Do they make plastic toilets for homes? If not, why?
- posted
17 years ago
Do they make plastic toilets for homes? If not, why?
Durability, sanitization, resistance to cleaning chemicals, ease of cleaning, ease of manufacture. It would be difficult, if not impossible to mold one compared to casting with slip.
I can't think of a single reason that plastic would be better.
Well for prisons and super-sized folks, they do sell welded-up stainless steel ones. Pretty expensive- there is a lot of hand work involved in the process.
aem sends...
They re even using "china/porcelain" toilets in RV s now and ditching the plastic stuff.
Make that "upper-end" RVs.
Oh, no. Plastic toilets in RVs are still the norm except for replacements and, as I said above, in upper-end rigs. The big deal in many cases in the RV world is WEIGHT.
On Wed, 12 Jul 2006 02:20:25 GMT, with neither quill nor qualm, "Edwin Pawlowski" quickly quoth:
I vaguely recall reading that the plastic ones also sweat a whole lot, causing condensation and rot problems for those houses in which they were tested. The cold water in a warm house would do that after every flush.
- In nature's infinite book of secrecy a little I can read. -Shakespeare ------
I'd like to see a residential urinal/toilet that had a built in sink that would flush or supplement the flush water with the hand wash. A urinal could easily be flushed with that volume of h2o, i think.
I've seen a prison all in one setup similar to this, but not residential. Of course, there isn't much in the way of residential urinals either. (there are a few, though)
In Europe, some toilets have two flush handles. One provides more water for the solids. Makes a lot of sense.
According to Larry Jaques :
Plastic would be _less_ prone to condensation, not more.`
According to Jim Redelfs :
Portable toilets are mostly plastic.
My inlaws had a plastic ultra-low flush unit in their cottage. I think it was a marine unit - lever-activated spring-loaded flapper in the bowl. [Caution required to avoid flicking, er, stuff in your face - retain hold on lever at all times during flush ;-).]
The unit worked _fine_, cleaning didn't seem to be a problem. Real problem was it wasn't putting enough water into the DWV if you were conscious about minimizing water use, and it'd plug up.
Standard in our 2000 Cardinal (and newer)
On Thu, 13 Jul 2006 03:35:02 -0000, with neither quill nor qualm, snipped-for-privacy@nortelnetworks.com (Chris Lewis) quickly quoth:
I suggest you research that statement a bit more, Chris. Go get a plastic glass full of iced tea and let me know if it sweats. ;)
20:1 you'll be back here in 15 minutes with a full recant.--- - Sarcasm is just one more service we offer. -
Well, to test his statement, you'd have to fill two pitures, one plastic and one china and see which, if either, sweats more. That, or look at the thermal transmission rate for both materials.
(He didn't say it wouldn't, but that it is less likely)
It would be much easier to put an airspace around an inner tank to insulate the outside of the tank from the cold water, with the condensate draining into the main bowl. (a double walled tank, kinda like a vacuum flask.)
k.)
at the end of the day, they sell porcelain toilets for 50 bucks, plastic would probably cost more with no perceived benefit
According to Larry Jaques :
Recant of what? ;-)
I didn't say that plastic won't sweat, only that it'd be less likely to sweat than (or sweat as much as) the equivalent glass/porcelain. Put that iced tea into a porcelain or glass pitcher. If a plastic pitcher sweats, a glass or porcelain one will certainly sweat too.
Sweating is a function of how low the temperature of the exterior of a container gets when filled with a cold liquid.
The thermal conductivity of plastic is less than glass or porcelain.
A refrigerated plastic pop bottle feels warmer than a refrigerated glass one. At least after it's been in your hand for a few moments.
A cold glass bottle of beer is a lot more emotionally satisfying than a plastic one after hard work on a hot day. At least until you open the bottle, and then most of the difference disappears ;-)
Thus, one would expect that, given otherwise identical conditions, the exterior equilibrium temperature of a plastic container would be higher than glass or porcelain, and hence sweat less.
Then again, the conditions are probably not identical. Porcelain toilets have thicker tank walls than plastic ones. Furthermore, most porcelain toilet tanks these days have insulation - do the plastic toilets under consideration have it too? If we're comparing building-code standard household toilets with RV or portable toilets, probably not, and we're not doing a fair comparison.
According to Philip Lewis :
"Dewar flasking" it would certainly work, but it's overkill. An insulating lining in the tank more than suffices in most cases.
[Isn't insulated toilet tanks standard down there? It certainly is up here. I think you'd be hard-pressed to find any toilet up here, short of an ultra-cheap model, that's not insulated.]
hmmmm I think it'd be pretty easy to do with injection mo(u)lding. Plastic is cheap... and it'd be one less step in assembly.
I can't say that I've really ever noticed... but then i've never had a problem with condensation (Pittsburgh PA weather, no AC... so can be humid) and thus have never looked at solutions to solve said same.
I think our toilets are far enough from the water input into the basement that the water has time to warm up to ambiant and most condensation will happen down there. (though i've not noticed it down their either... maybe i'll go look for it specifically. )
Where is "up here", Canada? Our ground temp is around 55 degF, IIRC. Perhaps yours is colder and thus condesation is more pervasive.
Just lift the toilet tank lid and see if you see a liner. Often a 3/8" or so layer of some sort of rigid foam caulked to the inside of the tank.
Used to be it was an added-cost extra. Doesn't seem to be much anymore.
Cottage or other well-water users really need them 'round here.
Yes, Canada.
We're on a deep well. The water is quite cold, much colder than muncipal water systems.
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