A lot of our time is spent explaining the differences between different hand dryers to customers who don't have the time or inclination to read through the specifications of different hand dryers to work out what is right for them. We have a collection - through our advice centre - Of Hand Dryer Data Sheets tailor made to assist the customer - however knowledgable initially - in deciding on the perfect specifiation and item for you! Failing that we hope to at least make the hum drum of electrical appliance details stimulating and informative.
So when our graphic design company suggested that they could distill this information into something which was easily and quickly understandable, we jumped at it.
The result is a series of infographics which represent the main points of lots of different hand dryers, and can even allow two different hand dryers to be compared in a way which everyone can quickly comprehend.
You can find each one of these elsewhere on this site, but in this article, we explain why we chose to include each of the 7 areas of Hand Dryer Data Sheets we have compared, and how we have done the calculations. Most people will not need this information, but in the interest of everything being as transparent as possible, and for those who want to dig into the details a little, more, this should prove useful.
So here are the sections we have included, why, and what they mean:
Hand Dryer Purchase price
Fairly obviously, this is the price the hand dryer can be purchased at. Less obviously, perhaps, is that we quote this figure excluding VAT, as is commonplace for commercial transactions, and also that this is not the recommended price from the manufacturer, but it is the discounted price from our Electrical Deals Direct site.
Annual running costs of each hand dryer
This figure is a useful combination of the power consumption and the drying time. These are calculated based on the following assumptions:
This illustrates the standard warranty which comes with the dryer as standard (note that some manufacturers do offer additional warranty extensions, at extra cost – these are not included here).
This is one area where there is great variation between different manufacturers and models, and is often overlooked when choosing a dryer. It can, however, make a huge difference to the total costs of ownership, especially if something goes wrong with the dryer in the 3rd or successive year of ownership.
One of the hot topics in the hand dryer world, it is very important that the noise from a hand dryer will not disturb the rest of the office, frighten small children or shatter windows. Taken straight from the manufacturers’ claims, this shows the hand dryer’s noise output, and as reference points, a couple of other dryers are included. You will note that the distance between the numbers is not uniform, in order to more accurately represent the non-linear scale of sound measurement.
This is stated as per the figure from the manufacturer. Unfortunately, we do know that not all manufacturers use the same method for measuring this, and so we are sceptical of certain figures. If a dryer has a switchable element, or the if motor power can be adjusted, the longest published dry time is stated here.
Power
Similarly, where the power consumption can be adjusted by switching off the element or changing the motor speed, the worst-case figure is given here.
Maximum User Throughput
This section has been included to help with a problem many of our customers face – they might understand how long it takes to dry someone’s hands, but that does not easily translate into how many dryers they need to install.
The maximum throughput figure is the number of people the dryer can realistically cope with in a 10 minute period.
This is calculated by using the published drying time, and allowing 5 seconds in between users. This gives a realistic measure of how quickly a dryer can deal with a queue of people.
The reason this figure is so important, is that it is in these peak times where customer/staff/visitor satisfaction is really measured – if people have to queue more than a short while to use a hand dryer, they will either wipe their hands on their trousers, or simply not wash their hands at all. In these cases it doesn't matter how good the dryer is - it will not be used by many potential users!
Obviously, the 'peak period' will vary according to the environment in both numbers and duration - it may be half-time at a football stadium, lunchtime in an office, or closing time in a pub - but this gives a useful starting point.
There are also areas which, in the interests of clarity, we chose to leave out of the summary (such as the size measurements) but if you think there are things we should add in, please do let us know. Furthermore, to quote, order, or have a chat with our attentive independent team, call 0193 253600 now.
