Hand Dryer Consumption, Watt Rating VS Energy Efficiency
In general, there is a misconception that if a product has a high power rating, it will consume more energy than a unit with a lower power rating.
This is not true because the “lower power” hand dryers need to run longer in order to achieve the same result as a higher power dryer. As shown in the table below, the higher power hand dryer (1200 watt) uses only .004 KWh per dry as opposed to the lower power (800 watt) which uses .0089 KW hour per dry. The high power dryer uses almost half the power the lower dryer uses, because it can dry wet hands in 12 seconds instead of 40 seconds.
It is obvious in the table below, the higher power hand dryer uses LESS energy because it needs less time to dry. Therefore, when measuring the cost of energy usage, it is important to factor in the time needed for the dryers to achieve the same results.
Please note that Xlerator is rated at 1500W and Blast hand dryers is rated at 1400W. They both claim to dry hands in about 12 to 15 seconds. This means that they both consume more energy than Flex.
“10 years life” is defined as a facility which uses 200 drying cycles per day. Assuming 250 days of activity per year, this facility will have 50,000 hand drying cycles per year.

 

Dryer Type	Reg Dryer	Reg Dryer	Old Dryer	Flex Dryer
Power Rating (watt)	800	1400	2700	800
Time to dry per wash (Sec)	40	15	50	10
Total hours of operation per year	555	208	694	138
KW hour energy per dry	0.0089	0.0058	0.0374	0.0022
KW hour per year	445	290	1875	110
Total energy consumptionOver life(10 years)	4450	2900	18750	1100
Electricity Cost per KWH, In Quebec Canada	0.08	0.08	0.08	0.08
Total cost over 10 years life	$356.00	$232.00	$1500.00	$88.00

 

 

“10 years life” is defined as a facility which uses 200 drying cycles per day. Assuming 250 days of activity per year, this facility will have 50,000 hand drying cycles per year.