Hand air dryers are widely used in washrooms to dry hands after washing, as an alternative to paper or linen hand towels. They use an electric blower to produce one or more jets of air that are used to dry hands placed under, or into, the hand air dryer unit. Some models heat the air jets prior to use with electrical heating elements or by passing it over the electric motor that drives the blower.
Hand air dryers are available with a wide range of efficiencies. The ECA Scheme aims to encourage the purchase of high speed hand air dryer products with the highest efficiency.