Home Depot merchant sees a smarter bathroom

The bathroom might never be the high-tech hub of the idealized smart home of the future, but it at least is showing itself as receptive to some smart new concepts. 

With The Home Depot being among the many companies paying increased attention to smart home trends, the Atlanta-based retailer's top kitchen and bath merchant pointed to a number of smart bathroom concepts in various stages of acceptance.

For instance, touchless toilets and digital shower heads are in the pipeline toward consumer acceptance, he said. 

All in all, the industry is seeing a relative burst of activity in bathroom technology, said Mike Hogenmiller, department merchandising VP at the Home Depot, in an interview with HCN.

"For years and years, there were no real changes in technology in toilets," he said. "Changes were caused by legislation and efficiency rules. But this year and this past year, touchless hit the market, and also new flushing technologies." 

Among the hot new products: 

• Kohler Touchless Technology toilets are new. The touchless in the home works differently (and better) than that seen in commercial applications, he said. Flushes activated by a wave of the hand prevent the spread of germs, which could be a powerful selling point. 

• The Kohler Moxie Showerhead is a showerhead that works in concert with a portable wireless speaker. 

• A Delta Temp2O showerhead digitally reveals the temperature of the water streaming out of it. Shows when the water is just right. (This product is a Home Depot exclusive.)

• He also pointed to innovative American Standard's new VorMax flushing technology.

"Our company for years has been spending a lot of time and resources looking at the smart home," Hogenmiller said.