Upflushing toilets offer numerous benefits, including flexibility, portability, cost-saving, and water efficiency. However, they also come with some downsides, such as high price tags and noise levels. In this section, we outline the pros and cons of upflush toilets to help you make an informed choice.
Pros Of Upflush Toilets
If you’re looking to add a new bathroom in your basement, renovate an old home to incorporate an extra bathroom, or just want to avoid coughing thousands of dollars on a new bathroom construction, then an upflush toilet might be the right answer for you.
Here are the outstanding benefits of upflush toilets:
#1: Upflush Toilets Save Money In The Long Run
An upflush toilet costs just a fraction of what a full traditional toilet construction costs. Installing one can save you thousands of dollars you would spend buying different plumbing fixtures and hiring a plumber for days.
This makes upflush toilets a fantastic choice for budget-conscious homeowners who can’t justify spending half of their life savings constructing an extra toilet.
Another way upflush toilets save you money is that they remove the need for digging and breaking walls and floors in your home. That’s something that often requires professional help, and the costs can rise quickly depending on the plumbing design you currently have.
Moreover, macerating toilets tend to be very water efficient. Currently, most upflowing toilets consume up to 1.28 gallons, saving you money on water utility bills.
Most traditional toilets take up an upward of 1.6 gallons per flush, meaning that an upflush toilet could save up to 70% in water usage.
#2: Same Aesthetics As Regular Toilets
When it comes to the appearance, size, stability, and comfort of an upflush toilet, there’s really no difference between this system and the regular one-piece or two-piece toilet you already have in your home.
While an upflush toilet incorporates a macerator system and pump unit, all other fixtures, including the toilet seat, bowl, and flushing buttons or handles look virtually the same.
#3: More Flexibility
For many homeowners, macerating toilets offer a higher level of flexibility that standard toilets can’t match. Because many regular toilet flushing systems utilize gravity, they don’t function for rooms below the sewer line, such as in the basement.
With a pump system included, upflush toilets are able to send waste upwards much easily. You’ll not even need to worry about where your plumbing systems or drainage networks are in the home.
That’s why macerating toilets also work great for attics and temporary situations where you don’t want to drill into the wall or floor or completely re-design your plumbing system.
#4: Highly Portable
On top of their flexibility, upflush toilets are highly portable, allowing you to move it around your home with ease.
Although this will depend on the specific model you install, many all-in-one upflush toilets on the market can be moved around easily by simply unscrewing a few bolts.
#5: Upflush Toilets Can Attach To Other Sanitary Ware
A macerating toilet system allows you to attach other commonly used bathroom hardware such as sinks and showers and take advantage of the same drainage system provided they are compatible and installed correctly.
Note that there are specific design considerations you must take into account to achieve this, but it is relatively easy to accomplish.
#6: A Longer Lifespan
Upflush toilets are built to last just as long as traditional toilets. Well-known brands such as Liberty Pumps and SaniFlo Macerating toilets are known to flush up to 50k times before the mechanical components require any replacement.
It can be safe to say that macerating toilets can last as long as 10-15 years, if not longer. However, the specific lifespan of your upflush toilet will depend on how well you look after it through regular cleaning and maintenance. Besides, upflush toilets rarely clog since waste is shredded before being pumped away through the plumbing fixtures.
#7: Minimal Maintenance
All upflush toilets come sealed and ready to operate. What’s more, they require very minimal maintenance for the entire life of the pump. They are specially designed to prevent stains and remain sparkling clean for long.
#8: You Can Add A Bathroom Anywhere
With a macerating toilet, you can add an extra bathroom anywhere in your home. An upflush toilet allows you to transform any odd closet or empty space into a functional guest bathroom. Even in the basement, a macerating toilet makes it simple and cost-effective to add a bathroom that efficiently flushes waste upwards.
Upflush toilets even allow you to install a temporary bathroom in a home under renovation, a home with an elderly family member who may find it difficult get up or down stairs, or a home with more residents than usual. Besides, you can add a comfortable wooden or plastic toilet seat to suit your individual needs.
#9: Boost The Value Of Your Home
According to HouseLogic, creating an extra full bathroom in your home can increase its value by more than 20%. Unfortunately, constructing a full traditional bathroom can cost as much as $50,000.
By installing an Upflush toilet, you can save money and get a better ROI down the road. Moreover, you can install an upflush toilet by yourself and save even more money.
#10: Ample Warranty
Upflush toilets often include a 3-year manufacturer’s warranty.
Cons Of Upflush Toilets
As mentioned earlier, upflush toilets come with their fair share of disadvantages, including:
#1: Noise
If you’re looking for a toilet fixture with a quieter flush, an upflush toilet may not be the best option for you. Most traditional, compact toilet units are less noisy since they don’t have the mechanism to churn the waste and make it ready for pumping.
Although macerating toilets still use similar steps in the flushing process, the extra grinding process can produce extra noise that may be uncomfortable for some users.
#2: High Price Tags
The upfront cost of upflush toilets is generally high, especially if you’re going with well-known brands such as SaniFlo. Most standard gravity-fed toilets will rarely cost you more than $600, but units with a macerating pump can cost an upward of $1000.
#3: Power Cuts
If you’re off the grid, or simply lack electricity due to a power cut, a macerating toilet may not work for you. The same applies to any hardware connected to the macerator’s drainage system.
Unless you have a portable generator, a macerating toilet is best suited for homes with a reliable source of electricity.
What An Upflush Toilet Is Not
Many homeowners confuse an upflush toilet with a composting toilet. The confusion often arises because these two toilet designs are relatively new in the US.
While a composting toilet uses evaporation and decomposition to eliminate waste and provide composting products, an upflush toilet works like the traditional toilet you already know and love.
It just runs on a waste elimination system that’s engineered differently – shredding and grinding all solid materials like human waste and toilet paper before pumping it upwards through a narrow pipe.