Warm Air Hand Dryers, Cool Air Hand Dryers & On/Off Heating Elements
When considering warm air hand dryers vs. no heat units, consider the size of your building or facility. It makes a lot of sense for a large facility that has a lot going on electrically to go with a non-heated hand dryer to conserve the maximum on energy usage. However, a warm air hand dryer is probably better suited for a smaller building where the restroom user's are customer based such as a restaurant. Most people prefer warm air as it is more comfortable to the hands and it helps evaporate water giving it a slight advantage when it comes to the amount of time it takes to dry hands. A general rule we use to explain to our customers is (when considering the exact same brand) the product with a heating element installed will dry hands 1 or 2 seconds faster than a hand dryer lacking the heating element.
Non-warm air hand dryers do not include the heating element that warm air hand dryers have; this feature conserves energy. Some of the best hand dryers on the market are hand dryers lacking a heating element. The XleratorEco, Dyson Airblade, and American Dryer eXtremeAir EXT are some of the greenest hand dryers available today, and operate without a heating element. Warm air hand dryerstend to evaporate some of the water as the hands are blown dryer by the high speed and heat, while cool air dryers blow water off the hands without evaporating water. Heat is not a requirement for drying hands effectively.
A good comparison is the eXtremeAir GXT vs. the eXtremeAir EXT by American Dryer. The GXT dries 1,000 pairs of hands at a cost of about 42 cents while the EXT dries 1,000 pairs of hands at the cost of about 18 cents. The EXT uses only 540 watts, where the GXT uses 1500 watts. The EXT allows 3 hand dryers on one dedicated line! If you are looking for an energy efficient hand dryer, that dries hands in 12-15 seconds, you can't do much better than the Extreme AIR EXT by American Dryer.