Selecting the Best Hand Dryer for Your Needs

When opening a new restaurant, commercial office, or high-traffic facility with a public restroom, there are hundreds of decisions to make in addition to the necessity for staying compliant with your federal, state, and local codes. Whether you are looking for a more ecological choice compared to paper towel dispensers or your commercial bathroom is in need of a hardware upgrade, selecting the best hand dryer for your needs involves careful planning and research. Facilities of all kinds are realizing the cost benefits of installing fast-drying hand dryers for their customers to use. Making the switch may improve the functionality and efficiency of your restroom’s fixtures, reduce or eliminate maintenance costs, and improve overall customer satisfaction.

Selecting the best hand dryer for your needs is a process affected by your budget for consumable costs, user preference, and accessibility. The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) enacts regulations for businesses so that commercial spaces and establishments offering conveniences to customers remain accessible and friendly to individuals of all abilities and backgrounds. Hand dryers are no exception to the ADA’s design guidelines, and the product you choose should take accessibility into account. Start buttons should be operable with one hand and with no more than five pounds of force (22.2n) maximum (309.4 Operation). Furthermore, manual hand dryers should protrude and be a contrasting color from their surrounding materials so visually impaired people can see them well and blind people can feel them easily. If you are looking to save space or find a solution that matches the rest of your bathroom’s fixtures, there are ADA-compliant recessed hand dryer models available on the market.

No-touch operation hand dryers are otherwise preferred, because they eliminate the common contact point where microbes and disease-causing bacteria can be transferred to hundreds or thousands of hands. When a single dryer is installed in a washroom, it is recommended that the start button be located 38 to 40 inches above the finished floor, with at least 30 x 48 inches of clear floor space centered in front of the unit to allow both left-handed and right-handed wheelchair approaches (308.1 General). Some other essential considerations include environmental impact, noise, user preference, and cost. Surface-mounted hand dryers are extraordinarily reliable for providing efficient drying to customers due to their coiled nickel chrome heating elements that feature thermal overload switches and two balanced fans for optimum drying coverage.

Each year, breakthroughs are being made in the field of sustainable technology and the leading manufacturers of hand dryers are producing quiet alternatives to accommodate hospitals, schools, and other establishments where noiselessness is paramount. If you have any questions about selecting the best hand dryer for your needs or would like help finding the best solution for your business, please contact a member of the PandaProducts.com team for further assistance.