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Our own guides to hand dryers and other restroom equipment.
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Which World Dryer hand dryer should I buy?-Choosing the right dryer for your needs - focusing only on the World Dryer line of hand dryers.
Summary:
Our number one recommendation for World Dryer hand dryers is the AirForce hand dryer.
For a high speed hand dryers, this one comes at a great price and is one of the most
energy efficient hand dryers available. If you are concerned with
vandalism or noise levels, we recommend the high speed World Dryer AirMax Hand DryerModel A Hand Dryer (more on these below.) Other premium high-speed hand dryers that you will want to consider are the Dyson Airblade, the Excel Dryer Xlerator, the American Dryer eXtreme-Air the Fast Dry JA. These are all nice options and they all have their own unique features that make them good choices.
We also like the World Dryer Smartdri, which is similar to the Airforce but comes with a longer lasting motor and options for adjusting the motor speed and heating element, making noise level, energy consumption and speed of dry all variable. Here are some details on the Airforce:
High speed
12
to 15 seconds to dry hands vs 30 – 40 seconds for traditional hand
dryers. This is part of a new category of dryers in the same class as
the Xlerator or the Dyson.
A high-speed hand dryer means:
or the
- Your
customers are happier. They will be out of the restroom quickly and
they will not feel inconvenienced by using a hand dryer versus paper
towels. No more jokes about drying their hands on their pants, which
will be a welcome relief for me.
- More people will get through
the restroom in less time. Key if you have a high-volume situation like
a sports or entertainment venue.
- Lower energy costs since the machines run for less time.
Low Energy
The AirForce consumes only 1,100 watts of electricity. There are only a hand
 ful of dryers that consume less – for example the Nova 1 hand dryer.
But since the AirForce is ALSO a high-speed hand dryer, it runs for
less time. The combination of high speed and low energy makes this one
of the, if not the, most energy efficient hand dryers available
anywhere and earns it a Greenspec listing.
It is important to note that even the standard hand dryers like the Model A
(2300 watts for 30 second dry time) still do not use a lot of energy.
The cost to run one Model A hand dryer at a fast food restaurant for a
year can be about $100 depending on usage and energy costs. That might
replace $900 worth of paper towels! And even though hand dryers do use
energy, it takes MORE energy to manufacture the roughly 2.5 paper
towels that you would have used to wash your hands than it takes to run
even a standard 2300 watt dryer.
Size, weight and look (of the AirForce)
At 7 lbs, this hand dryer can be mounted almost anywhere in the restroom. It is also modern and stylish.
Hygienic
The World Dryer AirForce Hand Dryer
has a nice smooth surface that does not collect dirt and grime as
easily as a dryer that has crevices. The AirForce is therefore easier
to keep clean.
The World Dryer AirForce is embedded with Steritouch™ anti-microbial.
 The
anti-microbial is embedded in the painted cover (white or black) and
also in the plastic components that are on the bottom (the part you
might touch) and the inside of the dryer.
Noise level
Most
high-speed hand dryers are louder than their lower-speed counter-parts.
This is one of the trade-offs of using a high-speed hand drier. In our
opinion, the extra noise does not make a big enough difference to
counterbalance the benefits of the higher speed, but if the hand dryer
is very close to a noise sensitive area, such as an office or
classroom, you might want to consider a lower noise hand dryer li
 ke the Model A or the Nova 5 hand dryer.
Still,
the AirForce has a lower noise level than many other high-speed hand
dryers. With hands present, (and be careful, because a hand dryer is
used with hands, so don’t accept comparisons without hands present. The
sound of high-speed air hitting hands can be quiet loud) the AirForce
has a dB rating of 85.1 dB. This compares to over 90 dB for other high
speed hand dryers, 83.3 dB for the AirMax high speed hand dryer, and a quiet dB rating of 75 for the World Dryer Model A
hand dryer. One of the reasons the AirForce can acheive this is the 11
air outlets that spread the air over the hands instead of just one
nozzle.
Others are even quieter, like the Electric-Aire LE hand dryer
which is only 70 dB. The LE hand dryer and others in its class use
induction motors, unlike the brush motors of the other hand dryers we
have been discussing. This makes them quieter, but you are giving up on
speed-of-dry performance at the same time.
The AirForce is
unique in that it has 11 air outlets instead of just one like many
other dryers. This is one of the reasons the noise is dispersed. It
also, in our opinion, makes it more comfortable to use since it covers
the entire hand and doesn’t direct a concentrated jet of air at your
hand that can be, well, quiet exciting.
