A bidet will range in price depending on quality and manufacturer. When purchasing a traditional bidet will cost you between $250 and $700. This figure does not include the potential $200 to $300 installation costs. Some of the more modern, compact options of bidet seats and spray nozzles can start at $50, but these can vary in price up to $2,000 for a high-end product.

Does a bidet use less energy or water than toilet paper?

Approximately 1.5 pounds of wood, 37 gallons of water, and 1.3 kilowatts/hours (KWh) of electricity go into manufacturing a single roll of toilet paper. The average person will use approximately one-eighth of a gallon of water per cleaning when using a bidet. Depending on household toilet paper consumption, this could reduce the home's overall water consumption drastically. Power consumption will depend on the selected bidet, with some requiring no electricity and others high-end features. The cost of electricity can vary between $0.06 to $0.18 a day. The latter is a high usage scenario with no eco-features activated.

How long do bidets last?

The life expectancy of your bidet will depend on a variety of factors, beginning with the quality of the product. The higher durability of your product, the longer life you can expect from it. But you must also maintain the bidet with proper cleaning as recommended by the manufacturer. A high-quality bidet that is properly maintained can last many years and may even give you decades of use.

Learn about Bidet

A bidet (pronounced "buh-day") is a receptacle where a person can use water to wash their backside after using the bathroom. A traditional porcelain bidet was a separate bowl with vertical jets of water. There are still traditional bidets, but there are also more modern and compact toilet seat bidets. While in North America, bidets are still considered an oddity, they are common in European countries.

When purchasing a bidet, you want to look for a couple of things in your product. First, ensure the size and shape are correct for you. Next, ensure it is durable (often made of a higher grade plastic) to guarantee you are getting the most out of your product. Next, decide if you want an electrical or non-electrical bidet. Electrical will provide you additional features but also comes with the added cost. Some features to consider would be spray pressure and warm air dryers. Finally, check your product for a warranty.

The most sustainable feature of a bidet comes from its reduction of toilet paper use. Andrew Lee of the World Wide Fund for Nature has stated that some 27,000 trees are cut down daily for toilet paper alone. At that rate, making the 36.5 billion rolls of toilet paper produced annually requires 500 billion gallons of water and 17.3 terawatts of electricity. This process also includes using over a quarter of a million tons of chlorine as bleach. You can further compare toilet paper and bidets by examining water usage more closely. For example, when cleaning, one-eighth of a gallon of water is used with a bidet. That is significantly less than the 37 gallons of water for a single roll of toilet paper and does not include the 1.3 kilowatts/hours (KWh) of electricity and 1.5 pounds of wood to make it.

Some countries, such as Italy, are so accustomed to bidets that roughly 97 percent of homes own one.