Can a bidet save you money?

Each day, Americans use approximately 34 million toilet rolls. Yes, you read that right. Daily. This equates to billions of dollars literally being flushed down the drain every year. While the bathroom is one area where budget-conscious consumers are not the first to cut costs, there are some ways to save on toilet paper expenses over the long term: Using a bidet.

Budget-friendly bidets

Budget-friendly guru BeatTheBush recently tested the Coway Bidetmega 200 on his YouTube channel—comparing the smart bidet to previous experiences with both a more basic bidet and traditional toilet paper. All it takes is a quick glance at the comments and it’s obvious that his overall experience genuinely surprised his cost-conscious viewers. In fact, as he mentions in the video, it even surprised him—with declarations like “I’m just kind of blown away” regarding its power usage (or lack thereof) and “it’s kind of like the way of the future” to describe his overall experience.

Bidet features

Smart, electronic bidets are similar to traditional bidet toilet seats in that they can be easily installed onto an existing toilet. Unlike traditional bidet toilet seats, these bidets tend to also offer advanced features like heated seats, customized settings, cleaning functions and more.

With all of this extra tech, smart bidets may not be the first thing that comes to mind when thinking of efficiency, but most of the world is already on board with the bidet trend (with some countries even passing laws mandating a bidet in every bathroom). 

Bidet benefits

Why are so many nations taking bidets so seriously? While most people think of the standard benefits, increased feeling of cleanliness and various health benefits, others have experienced a reduction of overall toilet paper usage and plumbing/septic expenses that often come with its use. (Full disclosure: Most bidet owners still do use toilet paper; but only a fraction of what they used before since it’s used to pat dry vs wipe clean.)

It’s time for Americans to consider bidets for their homes.

50 pounds of toilet paper

Although still relatively exotic and unheard-of across the U.S., more and more Americans are favoring bidets over traditional wiping methods. The reason for the change? More and more Americans are being exposed to the health and financial benefits of a bidet through trending Internet articles as well as international travel. In countries where bidets are commonplace, annual country-wide toilet paper costs are greatly reduced, with Japanese consumers using about 91 rolls per capita, per year, compared to about 141 rolls per capita in the U.S. To put it another way, Americans use about 50 pounds of toilet paper per person, per year vs. 33 pounds per person, per year, in Japan.

Bidet cost savings

Compared head-to-head, consumers who exclusively use toilet paper consume over 64% more rolls than bidet-users. With a national average of 89 cents per role, that means bidet users can save up to $50 per year per person. Concerned about energy savings as well? The Coway Bidetmega uses less than 1 watt when on energy-saving mode and no more than 800 watts during cleaning mode. To put that in perspective, energy-saving mode uses as much power as your TV does on standby mode (about 11 cents per month) and cleaning mode costs less than $1-2 per month (assuming it’s used for a generous 15 minutes per day).

Environmentally friendly bidets

If the long-term financial costs savings aren’t compelling enough, consider the environmental impact. Over 15 million trees are cut down each year to keep up with the U.S.’s toilet paper demand. That’s approximately 384 trees per person for a lifetime supply of toilet paper, resulting in growing levels of deforestation around the world. What’s more—using a bidet requires only about one eighth of a gallon of water per cleaning cycle, compared to the 37 gallons of water required to make one roll of toilet paper.

In summary, bidets are better for your body, better for the environment, and better for your wallet. So how long before everyone has one? Not soon enough.