def want to go forced air as it is time to take WB ink seriously.

If you are upgrading and planning for growth and even *remotely* considering WB ink, get a gas dryer with the longest tunnel you can fit in that 1600 sq ft. Anything shorter than 12' and you will be pulling your hair out balancing proper cure and production speed. 16' is even better if you plan on an auto.

A decent condition used Sprint (or even a mini Sprint) will spank every electric dryer on the market.

Badass dude! I know this is a dream for many of us. Its great you were actually able to sell your business. This begs the question, how do you value a screen print shop? A multiple of gross revenues, just asset based, or a mix? Curious to know more. Its something we all need to think about. What type of exit planning did you do? Did you do any prep work with your CPA in advance of the sale or is this just something that popped up and you took advantage of?

Congrats! Enjoy retirement, you've earned it.

This doesn't answer nearly any of your questions, but if you're looking for a different solution, I have a Workhorse Series 2 3190 dryer that we will move pretty inexpensively in Phoenix.

I appreciate the offer, but thats not much bigger than my current BBC conveyor. we are looking to go bigger.

You should look at Ranar dryers. Either their Redstar or if you want forced air then the Turbo Jetstar. They have lots of different size options and all the pricing is on the website.

yeah that is a name i see every now and then, but do not know much about. I will check them out though. def want to go forced air as it is time to take WB ink seriously.

Gas. electric sucks

considering running gas into the new space. we are also considering using a heat pump and convection stovetop, and eliminating gas altogether (this is a dual purpose building split between the shop and our living space). the cost of gas vs the cost of electric might force our hand to go with gas though. havent decided yet. what MFGs gas dryer should I be looking at if we decide to go with the gas option. and how hard is it to move the dryer around the shop if new/more presses move into the shop? would have to move a rigid gas line around making it more of a pita.

The cost to operate gas equipment in my area is expensive. It’s around 2 bucks a therm. What’s the typical gas dryers daily usage of therms?
Yeah maybe it’s a more effective way to cure your prints but is it more energy efficient at that rate? Obviously depends on what electric dryer you would be comparing it to

I am in St. Louis MO and the cost of gas is cheaper than electric.

you are totally right that sending the shirts multiple times through the tunnel is less than ideal. but i will do one more test, where i mix the ink, let it sit for 12 hours /print+tunnel/ and then see if i get the left result which is more than ok in terms of brightness. Its just the waiting time of the ink which makes me wonder if i miss something else. (Like with waterbased white: tried to follow the manual, but.. cracking, so clearly my process is not optimized :-)

I can`t really imagine that letting the ink sit for longer will get you a better result. In many cases  the inks won`t discharge very well at all after 8 hours. can I get a link to the product page? Same for the waterbase white.