Best Toilet Seats for the Elderly/Seniors +Guide

The elderly are more likely to experience difficulties going about their day to day activities, including using the restrooms. From bad knees, aggravated joint issues, and even spine problems; squatting or using the standard height toilets can be a massive task for the seniors. This, therefore, warrants the need for higher toilet seats or tall toilets

Seniors’ tall toilets feature a raised toilet seat necessary to reduce strain, as well as prevent and mitigate the risk of injuries among the aged. Some of the best brands include Kohler, Toto, American Standard Cadet and Thetford.

The following are details of the brands and core features including a guide on how to select the right seat height for your grannies.

The Best Toilet Seats for the Elderly

In this final segment, let’s have a look at five of the best toilet seats suitable for seniors.

1. Kohler K-3609-0 Cimarron Height Elongated Toilet

Kohler – a well-established brand popularly known to manufacture bathroom fixtures and fittings such as sinks, bathtubs, and toilets. The Kohler K-3609-0 Cimarron exhibits all of its greatest qualities, including comfort, durability, and convenience. It’s solidly built from vitreous China – one of the most durable materials.

With a chair height of 17 to 19 inches tall, it’s an excellent choice for soothing knee and back pains in seniors. What’s more, the product features metal brackets for easy installation and also prevents water leaks. Now you don’t have to get a professional to drill bolt holes on your bathroom walls.

Is it WaterSense certified?

Yes. Not only that, with ground-breaking flushing and water-conserving technologies, but they also add extra comfortability for your elderly user. Also, this means lower water bills for you. The powerful flush is guaranteed to clear every waste with a single lever pull.

Pros

• ADA compliant toilet fit to serve the seniors
• It is easy to install
• Comfortable in use and seating
• Available in a wide range of hues
• Watersense certified
• Powerful flushing system
• Greater design that prevents leaks
• Super at water saving
• Comes with a one year warranty
• It is easy to clean

Cons

• Only suitable for tall adults
• Additional accessories such as the toilet seat and supply line products have to be purchased separately
• Can easily break in installed with the metal brackets wrongly

2. Thetford Aqua-Magic V RV Toilet Pedal Flush

Next up is the Aqua magic RV toilet. It’s cost-friendly, high quality, and available in comfort height suitable for the elderly. With a unique elongated design, the wash set has beautiful aesthetics and great appeal just by looking at it. It also offers a comfortable seating position with no bent knees.

This RV loo features a textured lid perfectly curated to resist scratches and scuff marks. You are then assured of quality as the product remains pristine and is set to last longer than an ordinary laminated toilet. Another great characteristic is its weight, super light and easy to move about.

The Aqua Magic toilet also has a powerful flush that easily clears up any waste once. It’s easy to clean and maintain.

So what’s in the package?

Fortunately for you, the brand offers a one-off purchase with everything included in your initial order. It includes the toilet and accessories such as the seat, wax rings, bolts, and others.

Pros

• Comfortable seating height
• Textured lid for scratch resistance
• Stylish designs
• Easy to install, care for, and maintain
• powerful flushing system

Cons

• The toilet is quite noisy
• The weight is rather threatening for huge users 

3. TOTO CST744SL#01 Drake 2-Piece Ada Toilet with Elongated Bowl, Cotton White

For a two-piece toilet, the TOTO Drake is an excellent choice for you. It has a universal height of approximately 21 inches tall (five inches taller than the standard), a stylish design, plus an elongated shape to add to its comfortability. Up to that point, you already know its ADA compliant for older adults and even those with disabilities.

This TOTO Drake primarily features an amazing flushing system; G-Max. This flushing mechanism is digitally designed not only to aid with a powerful flush but also to save on water. The flush comes from big jet holes located conveniently under the rim to reduce clogs and blockages. Moreover, the smart toilet uses 1.6 gallons per water flush as per the WaterSense standards.

With its superior flushing system, the wash set also doesn’t require regular cleaning. This is also thanks to its smooth glaze from the vitreous China clay used to model the toilet. The glaze prevents any sticky residue from remaining on the walls of the toilet.

Much like other comfort height toilets, it has a soft-close seat that doesn’t make noise, plus prevents the lid from slamming down injuring you in the process. An excellent feature to keep in mind when purchasing.

Pros

• It’s  super comfortable with a suitable height and an elongated bowl design
• ADA compliant toilet
• Easy to clean and maintain
• Soft-close seat mechanism to avoid slamming
• Saves in water by using 1.6 gallons per water flush
• Powerful G-max flushing technology

Cons

• The height is unsuitable for children
• Color only available in white

4. Kohler K-3817-0 Memoirs Stately Two-Piece Elongated Toilet

Yet another Kohler product; the K-3817-0 Memoirs. A two-piece elongated toilet with a stylish and elegant look set to enhance your bathroom aesthetics. With a touch of new and old, this Memoirs toilet has a traditional flushing system that easily saves you water through its outstanding performance.

The toilet has a 1.28 gallons per water flush that are high efficiency and also saves you from regularly cleaning the toilet. Unlike a 3.5 gallon loo, this one saves you over 16,500 gallons of water annually, what more could you ask for?

