How Smart Could Your Bathroom Be?

Our homes are getting smarter – that’s a fact. Starting from humble beginnings not all that long ago, sophisticate home tech has evolved to such an extent that it’s living with our doors and windows, in bedrooms and home cinemas, even garages and gardens.

Interestingly, of all the rooms in your home, the bathroom is perhaps the most unlikely place you might consider for enhancing with smart technology. But think again because there is a huge amount of potential in this most intimate space to improve its functionality and visual appeal by introducing the latest bathroom tech. Smart bathrooms are the future.

 Image Source: Maison Valentina

Chromatherapy Showers

You’ve no doubt heard of aromatherapy, a complementary practice that uses essential oils to stimulate your olfactory sense to achieve greater wellbeing? Now welcome chromatherapy, which uses coloured light therapy to enhance your mood. The latest chromotherapy showers and baths use integrated LEDs in different colours to literally wash your stress away.

There are 8 different hues to choose from, and colours can be changed depending on the effect you wish to achieve. Use purple and turquoise for relaxation, yellow and orange for stimulating your creativity, or green for cleansing and balance.

Whether or not you believe in the ‘science’ behind the concept, chromatherapy makes for a fantastic bathtime experience and certainly adds a wow factor to your bathroom scheme. Combine with state-of-the-art LED illuminated digital shower controls that let you set and save your shower preferences, optimal temperature and spray intensity, all activated via remote control of course, and revel in the knowledge that your bathroom is smarter than most!

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Future Flushes

Smart bathroom tech can help you reduce your water consumption and improve hygiene. A conventional toilet uses approx. 1.6 gallons of water per flush while a smart toilet can sense the amount of water needed for the job, using as little as 0.6 gallons per flush. What’s more, it won’t flush pointlessly if a blockage is detected, keeping water levels in the bowl low and protecting your WC from overflowing.

The Japanese manufacturer TOTO is the market leader in smart toilets and offers a host of luxurious features that European bathrooms can only dream of. There’s the obligatory toilet seat heating and automatic opening/closing of the lid, touch free auto flush, a choice of water pressures and bidet options, electrolysed water to self-clean the bowl, a nightlight and a selection of music to cover up any embarrassing noises.

Futuristic toilets are a real advancement when it comes to hygiene, which makes them immensely appealing. A clean bowl every time not only prevents the spread of germs, it makes the whole toileting experience much more pleasant all round.

Image Source: Smart Homes Company

Bathroom TVs

Would you like to be able to watch your favourite TV show while reclining in the bath? Catch up on the morning news while taking a shower? No problem – a state-of-the-art waterproof bathroom TV can turn your bathroom into an entertainment hub that allows you to access all your programmes and provides optimal sound quality from a fast, smart touch screen without the need for a remote control.

Installing a TV in the bathroom is no longer a technological challenge. The latest models are seamlessly integrated into a mirror, either set into the wall, as a standalone wall mirror or as part of your vanity unit. Cleverly disguised as ‘just’ a mirror when you’re not watching, and fitted with built in speakers, the mirror incorporates an ultra thin LED that is fully integrated into all your media needs.

Image Source: House Automator

Automated Bathrooms

The future of fully automated bathrooms is perhaps not as far away as we think. At the recent International CES 2018, it was described like this:

Getting up from the toilet after a satisfying bowel movement, you walk right over to the sink and start washing your hands. “Alexa, flush my toilet,” you say while reaching for your toothbrush. Your mirror starts displaying your schedule for the day, the weather update and the latest news. Suddenly there's a ping – your toilet has detected an anomaly in your stool and recommends you increase your fiber intake. A dispenser built into your medicine cabinet whirs to life and spits out a fiber supplement.

The reality is not that far off. It would certainly be realistic to imagine the lights coming on automatically as you walk into your bathroom, the toilet seat lifting upon your approach. To wash your hands, a sensor will dispense the right amount of water, turning on/off as needed without your help.

As you get into the bath, chromotherapy will put you in a relaxing mood while soothing music plays at the touch of a button. The bathwater emptying as you step out, you’re pleased to find that the light has adjusted to the perfect level for you to apply make-up.