How Much Electricity do Hand Dryers Use

Reducing your energy use is a key part of any business’ net zero goal. Did you know that hand dryers could play a major role in making your workplace more efficient?

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Hand Dryer Electricity Use

In most cases, hand dryers are somewhat hidden away in bathrooms, and as such may not be the first thing you think about when it comes to reducing the amount of energy your building uses, however if you are using older, less efficient models, they may be having more of an impact than you think on your consumption.

Factors affecting costs

There are two main factors that contribute to the amount of electricity that hand dryers use each year:

  • The number of times they are used
  • The amount of energy they require each time

In a building with 1000 people, such as a school or large office, the hand dryers may be used up to 3 times daily by each person.  Over the course of a year, the hand dryers will be used a total of 156,000 times!

A conventional hand dryer takes almost a minute to dry the user’s hands, and during this time, the heating element and fan will run at full power.  One reason why it takes so long for an evaporative hand dryer to work is that the heating element takes time to heat up and get the air up to temperature.

A jet hand dryer such as the Mitsubishi Electric Wave i01 uses a fast-moving stream of air through a narrow nozzle to blow the water off the skin.  This is much faster and more efficient, taking less than 10 seconds to completely dry the hands.

How much it costs to run a hand dryer

For a conventional hand dryer, the cost for every 100 daily uses over the course of a year adds up to approximately £33, whereas for a Mitsubishi Electric Wave u02 model, the cost is just £11 for the same usage levels.

In the context of a larger building as described above, the cost of electricity would be £990 annually, compared to £330 for the Mitsubishi Electric Wave.

Other factors to consider

Achieving Net Zero is a key sustainability goal for many businesses.  Choosing a more efficient hand dryer can help with this.  The higher energy consumption of an evaporative hand dryer means that for every 100 daily uses, it will have associated CO2 emissions of 108KG over the course of a year.  The Mitsubishi Electric Wave will be responsible for just 35KG of CO2 at the same usage levels.  Both types of hand dryer are responsible for far less CO2 emissions than paper towels.  While there is no electricity required for paper towels, the manufacture and distribution of them means that for every 100 daily uses, 624KG of CO2 is released into the atmosphere!

Find Out More

Speak to a member of our team today to request a demonstration of the Mitsubishi Electric Wave hand dryer range and find out how much it could reduce your electricity bills when compared to older models.  Alternatively, download a brochure with the full technical specifications.

Wave i01
Wave u02

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