It rattles and leaks. It’s too low. It’s broken. These are all signs that it’s time to replace your toilet.

Fortunately, the experts at Mansfield Plumbing are available to offer cost-saving advice on how to select a new toilet for your home.

“Older toilets wear out over time,” says Adriana Miller, product manager with Mansfield Plumbing. “When this happens it’s a great opportunity to do your research and replace the inefficient toilet with one that is more powerful and uses less water. This will help save on water bills and be more efficient for the home.”

Miller recommends starting the search by looking for toilets marked with the WaterSense^® label. WaterSense is a partnership program by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency that seeks to protect the future of our nation’s water supply by offering suggestions for using less water with water-efficient products. Toilets earning the WaterSense label have been certified to be at least 20 percent more efficient without sacrificing performance.

“Typically a WaterSense labeled toilet uses 1.28 gallons per flush (Gpf) or less,” says Miller. “This is reduced significantly from older style toilets that can use up to 3.5 Gpf. Using less water, with a more powerful flushing system, can really help make a difference on the water bills for your family.”

Miller suggests visiting the Water Savings Calculator at the Mansfield Plumbing website to determine how much savings a family can gain by investing in different types of toilets. For example, a family of five can potentially save 20,257 gallons of water a year using a 1.28 Gpf toilet … which can equate to an estimated $80 savings in water bills.

“The lower the Gpf, the more savings for a family,” says Miller. “Toilets using 1.28 Gpf or less are labeled high efficiency toilets, or HET. These toilets work hard to save water in the home.”

Stay tuned to our next blog to learn about selecting a toilet style for your home.