The Toilets have Arrived
Since this turned out to be such a popular topic, I thought I’d follow up on the story. I faxed in the application on Tuesday, February 5 and received my voucher before the weekend. I was instructed to pick up the toilets out at Ferguson Enterprises.
Ferguson’s gave me everything I needed for installation: wax ring, flange bolts, and a seat. A new flange will cost you if yours needs to be replaced.
The first thing I have to say that I like about the Niagara is that it’s ready to go right out of the box with the exception of mounting the tank on the bowl. With that being said they’ve even made that easier with a flat bowl-to-tank gasket.
If you’ve ever had to install a tank on a bowl with one of those rounded rubber gaskets you know the frustration I’m talking about: the balancing act of constantly readjusting the tank until it’s level and squared with the wall. This here just sits flat on the bowl.
As I mentioned before, the Niagara uses a “flapperless” design that dumps a bucket of water into the tank. Something you have to get comfortable with is flushing the handle all the way down in a quick motion to get the full effect.
And now here’s something I’m sure you’ve all been waiting for:
Whoo wee, wasn’t that something!? So you can see it performs quite well under a liquid simulation. One thing you may have noticed is that the valve continues to “hiss” after the bucket is filled. This is due once again to Fluidmaster’s lousy craftsmanship. I have never been pleased with their normal replacement fill valves. They never seem to shut off completely no matter how low you set the float. Fortunately for the Niagara it does stop after a few minutes, but I’ll hold this complaint against it – I wish they’d gone with another vendor besides Fluidmaster.
While I could look for a recipe to create the soybean paste used for the Maximum Performance (MaP™) testing procedures for my own solids simulation, I’m just going to leave you with the results already given: it rates at 500 grams per flush. I believe this is quite acceptable considering 250 grams is the minimum requirement to pass the test. If you’re the type of person who needs to experience a powerful, full-on gravitational force then you’re not going to be happy with the Niagara. I would describe it as more of a “washing” than a “suction”.
Finally, I’ll leave you with this little marketing piece. Have you ever felt this good about a toilet?
I’ve had to install tons of toilets. The worst is unistalling one with some “remains” in it. Thank you St. Boniface Elementary.
Your toilets haven’t been tested until they’ve been used by the best – wait till Dad gets down there and gives them a run for the money!
That comment by your mother and my beautiful wife was uncalled for and down right embarassing. But to say the least I’ll need blue water. Lots and lots of blue water.
Thank you for the follow-up and including the video. They were very helpful.
I think I’m going to pay the extra $21+/per toilet under the Austin program to get the elongated / ADA model to replace all three of my pre-1980s toilets. I don’t know if it will make any difference in the real world, but these have a MAP of 800 grams (vs. a 500 rating for the free toilets). If I don’t like them, I’ll replace them in a year or two.
Happy Flushing!
Aus Texan
BTW — I guess you know by now that Niagara Conservation has posted a link to your blog.
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You’re welcome, Aus Texas. Let me know how the ADA model’s work for you. I didn’t know about my testimonial on Niagara’s site. I’m flattered.
Will do. Should be in about a month or so.
Thanks for sharing this information. I think I’ll be putting in a couple of these toilets too. I’ve never done a toilet install before – anything I need to watch out for?
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Hi Georgia. Nothing particularly different about installing the Niagara than from any ordinary toilet. The Niagara is actually a bit easier. There are plenty of “how-tos” on the Web.
As mentioned, you’ll get everything you need with the toilet except a new flange if you need it. If you have any doubts after removing your old toilet, take a picture with a digital camera and take it to a plumbing supply store. I recommend Crumps. They took one quick look and new exactly what I needed.
Good luck!
I agree totally with you about Crumps. It’s generally the first place I go. Thanks!
Hi Adam!
Finally picked up one new toilet Thursday and installed today with a girlfriend. It wasn’t bad at all! I did make a trip to Crump’s to pick up rubber leveling shims and a new hose (as long as we’ve disconnected the water, I figured why not.) Everything seems to be fine. I decided to just do one toilet now and perhaps replace the other later. The installation of the other will be a bit tricker as it goes under an extended countertop. Thanks for giving me the courage to try!
Georgia
I just installed two of these 1.28 gpf toilets today(from the austin free HET program) and so far, I’m very impressed. Very easy to install, looks like they’re made well, and flushing seems to be working just fine. The only complaint is that the seats that came with them are the most flimsy I’ve ever seen. So I just used the old seats instead, from the toilets I’m replacing, which are considerably more sturdy.
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Nice work, Georgia! I’m glad it all worked out.
Chris, I concur about the seats. They are in fact a bit flimsy. I’ve had to re-tighten mine a couple times.
Thought I’d update since I didn’t see any other postings on the web about this problem. Apparently after closer inspection, both of my toilets are having a slight problem where when either of the toilets are flushed, the splashing in the tank from flushing seems to drip out from the top of the tank. I’ve reseated the tank lid and even tried rotating it and several different positions, however regardless of how/where I move the lid, when the toilet flushes, anywhere from a few drops to a trickle of water splashes on the lid and leaks out the side or back of the toilet from the top. This is apparently a known issue (read product defect) so if you call Niagara or email them (they responded to my email in less than 24 hours), they’ll simply send you new tanks for the problem toilets.
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That’s interesting, Chris. Did they mention what precisely is causing the problem? I’m interested to know if it’s the lid, the tank, the fill bucket…? Do tell when your new tank arrives and if you notice any different replacement parts.
So I got the new tanks today from Niagara, to replace the defective 1.28 model ones, and they sent 1.6 model tanks instead. I’m not sure if that means they didn’t have anymore 1.28 models handy or they accidentally sent these instead, but either way they seem to work fine, and this time, no leaks from the top of the tank when flushed. Overall, took a week for them to get the new tanks to me, and I’m pretty impressed with Niagara’s response time and customer service. So I’m happy.
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Chris, do the 1.6 tanks use the same “flapperless” design?
Yes, really the only difference between the 1.28 and the 1.6 is the tank is slightly larger, the flushing handles are slightly different, and there is a smaller bucket attached to the bottom of the inside of the tank in addition to the normal fill bucket at the top of the tank(not sure really what this secondary bucket is for. Aside from that they are still flapperless, and work just the same.
I realize I’m adding to an old posting, but: any updates on these toilets? Are they performing decently after you’ve had them for a while? And to Chris: if you happen to read this, have the new tanks had any of the leaking problems? I’ve been considering doing the free toilet program for a while now, but there are so few reviews online, so I’m on the fence. CoA is doing the 1.6 tanks now, so it would be that model.
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Hi Jody. I haven’t had any problems with ours and it’s the 1.28 model. I would contact Niagara and/or the CoA directly and find out what was the defect on the 1.28 and why the switch to 1.6. What did Niagara do to correct the problem since as Chris mentioned it’s obviously a different design. Then post back here with what you find.
My only other suggestion is to leave the free toilet seat behind. They’re flimsy and come loose frequently. You can get a decent one at a home improvement store for under $10.
Hi Adam,
I highly doubt anyone is still interested in this, but I did indeed check with Niagara, and got this response: “There was a “splash” problem with some early versions of the Ecological 1.28 but that problem has since been resolved.” Slightly less informative than I hoped, but there you have it. I’m going to do the toilet program soon and start with just one toilet and see how it works.
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A year later…the toilets are still holding up. We’ve seen lately that the toilets are needing an extra flush here and there. But that could also be the effect of small children who don’t know how to count 3-4 sheets of toilet paper.