How to Install Automatic Hand Dryers

Electric hand dryers are a must-have product for any commercial washroom, offering a more hygienic way for washroom users to dry their hands, while also being much more cost-effective than paper towels. But the question is, once you’ve purchased your brand new electric hand dryer(s), how do you go about installing them in your washroom?

Placing your Automatic Hand Dryer

When deciding where you should put your hand dryers, it is vital that you think of the layout of your washroom as a whole. Consider things like the flow of traffic through the washroom; you don’t want to put the dryer in an area of the washroom that makes people step in front of high footfall areas, for example, right next to the entrance.

You should also put the dryer as near to the sinks as possible; by reducing the distance the user has to travel, you’ll be able to minimise water spillage onto the floor from their hands. As well as all these factors, you should consider the mounting height of your dryers, and who will be using them. If your installing them in a school washroom, then the dryers will need to be the appropriate height for the students; or if the dryers are in a public place you should provide a range of installation heights to suit all of your potential users.

The height of the hand dryer will be determined by whether you have a blade type hand dryer where a user will stoop down to put their hand in or a blow down hand dryer where the user will place their hands beneath the unit. For further guidance on mounting heights please see our support article "What are the recommended mounting heights for hand dryers?"

Installing the Automatic Hand Dryer

1. The following step by step guide should only be carried out by a qualified electrician, and before carrying out any of these steps you need to ensure that the electrical supply has been disconnected.
2. Again, make sure the power supply breaker is switched off; mark out the location of the mounting holes and the wire service entries on the wall where the dryer will be installed.
3. Carefully remove the cover of the hand dryer, making sure not to lose any of the screws.
4. Connect the supply wires to the terminal block where indicated, before connecting the ground wire to the base plate using the ground screw.
5. Connect the live wire to the terminal marked ‘L’, and then connect the neutral wire to the terminal block marked ‘N’.
6. Finally, replace the cover and mount the dryer to the wall via the previously created mounting holes.

With these considerations in mind and by following our step-by-step guide, you should easily be able to install an electric hand dryer in your commercial washroom. If you’re interested in buying electric hand dryers for your commercial washroom, you can see our complete range of electric hand dryers here.

This article has been written in good faith as a helpful guide; please consult your manufacturer's installation manual for a full installation guide. Installation of the washroom products sold on the Commercial Washrooms website should only be carried out by fully trained and qualified tradespeople.