10 Tech Bathroom Features You Didn't Know You Needed
Your morning and evening routines are about to get a whole lot easier
Imagine applying makeup with a mirror that didn’t fog up while you were in the shower or a toilet seat that warms up during those cold winter nights. Thanks to ever-evolving smart home technology, these comforts and conveniences can be your reality. You’re probably familiar with smart TVs or light bulbs for other rooms in the house, but you may not have realized just how much you wanted (or needed!) these 10 smart home features for your bathroom.
Smart Toilets
These days, smart toilets can make you feel like you’re at a club-and-spa hybrid instead of your home bathroom, complete with flashing lights and music. While these features aren’t for everyone, it’s hard to argue with other benefits, like seat warmers, night lights, and touch-free flushing. While smart toilets cost $1,200 to $13,000, they can help you save money in the long run by detecting water usage and conserving water.
Advanced Bidets
If a smart toilet isn’t quite in your price range, there are other ways to make your bathroom more enjoyable. A bidet is a toilet attachment that uses water to clean you. According to HomeAdvisor, smart bidets cost up to $6,900, and they offer extra features like heated toilet seats, safety sensors, self-cleaning options, energy-saving modes, and more. Bidets can come as a standalone attachment or connected to an entirely new toilet seat for extra comfort and convenience features.
Smart Showerheads
Imagine changing songs, setting mood lighting, and switching to different water pressure modes depending on whether you’re washing your hair or shaving your legs. You can easily set the water pressure, temperature, and more with a smart showerhead, so you don’t have to step into icy cold water when you’re expecting something akin to a warm rainfall. Smart showerheads are the future of shower technology. Plus, they can help households conserve water.
Radiant Floor Heating
If you’re planning a bathroom remodel, consider installing smart floor heating as an investment in your comfort. Radiant floor heating can help save energy and money, and you can set your ideal temperature. This means you’ll no longer need to step out from a hot shower onto cold tile floors.
Digital Faucets
Washing your hands is a pretty quick task, but your faucet is working hard to wash away those germs. With a smart faucet, you can effortlessly conserve water and set specific temperatures without tweaking the handles. This is especially helpful for a kids’ bathroom, so you can set the temperature to prevent the water from scalding small, sensitive hands. Touchless features are also more hygienic.
Smart Mirrors
Mirrors are a mainstay in any bathroom, but there’s nothing quite as frustrating as frantically trying to wipe away the fog after a shower as you try to get ready for work. With a smart mirror, anti-fog technology heats the mirror as you shower. This keeps fog from spreading across the glass, so the mirror is crystal-clear after your scalding hot, 45-minute shower concert.
If your budget allows, even more advanced mirrors, which cost around $10,000, can play videos or give you traffic and weather reports as you get ready for the day.
High Tech Vanities
If you don’t want to purchase individual parts for your bathroom, you can go all-in for a smart vanity, which can include controllable lighting, Bluetooth speakers, heated mirrors, and more all in one product. With your phone, you can set the lights and music for your morning routine and turn on anti-fog mode for the mirror while you shower. Some vanities can even include refrigeration for chilling your jade roller or keeping your medications cool.
Smart Digital Scales
If you keep a scale in the bathroom, it might be time to upgrade to a smarter version. Modern scales have impressive features to give you feedback on muscle mass, body water, skeletal muscle, bone mass, protein, and even your metabolic age; these measurements may give you more insights into health than weight or BMI. These scales can also keep track of your measurements over time.
Electric Towel Warmers
There are towel warmers, then there are smart towel warmers. Sure, having a heated towel waiting to greet you after a shower is nice, but what if your towel warmer could also sanitize your bath towels and work with your favorite voice-activated assistants? That means you can just tell your smart home device to start heating your towels before you even step into the bathroom, and you can hang up a wet towel without fear of it starting to smell.
Futuristic Tubs
There’s hardly a greater act of self-care than a nice, long soak in the bathtub. Today’s high-tech tubs can conserve water while also giving you the best experience with customizable jet settings, water temperatures, mood lighting, aromatherapy modes, and more.
For a major upgrade, you could consider a floatation tub, a lightproof and soundproof sensory deprivation tank filled with saltwater. This type of tub is popular at spas and wellness centers. A 2018 study published in PLOS One suggests that Floatation-REST (Reduced Environmental Stimulation Therapy) reduces stress, depression, physical pain, and muscle tension for participants. Floatation tubs can range from $2,500 to $30,000.
Smart tech features may come with upfront costs, but you’ll reap the physical and mental health benefits in your bathroom-turned-spa for years to come. With the help of a local bathroom designer, you can turn your bathroom into a high-tech getaway.