What Is Smart Plumbing — and Which Upgrades Are Actually Worth Having?

Everything in our homes seems to be getting smarter. Our phones, TVs, appliances, thermostats, doorbells — and now, apparently, the plumbing.

But after working with plumbing technology every day, we don’t necessarily think everything needs an app, a sensor or a Wi-Fi connection just because someone figured out how to add one.

Some smart plumbing technology is genuinely useful. It can make your home more comfortable, protect it from water damage, improve the way hot water is delivered, monitor things you would otherwise never see, and even remind you when it’s time for maintenance. Other technology? Sometimes it’s just one more thing that can break.

At CF Plumbing, we install, service and repair advanced plumbing systems throughout La Jolla, Del Mar, Solana Beach, Encinitas, Cardiff-by-the-Sea, Carlsbad and Rancho Santa Fe, as well as select areas of San Diego and Orange Counties. So rather than giving you a list of every smart plumbing gadget on the market, we’re going to tell you about the technology we actually like — the things we work on every day and, in many cases, have chosen for our own home.

And we’re starting with the toilet.

Smart Toilets & TOTO WASHLETs: Yes, We’re a Little Obsessed

If you’re asking which smart plumbing upgrade we would have the hardest time giving up, this one isn’t even close. Every toilet in our home has a TOTO WASHLET.

When we first moved in, we didn’t have electrical outlets installed near the toilets yet. Did we patiently wait until we did? No. We ran extension cords to the nearest outlets so we could temporarily power the WASHLETs.

We even own a travel WASHLET.

We’ve given WASHLETs to family members for Christmas and birthdays. Before everyone finally had their own, certain family members would literally wait until they came to our house to use ours. So when we say we’re fans, we’re not kidding.

TOTO is our preferred brand for smart toilets, WASHLETs and NEOREST systems, and it’s what we’ve chosen for our own home.

A good smart toilet or electronic bidet seat is one of those upgrades that can sound completely unnecessary until you’ve lived with one. Depending on the model, you can have a heated seat, warm-water washing, adjustable settings, drying, deodorizing, automatic flushing, automatic opening and closing, self-cleaning functions and more.

Do they have more components than a traditional toilet? Absolutely. We repair them for a living, so we’re probably more aware of that than most people. We still have them on every toilet in our house.

That probably tells you everything you need to know.

More on how we install and service these systems: smart toilets, WASHLETs and wall-hung toilet systems.

Navien Tankless Water Heaters: Hot Water Has Gotten Smarter Too

Tankless water heaters aren’t exactly new anymore, but the technology controlling them has gotten much better. For us, Navien is the tankless brand we use most often and the brand we’ve chosen for our own home.

One of our favorite improvements is smarter hot-water recirculation.

We recently installed a Navien tankless system for a customer who told us, “I don’t want that pump running all the time.” And we don’t blame him. If you hear “always on,” it sounds like a pump is sitting there running 24 hours a day.

But that’s not necessarily what’s happening.

Modern tankless systems can use temperature information, programming and other controls to determine when recirculation is actually needed. Depending on the system and how it’s configured, the pump cycles as needed rather than simply running nonstop.

Once we explained that, his response changed pretty quickly: in that case, absolutely — leave it on.

That’s the kind of smart plumbing technology we like. You don’t necessarily see it doing anything. You don’t need to play with it every day. It’s simply working behind the scenes to make the hot-water system more convenient for the way the home is actually being used.

And in larger homes throughout areas like Rancho Santa Fe, La Jolla and Del Mar, good recirculation design can make a tremendous difference in how quickly hot water reaches distant fixtures.

If you’re comparing systems, start with our tank and tankless water heater services.

Flo by Moen: Your Plumbing Is Watching the House When You Aren’t

Whole-home water monitoring is another piece of smart plumbing technology we really like, particularly Flo by Moen.

A lot of homeowners think of these devices simply as automatic water shutoffs. That’s certainly an important part of what they can do, but what we really like is what’s happening before a major leak ever occurs.

