Not all hand dryers are created equal when it comes to energy consumption. Modern jet hand dryers are much more efficient than conventional designs and could save your business up to 60% on electricity bills. Multiple factors contribute to the efficiency of jet hand dryers, but once installed, their lower operating costs means that they could pay for themselves.
Why Conventional Hand Dryers Use So Much Electricity
Old fashioned warm air hand dryers are noisy, slow, and inefficient because they rely on technology that has barely changed in almost one hundred years. In a typical workplace where the hand dryer is used around 250 times per day, it can cost around £80 in electricity annually for each hand dryer depending on your tariff.
How they work
Conventional hand dryers use a stream of slow-moving heated air to evaporate the water from the hands as they are rubbed together under a nozzle. This method requires both a heating element and a fan motor, both of which consume electricity. The heating element is particularly energy-intensive, as it needs to raise the temperature of the air to a sufficient level to evaporate the water quickly.
How long they take
The evaporation of water takes time, and as a result, the inefficient fan and heater combination need to run for quite a while. Depending on the heater element and fan speed, it can take up to a minute for a user to fully dry their hands using a warm air hand dryer. This means more electricity being used but also means that staff are away from their desks for longer.
Unused drying power
Warm air hand dryers are usually button operated and run for a fixed amount of time before switching off. Unfortunately, the time they run for is rarely sufficient to fully dry the user’s hands, and as a result, it is common for people to run the dryer multiple times per use. Users will often stop drying their hands before the dryer has finished, and walk away, meaning that energy is wasted, with the heater working and fan running for no purpose.
How Mitsubishi Electric Wave Hand Dryers are More Efficient
In contrast to conventional hand dryers, the Mitsubishi Electric Wave hand dryers are designed with advanced technology to minimise energy consumption. Their ultra efficient motors, internal aerodynamics and faster operation means that they use around one third of the amount of electricity that a conventional design would.\
Jet Hand Dryers
Instead of using heated air, Mitsubishi Electric Wave hand dryers use high-speed jets of unheated air to blow water off the hands. This method eliminates the need for energy-hungry heating elements and relies solely on a high-efficiency motor. The reduction in energy required to heat the air leads to substantial energy savings and much lower noise levels, which is important for creating a quiet workplace.
Shorter drying times
The Mitsubishi Electric Wave hand dryers boast a much faster drying time, typically taking only 10 to 12 seconds to dry hands completely. Fast Hand Dryers significantly reduces the amount of time the dryer is in operation and directly cuts down on energy use.
Automatic operation
Hand dryers such as the Mitsubishi Electric Wave u02 and i01 are touchless. Rather than the user having to push a button and the dryer run for a fixed length of time, a sensor in the drying area detects when a hand is present and turns the fans on and off as required. This means that unlike a button operated hand dryer, energy is only being used when needed, which can build up into big savings across a year. Not only that, but automatic hand dryers also removes a potential opportunity for germs to spread and protects the health of users.
Find out More
Book a demonstration of the Mitsubishi Electric Wave range of hand dryers to learn more about how they can reduce your electricity costs, help contribute to lower bills and improve hand hygiene in your workplace. Contact us today to speak to a member of our UK based team.
