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Comment by Digory | Hacker News Reader

If you can handle putting the nozzle on your garden hose, you should be able to handle it.

In the US, the water pipe almost always connects to the toilet through a small shutoff valve. After the valve, it connects to the toilet through a "supply." The supply is basically a short garden hose, with screw-on connections at both ends.

Shut off the water at the wall. Flush to empty the toilet tank. Unscrew the hose at the toilet, and screw that end into what amounts to a y, or splitter that comes with the bidet. From the splitter, screw one side back into the toilet connection; the other goes to the bidet itself. Turn back on the water at the wall.

(This is for a simple cold-water bidet. If you need heated water or electricity, it can be more complex.)

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I mean, but don't you need warm water and/or electricity? I can't see liking a bidet if it's basically just cold tap water shooting up my bum. Not sure that's going to do it for me.

I've always thought that both hot water and electricity would be a minimal barrier to entry for a bidet. And that neither of these exist in a typical toilet closet. Am I fundamentally wrong about this??

it's really not that cold. i can't do cold showers at all and tap water bidet feels nothing like it.

Same, I don't even like washing my hands with cold tap water, but cold bidet water is no issue.

The bidet heats up the water instantly, there is no requirement for a hot water supply. Just connect it to the existing water supply the toilet uses.

You do however need electricity. I had to run an extension cord for mine, which I tucked away in low profile conduit to keep things tidy looking.

Whether you need it probably depends on your climate and your house.

Water in pipes inside a house's "thermal envelope" is presumably around 72 deg. F. I wash my hands with "cold water" without wincing. Tap water strikes me as tepid if I drink it without ice.

If your pipes run through an outside wall in Canada, it might be a different story.

If you do need warmer water, and the bidet heats it, you probably just need an electrician to fish a wire and add a receptacle. That's not outrageously complex, usually, but I tend toward calling a professional for anything behind the walls.

> Water in pipes inside a house's "thermal envelope" is presumably around 72 deg. F.

The pipes in my house are in the crawlspace underneath the house, which is definitely nothing like 72F this time of year. Any hot water more than 10 feet or so away from the water heater runs pretty cold for several gallons.

That sounds like a good weekend project, putting split foam insulation around your pipes. 8' runs are a couple of bucks at the big box stores.

It's not quite as efficient, but I put in a recirculation pump and a timer to keep the water warm throughout the pipe during the day. The clothes washer was never getting warm water, and we wasted a lot at the shower waiting for warm water to reach it.

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