// RESEARCH · 2025–2026
HAIR DRYER REVERSE ENGINEERING & ECO-REDESIGN.
Full teardown and lifecycle model of a consumer hair dryer in Granta EduPack, then an adaptive redesign cutting estimated lifecycle energy by ~35%.
// SPEC
ROLE
Individual project
ORG
Imperial College London
TOOLS
Ansys Granta EduPack
SKILLS
Eco-audit, Materials analysis
// SHOWCASE
DEMO LINK — NOT SET- ▢ MEDIA SLOT 01image or video — add in the owner console
- ▢ MEDIA SLOT 02image or video — add in the owner console
§ 01
CONTEXT
Consumer appliances are usually redesigned for cost or styling. This project asked where the energy actually goes across a product's life, and what a redesign informed by that data would look like.
§ 02
OBJECTIVES
- 01Document the product's construction, materials and processes from evidence
- 02Build a defensible lifecycle energy model
- 03Propose a redesign targeting the dominant impact phase
§ 03
PROCESS
I fully disassembled the dryer, documented joints and sub-assemblies, weighed every component and identified likely materials and processes using plastics testing, mouldings and markings, function and visual evidence. From that I built a bill of materials and a lifecycle model in Ansys Granta EduPack comparing embodied energy, manufacturing impact, operational energy and end-of-life effects.
§ 04
DECISIONS
◆ DECISION LOG
Target the use phase, not the bill of materials. Once the model showed where the energy was, cosmetic material swaps stopped being the interesting lever.
§ 05
CHALLENGES
▲ FAILURE / RISK
Attributing materials without a spec sheet. Identification relied on triangulating density, feel, burn/plastics tests, moulding marks and functional role rather than any single method.
§ 06
OUTCOMES
● RESULT
The use phase accounted for roughly 96% of lifecycle energy, while low-mass rectifier diodes contributed disproportionately to material-phase embodied energy. An adaptive redesign using humidity sensing, proximity detection and idle auto-shutoff — modelled as a staged power profile with a shorter effective drying cycle — reduced estimated lifecycle energy by about 35%.
Recycled TPU was proposed for the housing while retaining the nichrome heating, mica insulation and motor architecture.