way to ensure that you are awake in the morning.

After a spicy one, you'll always want it cold.

You can get a Shatfa or "bum gun" installed next to your toilet instead, if you can't get power for an on-seat bidet instead.

They are very common in the Middle East.

Personally I wouldn't do without one and would install one in any new home I moved to.

Every one of them I've seen was the cause of a large puddle on the floor next to the toilet. I've only seen them in India and so this might be a statement on infrastructure in India. They are all over in India and they all leak, so I'm not interested in having one in my house.

I rented a house in London owned by a Muslim family, and the toilets had the spray things and no puddles.

Since it's making you ill, why not clean yourself using the shower?

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