Monday, August 20, 2012

WATTS VS HEAT

American Dryer GXT

Question:

Hand Dryer Expert,

I am looking for an electric hand dryer with a heater, not just room (ambient) temperature. I would like one that uses a low amount of energy too. Could you give me some information as to what my options are?

Signed,  Rob

Answer:

Rob,


It used to be that all hand dryers had heating elements.  Heat makes your hands feel more comfortable while drying them, but it does not necessarily speed up the dry time, especially in the faster hand dryers which displace the water rather than evaporate it.  The heating element generally uses more energy than the motor for the blower.  So some of the newer high speed hand dryers have removed the heating element to make a more energy efficient, albeit cooler, hand dryer.  Others, like the World Dryer Smartdri, have a heating element that can be turned off.

There are a number of good choices when it comes to dryers with heating elements

World Dryer Model A
The traditional standard in the industry, this dryer comes with a heating element and consumes 2300 watts, which is now on the high end of energy consumption (although still considerably more efficient than paper towels).  To get the same (very durable) hand dryer that consumes less energy, get the World Dryer AirMax.  The AirMax also consumes 2300 watts, but it has a motor that is almost twice as fast (15 seconds vs 25 seconds to dry) as the Model A.  It therefore uses almost  ½ the energy, which helped it to qualify for a GreenSpec listing. 

Xlerator
Here we have an even faster hand dryer (12-15 seconds) that uses less energy (1500 watts).  It also has a heating element and puts out nice warm air. 


Nova 1
The Nova 1 hand dryer is only 1000 watts.  It also has a heating element but is not very powerful.  So because it takes more time to dry your hands, (about 30 seconds) it is not as energy efficient as the high speed hand dryers. 



American Dryer GXT
This hand dryer is similar in function to the Xlerator, but more compact.  It uses about 1500 watts and this can be adjusted down with lower speed settings.  However its sister hand dryer, the EXT, has no heating element at all and it gets VERY efficient at about 540 watts on the fastest settings.


Slimdri
The new World Dryer Slimdri has a heating element and is very energy efficient at only 950 watts. And it is very slim (ADA compliant).  But wait, there’s more!  The heating element can be turned off, pushing the energy consumption to only 350 watts, or 3.5 amps at 120 volts.  It is a mid-speed hand dryer, about 20 seconds.

Thanks,  Hand Dryer Expert
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