Dryflow Bi-Tap

The Dryflow® Bi-Tap hand dryer can be purchased as a hand dryer only, as a dual water and soap vessel only or as a complete set. This is a unique product offering dual functionality on the water/soap tap. It is a deck-mounted product and is available in a polished chrome stainless steel finish. Let’s see what our expert thought?

£759.00 + VAT

The Dryflow EcoWave - Value

The complete Bi-Tap set (including the soap dispenser) is cheaper than the Dyson Airblade Wash+Dry , (which does not include a soap dispenser). The option of buying the Bi-Tap dryer alone and adding to an existing sink also increases the retrofit value. Unless installed in a new project, installing the Dyson Airblade Wash+Dry would mean you may lose a perfectly good, pre-existing tap. The Bi-Tap is not a low-cost product, but given the alternatives on the market, it is the most economical option.

The Dryflow EcoWave - Speed

The manufacturers stated dry time is 15 seconds and our tests showed a 15-17 second dry time which is more than acceptable.

The Dryflow EcoWave - Efficiency

Calculating the energy efficiency of a dryer depends on 2 things, rated power and the dry speed. 

On full power with heat at 1.5kw, you can remove the heat without having much of an effect on the dry speed (1 second reduction) and then it operates at 1.1kw rated power. There is also an eco/quiet setting at just 0.42kw. The consumption per dry is 2.68 – 5.24 watt/hours. To put this into context, the Dyson Airblade AB14 uses 4.44 watts per dry, a traditional dryer uses 20-30 watts per dry and the best available uses 1.9 watt/hours. 

857 dries possible per £1 spent on electricity compared to 143 dries per £1 spent on paper towels, this is a 95.8 – 97.9% saving against paper towels.

The Dryflow EcoWave - Quiet operation

The Bi-Tap dryer has a fully adjustable motor speed and the manufacturer states a range between 67 dB(A) and 74 dB(A) at 2 metres, so from 1 metre you would expect a 10 dB(A) increase. In reality we found that on the max setting the noise was 77 DB(A) and on the min setting was only around 70 dB(A).

The Dryflow EcoWave - Vandal resistance

The Bi-Tap is a very solid piece of kit secured from under the sink with the motor concealed behind a panel making vandalism virtually impossible.

The Dryflow EcoWave - Life expectancy

The Bi-Tap dryer has a brushed motor which will require the brushes changing at around 1500 hours or 450,000 cycles, and should last another 450,000 cycles after this. 4 out of 5 is a high score for a product with a brush motor because this is a good quality motor. The Bi-Tap can be upgraded to a brushless motor for higher traffic locations, meaning maintenance free for 1.5 million-plus cycles. It is built in Europe with high build quality. Covered by a 3-year warranty.

The Dryflow EcoWave and the environment

We estimate the embedded carbon in the Bi-Tap to be around 45.9kg/co2, which is about mid-range for a dryer. However, work is being done with the manufacturer to reuse non-mechanical components stripped out of old dryers that pass quality control. This could considerably lower the footprint of this dryer in future. 

At about 3000 uses this hand dryer will provide a net carbon saving vs using paper towels. When you consider the life-span could be up to 900,000 cycles, the lifetime emissions savings will be huge!

The Dryflow EcoWave - Conclusion

We really like these types of hand dryers and think they are the future of modern washroom design. It makes perfect sense to put washing and drying over the sink where all the water can drain away, thus reducing mess and labour time. 

This dryer has some great characteristics, it has flexible noise output, it is reliable, effective, energy-efficient and compact. It also has a plug-in system for quick and easy fitting and this means should anything go wrong no electricians are needed. The only downside is the way the soap dispenses from the water tap, which for a new user is not super obvious. For this reason, we think the Bi-Tap suits an office environment with regular users. 

Overall the Bi-Tap is a lovely product, in the right environment.