One of the National Trust’s most eco-friendly properties aims to inspire its visitors to a more sustainable way of living and has chosen Mitsubishi Electric Jet Towels in preference to other types of hand dryer.
Nymans Gardens in the High Weald of Sussex was laid out over 120 years ago with plants collected from around the world. The grand house at its centre was ravaged by fire in 1947 and for many years the National Trust presented it as a romantic ruin. More recently, a small number of rooms were refurbished and opened to the public. Today, it is still a garden lovers’ delight and often booked for weddings and other outdoor receptions. The ethos of the site’s management is very much focused on sustainability, so it is little wonder that they chose one of the most energy-efficient hand dryers for its several sets of bathrooms. The National Trust runs properties and open spaces all over the country, to which it’s two million plus members and non-members are welcome.
The energy saving of a single Mitsubishi Electric Jet Towel compared to a conventional blower dryer is multiplied over and over again across the many properties in which they have been installed. Mitsubishi Electric Jet Towel works on a completely different principle to the evaporative technique of hot air blowers. You place your hands into a slot in the top of the unit, which activates a high-speed jet of air. This flows over the hands pushing the water downward to the finger tips, from which it falls into the integral drain of the Jet Towel dryer. Typically, this takes from only 9 seconds, a fraction of the time taken by old style blowers. This, coupled with the fact that the motor within the Mitsubishi Electric Jet Towel is very efficient, leads to an energy saving of around 90% each time the unit is used.
In fact, blowers are so slow that most people give up and walk away with still-wet hands, which can compromises hygiene, as people may be left with bacteria on their hands, which they then transfer to door handles etc. Mitsubishi Electric’s Jet Towel Business Development Manager, Fawn Terry, explains: “Jet Towel is completely non-contact in use, so bacterial transfer is virtually impossible and as a safeguard all of its surfaces have an anti-microbial coating.” Other advantages of the Jet Towel include its low-noise operation (58- 61dB), ease of maintenance and the enhanced user-experience. Running costs are lower than a hot air dryer, paper towels, or roller towels.
The Mitsubishi Electric Jet Towel is also proving popular at The National Trust’s world famous Stourhead Estate, where they were initially installed alongside traditional blowers. An automatic counter was used to determine which option visitors preferred, with the Jet Towel winning hands down.