Unfortunately, this toilet requires professional assistance with installation. It’s not the regular DIY kind that you install a few bolts in and you’re done. However, it is easy to maintain and it is guaranteed to last you for long.

Pros

• Offers a comfortable seating height
• Easy to use, clean, and maintain
• Has a powerful flushing system
• Has an elongated bowl design for additional comfort
• Saves on water

Cons

• It doesn’t feature a seat nor a supply line
• The tank is rather bulky which leans forward too much

5. American Standard Cadet 3 Right Height Round Front

Last, but not least, the American Standard Cadet three. This is a 17.5 inches two-piece set with an elongated bowl design, impressive bowl shape, and appealing appearance. With an advanced and powerful flushing system of 1.28 gallons per water flush, it can handle over one kg of solid waste per single lever pull.

Moreover, it has a huge siphoned tramway with no checking points to effectively rid the toilet from clogging. The cadet three is easy to clean thanks to its sleek and shiny vitreous China make with a laminated finish. This keeps the surface clean and resistant to sticky residues such as mold and mildew.

Lastly, the toilet comes with additional accessories for easy installation.

Pros

• Uses only 1.28 gallons of water per flush
• It’s a one-off purchase
• Features a silent and soft close seat
• Powerful flushing system
• Easy to clean and maintain

Cons

• The toilet doesn’t feature replacements

Our Choice…

Deciding is usually the hardest part of it all, but when you are guided by facts and your needs, it gets way simpler. Our number one spot goes to the  Kohler Cimarron. It features a comfortable toilet with suitable height, sturdy vitreous China making, WaterSense certification that saves on water. Plus, it’s easily installed with its metal brackets.

How to Choose the Right Toilet Seat Height for Seniors

When you’re out shopping for these raised toilet seats, there are various factors you should pay attention to, such as the fit, appropriate height, and your budget. Read further and learn about the multiple variables you should consider.

1. Height

As mentioned earlier in the text, the elderly require a slightly higher toilet compared to the standard measurement. Also referred to as the comfort toilet, it measures approximately 17 to 19 inches tall – a distance from the floor to the seat. This length, however, is not limited to those particular dimensions, you can get a custom made toilet seat that’s as high as 22 inches.

These efforts are in place to ensure the elderly can easily sit and stand up, as well as comfortably rest their feet down while seated. Hence, the first factor to consider is how high you want the comfort toilet to be.

2. Users Height

The ADA toilets as mandated by their regulations are said to be two inches taller so that seniors don’t strain their knees, back, or hips. But what if they are short? The additional allowance assumes that these individuals need a boost so they aren’t uncomfortably low.

Further Reading: How to Raise a Toilet Seat

Checking on the height of the senior is crucial because there’s no need to install a floor-mounted universal toilet that’s 19 inches tall, but the elder is only 4 feet tall. This would mean their feet would be left dangling in the air that can be rather uncomfortable for the user.

For those who are shorter in stature say four to five inches tall, the standard height toilet would actually be a good choice. After this, you can choose to include peddlers, rails, handles, arms, or a small-sized seat raise to aid with sitting and erecting from the seat. Nonetheless, the elder would be comfortable as they would have their feet securely on the floor.

3. Physical Needs

It’s one thing to be a senior, it’s another to be handicapped or disabled; probably using a wheelchair. For several elders, joint pains are severe, so much so that they are forced to use wheelchairs and whatnots. In such a scenario, the height of the toilet seat has to coincide with the height of the wheelchair.

The user will use a lateral transfer, which would be difficult if the seat is either higher or lower. Hence, it’s best to select a seat that’s equally or nearly the height of the wheelchair’s seat.

In the event that the toilet height you seek isn’t readily available in the market, you have the option of wall mounting the toilet to ensure you get the right height. Some wall-mounted toilets allow for up to 28 inches high or more.

4. Manner of Transfer

Another related factor is the manner of transfer or rather, how the elderly get onto the toilet seat. If they are handicapped, there are two options to look at;

• Lateral – where they get on and off by sliding from the chair to the toilet seat. This is as explained above, it has to be the same height.
• Mechanical lift transfer – this means that they have some form of assistance getting on and off the toilet seat.

For the mechanical lift transfer, you have two options for seats to have. You can choose a higher seat height that allows the thighs to be 90 degrees from the thigh to the lower leg. (That’s the angle to the knee) This will allow the user to have their feet comfortably stable on the floor and a proper posture to avoid creasing at the back or knee pains.

As for the second option, you can aim for lower seat height – especially if the user has limited physical mobility. Select a seat that’s one to two inches lower than the regular height to offer a more natural squat like position. It is said that these groups of people more often than not have trouble with bowel movements.

5. Budget

Last, but not least, is the cost of the toilet seat. Comfort height toilets are much cheaper than the standard height wash sets. But here’s a case you need to have a different type of height. Probably you want to install a wall-mounted loo, or you want to lower the seat, some manufacturers will quote costs higher than you expect since it’s a custom order.