How to Choose the Most Powerful Hand Dryer

If you own a store, restaurant, or any sort of commercial establishment that offers bathrooms to customers, then you know how quickly people can go through paper towels drying their hands off. Obviously, it’s good that people are washing their hands and it makes perfect sense that they want them to be dry once they leave the restroom, but the sheer quantity of paper you can go through in a matter of days – not to mention weeks and years – is staggering.

Paper towels are wasteful. They serve a useful purpose, but they cost a lot and they’re bad for the environment. If they’re still the only option you’re giving your customers, it’s time to invest in a commercial hand dryer. You can count on saving some serious cash in the long run (just go look at your accounting records to see how much you’ve spent on paper towels), and you’ll be helping to reduce needless waste. It’s a win-win for business owners.

Types of Hand Dryers

As bathroom hand dryers have become more popular over the years, vendors have made different options available that answer some of the early complaints of customers.

Traditional Hand Dryer

Traditional hand dryers come with a button that users push to start the dryer, which then blows out hot air. Typically, these hand dryers take about 30-45 seconds or so to dry hands and are comparatively some of the most affordable hand dryers on the market.

Benefits:

  • Affordable

To Keep in Mind:

  • Slower than some users like
  • Require pushing a button to turn on, which isn’t especially sanitary
  • Use more energy than some other types

High-Speed Hand Dryer

Many users find traditional hand dryers too slow in comparison to using paper towels, which has created a space in the market for high-speed hand dryers. These hand dryers manage to dry users’ hands within 10-15 seconds, making them a much faster and more convenient option for customers. They also use less energy, so can save you money on energy costs over time.

The main downsides of high-speed hand dryers are that they cost more than traditional hand dryers, and they’re loud. The tradeoff for buying a machine more powerful is that it makes more noise.

Benefits:

  • Work fast
  • Energy efficient

To Keep in Mind:

  • Expensive
  • Loud

Automatic Hand Dryer

Automatic hand dryers remove the need for pushing a button by using infrared sensors that can tell when someone’s hands are under the vent. They’ll turn on automatically once needed and then turn off again the moment someone removes their hands when they’re done.

This is useful for sanitary purposes, as the user doesn’t have to touch anything in order to use the machine. They also use less energy since the dryer doesn’t stay on for a moment longer than needed.

Benefits:

  • Sanitary
  • Energy efficient

To Keep in Mind:

Expensive

There’s overlap in some of these categories. You can find high-speed hand dryers in both automatic and push-button forms, as well as automatic hand dryers that take longer than high-speed versions.