Even though you won’t find urinals replacing standard toilets, they’ve become a crucial part of public restrooms around the world. Now, what about our homes? Can we install urinals in our bathrooms without raising questions?
The answer is an unequivocal yes, but there are a few things you should consider. In this guide, we’ll show you the best urinal models for businesses and homes, as well as how to shop for the perfect urinal.
Urinal Buying Guide
In this brief guide, we’ll quickly go over why you might consider installing a urinal at home and how to shop for the best urinal.
Advantages of a Urinal
There are several reasons why a homeowner should consider installing a urinal. Here are the most prominent advantages a urinal has over traditional toilets:
- Takes up less space
- Easier to clean
- Uses less water per flush
- Quicker to use (thus, shorter queues in men’s restrooms)
Despite the many benefits that a urinal offers, half of the world’s population never uses them. This is why toilets reign supreme in residential restrooms everywhere. So, please consider the other residents in your homes before deciding whether a urinal is the right fixture for your bathroom.
Important Factors when Choosing a Urinal
Whether you’re shopping for a urinal at home or at a place of business, please pay attention to the following points. They’ll help you find the best urinal you’re looking for.
Flush Type
There are generally two types of urinals to choose from: flush and waterless. Flush urinals are more widely used due to their lower upfront costs. Due to their popularity, there is a wider selection of flush urinals in terms of style, colors, and features. The main advantage of a flush urinal is that you don’t need to clean it as often since every flush removes most if not all urine residue.
Waterless urinals are the more environmentally-friendly of the two types. Instead of relying on gushing water to remove dispose of urine, gravity does all of the work. They’re becoming more popular in places with high numbers of guests (stadiums, movie theaters) since they can cut down water costs, but they require more frequent cleaning.
Flush Option
If you’ve decided to get a flush urinal, it’s time to consider your flush options. Standard urinals have levers that release water into the bowl, while more modern urinals use sensors to flush automatically after being used. Touchless flush urinals cost more but are the better sanitary solution.
Size
Since urinals come in a variety of size options, you’ll need to find a model that fits in your restroom. Take your time to measure how much space you want to allocate to your urinal before settling on a particular urinal. Larger urinals are ideal for those with particularly bad aim, while smaller urinals will obviously take up less space. Choose wisely.
Design
Yes, urinal aesthetics matter. Take some time to shop around and find a urinal that you think will fit well in your home. Also, a wider urinal “mouth” will capture more waste more easily, reducing how frequently you need to clean the urinal’s exterior.
Trough urinals can accommodate multiple users at once. These are mainly used in businesses and aren’t particularly great at preserving privacy. We wouldn’t recommend getting one for your home.
Ease of Maintenance
The worst part of owning a urinal is cleaning it (not that toilets don’t have to be cleaned). So, to make life easier, find a urinal model with a wide mouth and fewer hard-to-clean edges. However, the urinal’s flush type will play a pivotal role in the frequency of cleaning and maintenance. Again, waterless urinals require more frequent cleaning due to their nonexistent flushes.
Wall vs. Floor Mounted
You’re probably accustomed to both wall and floor-mounted urinals. Wall-mounted urinals are more common due to their space efficiency, but improper installation or rough play in the bathroom can damage this type of urinal more easily than floor-mounted models.
Floor-mounted urinals are more stable, have wider mouths and bowls, but require much more elbow grease to clean. Plus, wastewater from floor-mounted urinals can easily splash onto floors.
Water Usage
Water usage is the main factor why people consider getting urinals in the first place. Urinals use less water per flush since they don’t need to send solid waste down pipes and into the sewer. However, you should still pay close attention to how much water comes gushing out of the urinal for hygienic purposes.
Most urinals use about one gallon of water per flush (GPF), but there are 0.5-GPF and even 0.125-GPF models. Again, we feel the need to remind you that waterless toilets use gravity to get rid of wastewater, and you’ll only need about one gallon of water to clean the waterless urinal every two weeks or so.
WaterSense Certification
Urinals go through extensive tests to receive the EPA’s WaterSense certification. Basically, urinals of specific designs can remove the most wastewater while using tinier quantities of water. If you want the most water-efficient urinal on the market, keep an eye out for the WaterSense label.
Compatibility
You’ll have an easier time looking for a urinal if you’re building a bathroom from scratch or replacing an old urinal. Urinals require ¾-inch waterlines as opposed to the ½-inch of traditional toilets. Make sure that your bathroom is fitted with the proper plumbing before picking out a urinal.
Materials
The two most commonly used materials in urinals are ceramic and stainless steel. Ceramic urinals are the more common of the two, easy to clean, extremely durable, and come in a variety of different styles. Stainless steel urinals are also easy to clean but can bend with a hard nudge. Also, they’re not exactly the best-looking urinals and will undoubtedly clash horribly against your bathroom’s décor. Do yourself a favor and choose ceramic—it’s more expensive but is worth the cost.
FAQ
1. Why are there no urinals in homes?
Because you can take your time at home. Companies and public buildings install urinals to service as many people as possible at the same time. Shopping malls with over 1,000 guests at any given time will have at least ten urinals for ten men who can’t hold it in. But if you want to install a urinal at home, nothing’s holding you back!
2. How much does it cost to install a urinal?
Installing a urinal at home can be costly due to the fact that they require a ¾-inch waterline, whereas most home bathrooms are fitted with ½-inch waterlines for toilets. However, if you’re building a bathroom from scratch, you can have the construction crew install ¾-inch waterlines from the get-go.
3. How do you clean a waterless urinal?
The process of cleaning a waterless urinal is similar to that of a toilet. Simply flush it with water, using a toilet cleaner to scrub the bowl’s interior and exterior surface to loosen stains. This process should be done at least twice a month, depending on the frequency of use.
4. Can you adjust the urinal’s flush?
Yes, you can. Locate the control valve on the back of the urinal. Turn the valve clockwise to increase water usage and counterclockwise to limit it. After adjusting the valve, flush the urinal and wait for the bowl to fill and readjust the valve if necessary.
5. When should I replace a urinal?
Urinals last for 50 years. However, cracks in the bowl are a clear sign that you need to decommission the urinal or replace it entirely. Pay attention to laws regarding water usage. If a urinal uses too much water, you might be forced by law to replace it with a modern urinal model.
Final Thoughts
Nobody really understands the intricacies of urinals until they actually shop for one. Today, we’ve provided you a list of the best urinals on the market, as well as how to shop for the best urinal for your home or place of business. After reading through this guide, you should have a Pee-h.D. in everything urinal-related.
If you have any questions or comments, please add them below in the comment section. Similarly, please let us know if you spot any mistakes or omissions. Thanks!
Last Update: 2024-04-23 | Affiliate links/Images from Amazon Product Advertising API