The system monitors the home’s water use and looks for unusual activity that may indicate a problem. It can also perform automatic plumbing health checks and provide information about what’s happening within the home’s water system.

We get calls from homeowners that go something like this: “My Flo says I have a leak, but I’ve looked everywhere and I don’t see anything leaking.”

We start investigating, and sure enough, very often there is something going on.

Not every plumbing leak announces itself with water pouring through the ceiling. A toilet can run intermittently. A fixture can have a small leak. There can be unusual water use somewhere in the plumbing system that isn’t immediately obvious to the homeowner.

Having another set of eyes on your home’s water system — especially when nobody is home — can be incredibly useful. And if a serious problem occurs, an automatic water shutoff can help stop the flow of water rather than allowing it to continue until someone notices.

That’s smart technology solving a very real plumbing problem.

Flo by Moen is part of the preventative plumbing and home protection work we do for exactly this reason.

Water Filtration & Conditioning: Smarter Doesn’t Always Mean Electronic

When we talk about smart plumbing, we don’t think everything has to connect to your phone. Sometimes “smarter” simply means the technology itself has improved.

Water treatment is a good example.

Traditional salt-based water softeners have been around for a very long time, and they still have applications. But they’re not our first choice for most of the homes we work on.

There are maintenance requirements, salt use and discharge to consider, and regulations involving certain salt-based systems can vary by municipality. We also believe homeowners should understand how any water-treatment system may affect their plumbing equipment before deciding what’s right for their home.

Today, homeowners have newer whole-house filtration and salt-free conditioning options that don’t rely on the traditional salt-softening process.

For our own work, PuraClean Water is the whole-house filtration and salt-free conditioning system we recommend most often. After installing and servicing many different water-treatment systems over the years, we prefer its straightforward approach: whole-house filtration and conditioning without salt, electricity or regeneration wastewater.

But the brand is only part of the conversation. The important question is: What are you actually trying to accomplish with your water?

Are you concerned about chlorine or chloramines? Taste and odor? Sediment? Scale? Drinking-water quality? Protecting plumbing fixtures, appliances and water heaters?

Those are different concerns, and they don’t necessarily require the same equipment.

The smartest water-treatment system isn’t automatically the biggest or the most expensive one. It’s the system that addresses what’s actually in your water and what you want to change about it.

We cover the equipment on our water filtration systems page. If you’re still deciding whether whole-house treatment belongs in the house at all, we already wrote the longer version: Do I Really Need a Whole-House Water Filter?

Mr. Steam: Yes, Your Steam Shower Has an App Now

This is one of those technologies that can sound a little excessive until you actually use it.

Mr. Steam is the steam-shower brand we work with most often. We install and service other manufacturers as well, but Mr. Steam is the system we encounter most frequently, know particularly well and carry many commonly needed service parts for.

Modern steam systems can offer digital and app-based controls that allow you to manage temperature, duration and other settings depending on the equipment. Some systems can be scheduled or remotely activated so the steam shower can begin warming up as part of your routine.

Is this absolutely necessary to take a shower? Obviously not. Is it pretty great to have your steam shower warming up before you’re ready to get in? Also yes.

This is where smart-home technology starts moving beyond “look what my phone can do” and actually becomes a convenience.

For someone who regularly uses a steam shower, being able to control and personalize the experience can quickly become part of the routine. Depending on the system, modern steam showers can also incorporate features such as aromatherapy, lighting, music and other controls.

Your shower has officially become technology.

That convenience still depends on the generator, steam head, drainage and controls being installed correctly. That’s the work behind our steam shower installation, repair and service.

Smart Faucets & Fixtures: Just Because It Can Be Smart Doesn’t Mean It Has to Be

Yes, faucets have gotten smart too. There are touchless faucets, electronic faucets, sensor-operated fixtures, touch controls and other technologies available for kitchens and bathrooms.

We install them. We service them. And for the right homeowner, they can absolutely make sense.

But this is also where we’ll admit that we don’t automatically believe adding electronics makes every plumbing fixture better.

