Be cautious about three things before buying a hairdryer. A good-quality hair dryer offers optimal wattage and manageable weight. Yet your hair type plays a significant role while choosing a quality hairdryer. Buying a wrong hair dryer can expose your hair to excessive heat that damages your hair permanently. So it is immensely important to have basic knowledge in this field if you want to avoid unpleasant ordeals led by an unsuitable hair dryer!

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What is wattage?

Wattage or watts is a unit to measure how fast the motor of your hair dryer spins to produce warm air. Warm air eases the evaporation of water from your hair. A good hair dryer has a strong motor. So it dries your hair fast using high wattage, but never damages your hair with harmful heating.

What should be the optimal watts for your hair dryer?

If you choose to dry your hair at home, look for hair dryers that range from 1500 to 2200 watts. Relatively low wattage ensures healthy hair. Besides, why not styling your hair with care and grace if you can afford to have fairly enough time to dress up for a program? Therefore, do not haste and check the wattage in the package before ordering a blow dryer.

Why are wattage and weight important for a blow dryer?

Blow dryers with higher wattage come with heavier weight. Good hair dryers have a lighter weight which does not exceed 1 lb. It is ideal to carry lightweight hair dryers for travelers. So, most of them prefer up to 1200 watts for carrying it everywhere. Also, if you have long hair, it is advisable for you to opt for a lighter device. Longer hair requires more time for drying. If you carry a heavy hair dryer for a while, it may cause pain in your arms.

For curly hair, you need higher watts. There are blow dryers that are almost 2.5 lbs heavy. Just imagine, how painful it would be to blow dry your hair for 20 minutes, holding a 2.5 lbs blow dryer!

Hair dryers with higher wattage tend to be more expensive. If you’re looking for a cheaper alternative, settle for the low wattage. But remember that low watts do not ensure the longevity of your blow dryer.

Higher wattage, higher electricity bill!

Higher wattage consumes a higher amount of electricity. For instance, one hour of usage for a high watt hair dryer costs almost 1$. This may sound insignificant to you. But a regular user of the hair dryer will surely take its toll on your electricity bill!

Wattage according to hair type

All of our hair types are not the same. Some have straight hair, some have frizzy curls. And then there are oily hairs and dry hairs too. Wattage varies from person to person based on their hair types! Thus depending on the hair type, you should set the wattage of your hair dryer. So what are the best watts for a hairdryer as per different hair types?

Thick/Curly hair

Definitely, higher heat is necessary for dry and thick hair. However, don’t heat in a specific place for a longer period of time. This may damage your hair. The best way is to heat the entire hair, constantly moving from hair strands to hair strands. If you have a thicker mane, opt for 1900 to 2200 watts. Popular hairstyle blogger named Karen Marie Shelton believes that the best watt for thick hair is precisely 2000 watts.

Thin/Damaged hair

If your hair is thin, use a lower setting of 1600 to 1875 watts or you might end up frying your hair! Extreme heat and temperature damage keratin, making your hair look brittle and coarse. Thin hair is vulnerable and easily damaged. So to prevent further damaging, you can first evaporate the water droplets in a low heat and then use higher heat for hairstyles. But remember, it’s better to blow dry from a distance of at least 3 inches from your hair.

Sources

Wikipedia, Watt
Brendon O’Neill, How much electricity does my hair dryer use? – 23/11/2016