If you’re a small business owner who runs a plumbing business, you want to stay in the loop about new technologies that will help you grow your business. Good thing Housecall Pro has you covered. We’ve compiled some of the top five plumbing technologies that offer functions that standard ones don’t. Read below about how you can grow your business with these recommendations.
Plumbing Technology #1: Smart Toilet
Overall search volume: 11,700/month
Smart toilets offer numerous functions that standard toilets don’t, including:
- Automatic flushing
- Overflow protection
- Water saving features
- Massaging bidet wash
- Air dryer
- Heated seating
- Foot warmer
- Automatic flush
- Remote control
- Self-cleaning features
- Built-in sensors that alert you to possible tank leaks
- Self-deodorizer
- Emergency flushing system during power outages
- Nightlight
- Slow closing lid
- Bluetooth and MP3 capabilities
Obviously, not all of these features are available on all smart toilets. Each toilet will have its own set of features.
The smart toilet brands with the most searches every month are:
- Kohler (approx. 4,000/month)
- Ove (approx. 500/month)
Smart toilets offer many conveniences that standard toilets don’t, and depending on how much you want to spend, you truly can experience a bit of luxury while on the toilet. They also offer excellent water-saving features absent from standard toilets, as well as overflow protection, which greatly diminishes the chances of a clogged toilet causing spillage.
Overall, it’s probably safe to say that if a person buys a smart toilet, they’re primarily buying it for convenience reasons.
Plumbing Technology #2: Smart Shower
Overall search volume: 6,450/month
Smart showers feature a variety of technologies not offered by standard showers. For example, the temperature can be precisely controlled, either from a digital panel or an app. The shower can be turned on and off via an app or even by voice. The water spray can also be easily adjusted at the touch of a button.
The smart shower monthly search is dominated by Moen, which gets approximately 2,500 searches per month.
No other brands generate significant amounts of searches each month.
Like smart toilets, smart showers offer luxuries that simply can’t be touched by standard showers. Unlike other technologies, such as tankless water heaters, which are purchased for economic reasons, smart showers are primarily a luxury item.
Nevertheless, it’s clear from the number of searches each month that a significant number of people want to purchase them.
Plumbing Technology #3: Touchless Toilet
Overall search volume: 5,850
Touchless toilets are a simpler version of smart toilets. Their primary feature is that they automatically flush, meaning you don’t have to actually touch the toilet with your hands.
The touchless toilet brands getting the most searches every month are:
- Kohler (approx. 1,300/month)
- American Standard (approx. 300/month)
- Delta (approx. 300/month)
Much like the touchless faucet, the touchless toilet is primarily a hygienic purchase. It allows a person to use the toilet without ever actually touching it with their hands. It seems likely that as smart toilets become more advanced, the demand for purely touchless toilets will most likely lessen.
Plumbing Technology #4: Bluetooth Shower Head
Overall search volume: 3,650/month
A Bluetooth shower head is a showerhead that includes a Bluetooth enabled speaker. This allows you to connect a mobile device to the showerhead and listen to music.
The Bluetooth showerhead brand getting the most searches every month is Kohler, with approximately 1,500 searches per month. No other brands get significant search traffic.
Perhaps more than any other item, a Bluetooth shower head is a luxury item. It doesn’t offer any practical functionality other than allowing you to listen to something while taking your shower.
Despite this, it generates a significant amount of search traffic every month, suggesting that there is a significant demand for such a product.
Plumbing Technology #5: Smart Water Heater
Overall search volume: 3,050/month
Smart water heaters offer a variety of additional functionality not provided by traditional water heaters. These features may include:
- A smart thermostat which allows you to precisely set the temperature
- Energy smart modes which respond to user patterns to save hot water
- Diagnostic screens which make it easy to deal with any problems that may arise
The smart water heater brands getting the most searches every month are:
- GE (approx. 800/month)
- Aquanta (approx. 700/month)
- Nest (approx. 200/month)
While the search volume for smart water heaters may not be particularly high right now, we should expect to see it rise in the future as more and more smart homes are built. At the moment, it seems that consumers are purchasing smart water heaters for both the convenience of setting the temperature precisely and the ability to save some money on hot water.
Final Thoughts
Three distinct patterns emerge from the above data.
First, people want convenience. They don’t want to wait for hot water. They want to be able to listen to music in the shower. They want toilets that light up at night. This desire for convenience is creating demand for new plumbing technologies such as smart toilets and Bluetooth shower heads. If you want to effectively serve your customers, you need to be familiar with and ready to install this new technology.
Second, people want to save money on their water bill. The large volume of searches for smart irrigation systems and tankless heaters shows this. People are tired of spending money on water that they’re not using. They want to utilize new technology that will save water and save them money.
Finally, people want to preserve water. This concern is particularly relevant in places like California, where droughts occur and the need to preserve water is particularly high. New technologies that help preserve water are going to be increasingly in demand as global warming heats up and droughts become more commonplace.
If you’re in the plumbing business, take note of the technologies mentioned above. We should expect to see them adopted by even more people as time goes on. If you want to keep up with your competitors, it’s essential that you be familiar with these technologies.