Vandalism and durability
If
you are in a high-use, high-vandalism scenario like certain roadway
rest-stops, football stadiums, schools or fast food restaurants then
having a tough hand dryer may be your first concern. We recommend the World Dryer AirMax high speed hand dryer. The AirMax is a 15 second hand dryer, so about the same as the AirForce, but still about twice as fast as the standard World Dryer Model A hand dryer
- which is closer to 30 seconds. Since it uses the same amount of
energy as the Model A but is about twice as fast, the AirMax hand dryer
is twice as energy efficient as the Model A, which is why it earns the GreenSpec listing along with the extremely efficient AirForce.
The
AirMax is built with the same tried and true and incredibly durable
base and cover as the Model A. One of the cover options is the cast
iron cover with a white porcelain enamel coating. The cast iron is
literally bullet-proof (World Dryer has the squashed bullet to prove
it) and the porcelain enamel vitreous coating makes the cast iron cover
nearly scratch-proof. This is similar to an old fashioned heavy duty
cast iron bath tub with its thick porcelain enamel coating.
The AirMax has a 10-yea
 r
warranty on parts, 5 years on the motor and sensor and 3 years on the
replaceable motor brushes. The AirForce has a 5 year warranty
throughout. The Model A is the same as the AirMax but with a full 10
years on the motor.
If you want the same durability and
vandal-resistance as the AirMax, but you also are looking for a quieter
hand dryer, we recommend the Model A.
As a 30 second dryer, this is also a very good dryer – in fact it has
been the standard for many years – and it is still faster than many
other dryers.
The AirMax and the Model A hand dryers come with
many cover options, including cast iron, stainless steel (both cast and
stainless are very good vandal-resistant materials) steel – still quite
strong, but easier to scratch or dent than cast iron, and WorldStone, a
very nice bulk molded compound. For more on hand dryer cover optons,
please see: Cover Options. For information on push button vs automatic hand dryers, see push button vs automatic hand dryers. (I like automatic.)
So far we have discussed high speed and standard hand dryers. Here are some other hand dryer questions you should be thinking about.
ADA compliant hand dryers / recessed hand dryers
The
American with Disabilities Act asks that items that are in a passageway
protrude 4 inches or less off the wall. This is primarily to keep a
blind person from bumping into something as they are walking. For ADA
standards, click here: ADA
The easiest way to meet this standard is to mount your dryer out of a passageway – the
end of a wall, for example, near a sink or behind a partition. If this
is not possible, some hand dryers come in either a recessed version or
with a recess kit that will make them ADA compliant.
There are a
few dryers on the market that are ADA compliant even without a recess
kit. For example, you can purchase the Nova 1 or 2 hand dryers, which
are 4” off the wall even if surface mounted. These
 are
also lower cost hand dryers, but on the other hand are not as durable
or fast as some other dryers, so not appropriate for all settings.
The World Dryer Model A
 and AirMax
series hand dryers are offered in very durable cast iron or stainless
steel recessed versions. (For example, models RA5-Q974, XRA5-Q974,
M5-Q974, XM5-Q975.) The recessed kit is included as part of the hand
dryer. A space will need to be made in the wall to insert the dryers,
so there is a little more construction than a surface-mounted hand
dryer requires.
The AirForce hand dryer can be purchased along with an additional recess kit (KJR-973) into which the dryer fits.
You can also purchase a recess kit for the Airspeed and NoTouch hand dryers,
but the dryer will still protrude more than 4” and so will NOT be ADA
compliant if in a passageway, but will still take up less room.
Quiet Hand Dryers:
Below
is a list of the noise ratings for various hand dryers. As a very
general rule of thumb, the higher the noise level, the faster and more
durable the dryer.
Induction motors
• Electric-Aire LE hand dryers 70 dBs
• Airspeed and NoTouch hand dryers 71 dBs
• Nova 4 hand dryers 74 dBs
• Nova 5 hand dryers 74 dBs
Brush Motors
• World Dryer Model A hand dryers 75 dBs
• World Dryer AirMax hand dryers 83 dBs
• World Dryer AirForce hand dryers 85 dBs
FYI, there are some high-speed hand dryers that can spike above 90 dBs when hands are present. (None of the above.)
Low Cost hand dryers:
If cost is your number one concern, look at these two hand dryers which are great values:
Plug-in hand dryers
Having
a plug-in hand dryer can be very convenient and a big cost saver. You
will not need an electrician to mount the hand dryer for you and you
can use an existing wall socket. In t
 he
US, there is only one plug-in hand dryer that I know of that is also a
UL certified hand dryer (in the plug-in configuration) and that is the Nova 1 plug in hand dryer, model 0833.
It’s
fairly easy to add a plug and cord to a 115 volt hand dryer and you can
purchase almost any model in a plug-in version from some vendors. If
you are buying a plug-in hand dryer other than the Nova 1, you should
check to see if the manufacturer’s warranty and the UL certification
are still valid if the dryer was altered outside of the factory. When
the Nova 1 plug-in hand dryer was developed, special precautions were
made so that the dryer would be considered safer and qualify for UL
approval.
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