Turn your bathroom into at-home retreat

Given the current depressed housing market, Americans are more likely to stay in their current homes than to move. But they’ll continue to pump money into their condos, town homes, and houses: U.S. consumers are expected to spend in excess of $170 billion on remodeling projects in 2008, according to Harvard’s Joint Center for Housing Studies.

The bathroom remains one of the most commonly fixed-up rooms. One trend in recent years has seen bathrooms converted into getaway spaces as consumers bling out their baths with whirlpool tubs, steam and multihead showers, high-style sinks, faucets, counters, and flooring, and other fixtures and surfaces once found only in high-end hotels and resorts. And, of course, the bathroom has become a multimedia center just like the kitchen, as manufacturers add music and video to their bathroom gear.

At last week's 2008 Kitchen/Bath Industry Show, we saw of the latest bathroom offerings, including the Hansgrohe Pharo Showerpanel SkyLine,  the Brondell Swash Ecoseat toilet seat, and the SonicSplash audio option from Lasco. Learn about these and other products in our video (right), featuring Bob Markovich, Home editor of Consumer Reports.—Steven H. Saltzman

Essential information: Use our expert advice when you’re shopping for a new toilet and refer to our Ratings (available to subscribers) to find the right model for your home. Also learn how to remodel a bathroom for less and avoid common project mistakes.

Kitchen/Bath Industry Show Product Preview: Caroma Sydney Smart 305 toilet

The 1.28-gallon-per-flush Sydney Smart 305 round-front toilet can save the average U.S. household up to 5,242 gallons per year compared with a standard low-flow toilet, claims manufacturer Caroma.

The toilet, which carries the EPA’s WaterSense label, has dual flush buttons, located on top of the tank, in lieu of the typical lever. You push one button to eliminate liquids and paper, the other to flush solids. Despite its miserly water consumption, the toilet is designed to be clog-proof according to the manufacturer, thanks to a trapway that is nearly twice as wide as the industry average.

The Sydney Smart, $349 in white (also available in biscuit), is backed by a two-year warranty and is sold at bath showrooms and plumbing-supply dealers.—Kimberly Janeway

Essential information: Use our expert advice when you’re shopping for a new toilet and refer to our Ratings (available to subscribers) to find the right model for your home.

International Builders'€™ Show Product Preview: American Standard FloWise Toilet

The latest low-flow toilets use even less water: California now requires that a residential toilet use 1.28 gallons per flush (gpf), 20 percent less than the 1.6-gpf standard in effect elsewhere nationwide.

The American Standard FloWise (shown) is among the first commodes to meet the new California standard without requiring a second, water-saving mode. It also carries the EPA's WaterSense label for high-efficiency toilets—€”akin to an Energy Star qualification—€”and is eligible for rebates in drought-prone areas.

This gravity-fed toilet is green without being wimpy, claims American Standard, thanks to a funnel-shaped, piston-action flush valve that helps accelerate incoming water; the valve is similar to the one on the company'€™s Champion models, a line of gravity toilet that did well in our last toilet report.

The FloWise retails for $395 in white and is backed by a 10-year limited warranty. We'll see how these American Standard models and other lower-flow toilets fare in our next toilet test.—€”Bob Markovich

Can Super Bowl bathroom breaks cripple sewer systems?

Super Bowl XLII will take place on Sunday, February 3, in Glendale, Arizona, with the undefeated New England Patriots taking on the New York Giants. If you’re one of the millions of Americans who’ll enjoy some refreshing beverages while watching the intense on-field action on Fox, a halftime toilet break is a distinct possibility.

What would happen if every household in your town or city were to flush a toilet at about the same moment right after the end of the second quarter? That’s the issue behind the “halftime flush,” an oft-repeated yarn that surfaces annually around the NFL championship game. This urban legend suggests that all that flushing could cripple municipal water and sewer systems.

Commonly cited proof of this tall toilet tale is the event that took place during Super Bowl XVIII on January 22, 1984. As the showdown between the Los Angeles Raiders and the Washington Redskins progressed in Tampa, Florida, a 16-inch water main ruptured in Salt Lake City. LeRoy W. Hooton Jr., the recently retired director of the Department of Public Utilities for the Utah capital, recollects that the burst pipe caused quite a mess. (The Raiders flushed the Redskins, thumping Washington 38-9.)

The subsequent media attention turned into a flood of its own, particularly after a public-utilities field supervisor told a reporter that the “Super Bowl flush” was to blame. In reality, says Hooton, the aging Salt Lake City water system had been experiencing about 300 waterline breaks a year, meaning the 1984 incident was not an unusual occurrence.

“I was in the water works profession for over 49 years and I don’t think the Super Bowl had anything to do with the break,” says Hooton. “As I recall, there was neither an increase or decrease in pressure measured in the water-distribution system before the break. However, once the ‘Super Bowl flush’ statement was published, it caught on and continues to surface every year at this time.”

We think it’s time to flush this myth—before halftime.

Essential information: If your Super Bowl gathering highlights the inadequacies of the facilities at your home, read our expert advice on choosing the right type of toilet. For overall design help with a bathroom remodel, “Bathroom Makeovers: Relaxing Retreats for Less” will guide you through the process.