If you’ve wondered about whether or not to switch to an electric hand dryer, there are a few things to consider. You’ll have to compare the pros and cons of your current system versus the comparable attributes of a hand dryer. Perhaps in your restroom you currently utilize disposable paper towels or reusable hand towels which you launder. Either way, you should contrast the respective advantages of each system as you make the decision to switch or to stay.
Cost-Effectiveness
An electric hand dryer will most likely have the highest up-front cost compared to a paper towel dispenser or cloth hand towels, but will costs less over the long term. Consider how much you spend on disposable paper towels per month or per year and then compare that to the one-time purchase and installation cost of a hand dryer. Almost always, the hand dryer is cheaper to run by a landslide, even accounting for additional electricity use. Cloth hand towels may also seem like a cost-effective way to dry hands, but this depends on your laundering costs and whether or not you clean them yourself or pay an outside company to do it. These can also prove fairly expensive if you have to replace them frequently.
Maintenance
If all else is equal to you, consider how the manner of hand-drying in your restroom affects maintenance. A paper towel dispenser requires the storage of extra rolls or packages of towels. These often need to be replaced at least once or twice a day, and can cause a mess if a careless customer drops them on the floor or if a child decides it would be fun to toss them around. It’s also a safe bet that none of your employees look forward to hauling out garbage bags full of paper towels or fishing them from toilets when they wind up there. Washable hand towels are generally less hassle, but still require you to replace them daily and pay for their laundering if you don’t have your own facilities. An electric hand dryer offers the most hassle-free maintenance. Once installed, there isn’t much else to do besides occasionally wiping it down when your restroom is getting cleaned anyway. They create less waste for your employees to pick up and make it harder to create a mess in your bathroom.
An electric hand dryer offers several advantages in cost-effectiveness and maintenance over more traditional drying methods. Think about the system you use to decide if an electric hand dryer would be a better fit for your restrooms.