A beautifully made mechanical faucet can last a very long time and be relatively straightforward to service. Once sensors, solenoids, power supplies, electronic controls and proprietary components enter the picture, there are simply more things involved in making water come out of the faucet.

That doesn’t make electronic fixtures bad. It just means we’d choose them because we actually want the feature — not simply because the box says “smart.”

We work with many high-end and luxury plumbing fixtures, and some of the best products aren’t necessarily the ones with the most technology. Sometimes excellent engineering, quality materials, serviceable components and good design are still the smartest choice.

Learn more about our luxury plumbing fixtures work.

Smart Plumbing Should Make Life Easier, Not More Complicated

That’s really our test for all of this. We aren’t interested in technology just for the sake of technology.

If something protects the house, improves comfort, saves time, provides useful information or solves a real plumbing problem, we’re interested.

That’s why we love our TOTO WASHLETs. It’s why we chose Navien for our own tankless system. It’s why whole-home water monitoring such as Flo by Moen gets our attention. It’s why we’ve moved toward newer whole-house filtration and salt-free conditioning technology. And it’s why connected controls can make a good steam system even better for someone who actually uses it.

The goal shouldn’t be to see how many things in your house you can connect to Wi-Fi. The goal should be a home that works better.

So, Which Smart Plumbing Upgrades Are Actually Worth Having?

We think the answer is pretty simple: the ones that actually make your life better.

We’ve worked with enough plumbing technology to know that not every new feature is a must-have. Some products are fantastic. Some make sense only for certain homes. And some solve problems nobody really had in the first place.

The products mentioned here aren’t brands we picked from a “best plumbing products” list. They’re products and systems we work with regularly, and several are the same brands we’ve chosen for our own home.

That doesn’t mean they’re automatically the right choice for every house. It does mean we’ve had the opportunity to see this technology from both sides: as plumbers who install and service it and as homeowners who actually live with it.

And our standard is pretty simple: Would we put it in our own house?

Sometimes the answer is such an enthusiastic yes that we’ll run an extension cord across the bathroom until the electrician catches up.

Frequently Asked Questions About Smart Plumbing

What is smart plumbing?

Smart plumbing is any upgrade that uses better controls, sensors or improved equipment to make the water system more comfortable, easier to monitor or less likely to damage the house. A Wi-Fi connection is optional. A heated bidet seat, a recirculation control that only runs when it needs to, and a whole-home leak monitor all qualify. A faucet does not become a better faucet just because it has an app.

Are TOTO WASHLETs and smart toilets worth it?

For us, yes. They have more parts than a standard toilet, and we repair those parts, so we know that. We still have a WASHLET on every toilet in our house. Whether a WASHLET seat or a full NEOREST is the right version depends on the bathroom, the electrical outlet and how the toilet is used.

Does Flo by Moen only shut the water off?

No. The shutoff matters if something fails while nobody is home. What we see more often is the monitoring: a toilet that runs intermittently, a small fixture leak, or water use the homeowner cannot see. The alert is the useful part. The shutoff is the backup.

Is salt-free conditioning the same as a water softener?

No. A traditional salt softener and a salt-free conditioner are solving related but different problems, and they are not interchangeable. The right system depends on what you want to change: chlorine or chloramines, taste, sediment, scale, drinking water, or protection for fixtures and the water heater.

Does a steam shower need an app?

No. The shower has to be built correctly first. App controls and scheduling are a convenience on top of a Mr. Steam system that is already installed and serviced properly. Nice if you use the steam shower as part of a routine. Not a reason to add steam.

Smart Plumbing Installation, Service & Repair in Coastal San Diego

CF Plumbing, Inc. installs, services and repairs smart and advanced plumbing systems throughout La Jolla, Del Mar, Solana Beach, Encinitas, Cardiff-by-the-Sea, Carlsbad and Rancho Santa Fe, as well as select areas of San Diego and Orange Counties.

From smart toilets and tankless water heaters to steam showers, whole-house water filtration, automatic water shutoffs and luxury plumbing fixtures, our focus is helping homeowners choose technology that actually makes sense for their home.

Ready to sort out which of this belongs in your house? Contact CF Plumbing

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