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Now, the reason you’ve stumbled across this page is because you are looking for a hand dryer for your washroom and you’re struggling… right? So, let me help you as best as I can to choose the right one.
First let's look at the different types of hand dryers available.
1. Hand Dryer’s designed for children.
If you require a hand dryer specifically for a children's toilet or a toilet where children may be present, you must take certain things into consideration. You've got to remember that children find loud noises very disturbing, especially those under the age of 5. Loud noises lead children to cover their ears and maybe let out a huge scream, with the possibility of a few tears. This is something you don't want for your clients/customers; it may lead them to never visit you again!
Some manufacturers have even come up with hand dryers that are aimed to look appealing to the little ones, however there are other dryers on the market suitable for kids which look like a normal dryer!
Here are two examples:
| Puff the Magic Dryer - This is a fantastic example of a hand dryer designed for children, it looks the part and performs great. Check their website for more info: www.puffthemagicdryer.com |
|
| Aquarius Junior Hand Dryer - Although its looks aren’t appealing to children, it is still suitable as it is extremely quite. Suitable for low traffic washrooms where children may be present, such as baby changing rooms. |
See our full range of Hand Dryers designed for kids HERE.
Why can’t I just use paper hand towels?
Children and paper hand towels aren't a very good combination, I'm sure you can see why. Kids are more likely than anyone to grab a load of paper hand towels at one time and not bother about putting them in the bin, which leads to a messy toilet and a waste of paper towels. Another issue in school washrooms is blockages and overflow issues when they get crammed into the sink and down toilets. Also paper towels aren’t as environmentally friendly, as I will explain later on.
2. Hand Dryer’s designed to be quiet.
Okay so you're looking to replace your hand dryer, but you have a problem… the one you currently have is too loud so you need something quieter for your workplace. Many offices prefer a quiet dryer as the toilets are often too close to the offices where people are working.
One thing you have to remember is hand dryers do make noise, so you’re not going to find a completely silent one. Some washrooms are in more noise-sensitive locations than others so you need to take that into consideration when purchasing your hand dryer(s).
If noise is an issue for you, we have a solution. You can choose from our range of quiet hand dryers.
See our range of quiet hand dryers here.
3. Hand Dryers designed to be vandal resistant.
it's well known that some teenagers love to vandalise public toilets and it’s the last thing you want to happen to your washroom, especially after spending X amount on your hand dryers.
If your toilets are subject to a high level of vandalism, what products should you consider?
Generally, hand dryers are durable and built to withstand any attempt of vandalism, but there are hand dryers on the market that are more resistant than others. It’s obvious that aluminium is tougher than plastic, although some of the plastic units available today are surprisingly tough and durable. However it all depends on the environment of the hand dryer.
Just take a look at this!
View our range of vandal resistant hand dryers HERE.
4. Hand Dryers designed to be energy efficient.
Everyone loves to save money and Hand Dryers are a sure way to save when compared to traditional paper hand towels. And to be honest, it's a fair amount of money too!
First of all, let's look into the cost of paper hand towels, on average they are around 1 pence each, which excludes the cost of the actual dispenser!
On estimate, the average person uses 2-4 paper hand towels per dry. So that makes around 3 pence in cost. If 100 people use that dispenser, that adds up to £3/day in paper (200 = £6/day etc.). Now let's say you are open 250 days a year, which is pretty much every weekday, that’s £750 for 100 people and £1500 for 200 people per year.
That is a lot of money for people to dry their hands!
| Let’s not forget about all the other costs involved. There’s the cost of the bins and the bin liners for the paper to be disposed of, but also labour costs to empty the bins and re-fill the dispensers each day. |
Now I bet you're thinking that’s cheap compared to hand dryers, as they are on & off throughout the day running up your electric bill which may sound scary! But it's not as bad as you think, even in a worst case scenario it’s very minimal.
Look at it this way…
Let's compare a low-energy/high-speed hand dryer with 1500 watts and a 15 second drying time against a 2300 watt hot air hand dryer with a 30 second dry time. Let’s say your tariff rate is 10p/kWHr, using the 100/200 dries per day against 250 days a year the high-speed hand dryers uses about £15/£30 per year and the hot air dryer uses £45/£90 per year. This is much less than the cost of paper not forgetting about all the other costs involved.
To conclude hand dryers are a wise investment, even the more expensive ones pay for themselves usually within 6-18 months, well worth the investment I say!
View our range of energy efficient hand dryers HERE.
Material & Finish
Okay, so that’s given you a better understanding of each type of hand dryer. But you have a couple more decisions to make before you make a purchase.
|
Finish/Material |
Aluminium |
Stainless Steel |
ABS Plastic |
|
White |
? |
? |
? |
|
Black |
? |
? |
? |
|
Polished Chrome |
? |
? |
? |
|
Brushed Satin |
? |
? |
? |
|
Grey |
X |
X |
? |
This table shows the 3 different materials available against the 5 different types of finishes. As you can see grey is only available with ABS Plastic, like the Dyson Airblades which are tough and durable as you saw in the video above.
You may have already decided on the material from the information above, but have you thought about the finish?
The most common decision people have to make is between ‘Polished Chrome’ and ‘Brushed Satin’ finishes.
Let’s look at the Warner Howard Airforce Eco Hand Dryer as an example, this is the same product but in different finishes.
| Polished Chrome | |
| Brushed Satin |
As you can see the polished chrome is a shiny smooth mirror-like surface, whereas the brushed is more of a dull and scuffed finish. Each of them are highly reflective but the brushed is less directly reflective compared to the polished.
People say polished chrome is easier to clean, however, brushed doesn't show fingerprints or small imperfections and scratches as easily.
Something else you need to consider, is what do you already have in your washroom? Most people prefer to match their products to one another, so if you already have a polished chrome soap dispenser the obvious choice is to go for a polished chrome hand dryer... unless you like to mix it up a little?
So there you have it, you have some decisions to make! Our website can help you as you can use the ‘Shop By’ option to narrow your search.
View our full range of hand dryers HERE.
USE DISCOUNT CODE 'CGS10' DURING CHECKOUT FOR 10% OFF!