The bathroom has always been a room built around habit. And now smart technology is giving those habits a serious rethink.
Be honest. Have you ever stayed somewhere with a really good bathroom and come home wishing yours felt the same way? Most of us have.
Smart bathroom technology can be a big part of what makes those spaces feel the way they do, and there's plenty of choice available for your own home.
It doesn’t need to be one big decision either. Most technology can be added without any major upheaval, and smaller individual upgrades can each make a genuine difference to how the room feels to use.
So, what actually makes a bathroom smart?
What is a smart bathroom?
Simply put, a smart bathroom uses technology to personalise your daily routine, giving you complete control over your space. It’s about creating a room that adapts to you, rather than the other way around.
Smart technology that was once found only in high-end hotels and design showrooms is now much more accessible, and the bathroom is one of the most rewarding rooms to bring it into.
A space that is easier to use, cleaner with less effort and set up around how you actually live is what smart technology is now making possible.
In this guide:
- Bluetooth bathroom mirrors
- Smart heating for your bathroom
- Smart heating elements
- Smart underfloor heating
- Smart electric radiators
- Infrared bathroom technology
- Infrared basin taps
- Infrared flush kit
- Smart toilets
- Frequently Asked Questions
- Do smart bathroom products work with existing smart home systems like Alexa and Google Home?
- Is smart bathroom technology difficult to maintain?
- Can smart bathroom technology help reduce energy bills?
Bluetooth bathroom mirrors
There's something about getting ready in the morning that's just a little better with music on, or maybe listening to your favourite podcast.
A Bluetooth bathroom mirror means you can have exactly that, without your phone balanced on the edge of the sink.
The speakers are built into the mirror itself and connect wirelessly to your phone, so you can stream whatever you're listening to while your phone stays safely out of the way.
It's one of those upgrades that sounds simple and turns out to make a genuine difference to your day.
Bluetooth mirrors come with energy-efficient LED lighting and a dimmable setting, so you can adjust the brightness to suit what you’re doing. The mirror can remember your preferred setting too, so it’s ready exactly how you like it every time you switch it on.
Most also come with a heated demister pad, which means you have a clear reflection the moment you need one, however hot the shower was.
They're fully certified for bathroom use and many can be mounted portrait or landscape depending on their shape, giving you full flexibility over where and how they sit in your bathroom.
Fitting your mirror is straightforward. They need mains power to operate and once it’s on the wall, pairing your phone takes a matter of seconds.
Smart heating for your bathroom
Your bathroom might already be on the heating schedule, but smart heating takes things a step further.
Rather than relying on the rest of the house to bring the room up to temperature, you're in control of exactly how warm it gets and when.
There are a few ways to bring smart heating into your bathroom, depending on what you’re working with.
Smart heating elements
A smart element like the Terma VEO fits directly into your existing radiator and connects to an app on your phone.
You can programme a seven-day schedule and adjust the temperature remotely. With these heating elements, you can even use the geolocation function, which automatically lowers the temperature when you leave home and brings the temperature back up as you head back home.
Smart underfloor heating
Underfloor heating is worth considering too, particularly if you have a tiled floor. There's nothing quite like stepping out of the shower onto a warm floor.
Paired with a smart thermostat you get full control over the temperature through a dedicated app on your phone or a built-in touchscreen.
You can set a schedule around your routine, and the systems use adaptive technology that learns how quickly your bathroom heats up. They then adjust automatically so the floor is always at the right temperature when you need it.
They’re energy efficient too. If a window gets left open and the room temperature drops suddenly, the system detects it and adjusts the heating to prevent any wasted energy.
Smart electric radiators
If you're starting without an existing radiator, or want something completely independent, smart electric radiators are a strong option.
They need no plumbing or central heating connection, heat up quickly, run efficiently and are safe for use in your bathroom.
The Carisa Boreas and Toasty Seren are both good examples, each with app control, weekly scheduling, open window detection and precise temperature control.
The Toasty Seren also includes a low surface temperature mode as an added safety option for households with children and pets.
Infrared bathroom technology
Infrared technology is one of the more practical additions to a smart bathroom. Sensors detect movement and respond instantly so there’s no handles to move or anything to touch. Simple, hygienic and surprisingly satisfying to use.
Infrared basin taps
An infrared basin tap triggers the moment your hands are underneath it and cuts off automatically two seconds after you move them away. There’s no handles to turn, no drips to worry about and no direct touch needed with the tap at all.
The hygiene benefits speak for themselves, but the water saving is just as compelling. Because the tap responds only to movement, it can’t be left on accidentally, and that alone can reduce water consumption by up to 70% compared to a standard tap.
They come in deck mounted, wall mounted and spout versions, all in a clean chrome finish and minimal design that holds its own in any bathroom.
The wall mounted option works well with freestanding or countertop basins, and because they run on either mains power or AA batteries, positioning is flexible.
Infrared flush kit
Hygiene is one of the biggest drivers behind smart bathroom technology, and nowhere is that more relevant than the toilet.
And you don’t need to go straight for a fully featured smart toilet to notice the difference.
A no-touch infrared flush kit is one of the simplest upgrades available, replacing your existing flush button with an infrared sensor that activates without touching a thing.
A wave of your hand triggers a half flush, holding it there activates a full flush. It runs on batteries rather than mains power, so there's no electrical work involved and no need for an electrician.
It's a practical upgrade for any bathroom with a button flush, and particularly useful for anyone who finds standard flush mechanisms awkward or uncomfortable to use.
For a more design-led option, a mains powered infrared flush plate takes the same hands-free approach but with a sleek glass finish. This flush has illuminated controls that light up to distinguish between a full and half flush.
It is a smarter looking alternative to a standard button flush, and one that works seamlessly with wall-hung toilet installations.
Smart Toilets
In 1980, Japanese bathroom brand TOTO launched the Washlet in Japan. It was an electronic toilet seat with a built-in warm water cleansing system. The idea behind it was simple. To replace toilet paper with something more hygienic and more comfortable.
Its popularity skyrocketed and it quickly became a fixture of everyday bathroom life in Japan. TOTO has sold more than 60 million of them worldwide since.
The biggest shift from a standard toilet is the cleansing system itself, using warm water with adjustable pressure, temperature and spray position to suit you.
It looks after itself between uses too. A fine mist preps the bowl before each visit, and the wand jet cleans itself automatically using TOTO’s EWATER+ electrolysed water technology, taking a lot of the effort out of the cleaning routine.
TOTO Smart toilets also come with:
- A heated seat - Adjustable to your preferred temperature.
- An integrated deodoriser - Keeps the air fresh automatically.
- Ambient lighting - A gentle light that activates as you approach at night.
Smart toilets come in three forms depending on how your bathroom is set up.
Close coupled sits against the wall with a visible cistern, back to wall tucks everything out of sight for a neater overall look, and wall hung fixes directly to the wall with the cistern hidden inside it freeing up floor space underneath.
In most cases a smart toilet will sit in the same position as your existing one, so you're replacing rather than reconfiguring.
The one thing worth checking before you choose a model is whether there's mains power nearby. Smart toilets need it, and if your bathroom doesn't already have a connection in the right place, that's worth factoring in before you commit.
Smart bathroom technology is an exciting area to watch. It covers a lot of ground and you don't need to take it all on at once.
Whether you're drawn to one upgrade or thinking about several for your bathroom space, browse our full range of smart bathroom products and see what could work for yours.
