Electric pressure washer reviews

[Chris Sargent]

All you TBNers that own one, does it perform adequately for basic equipment cleaning and concrete drives?

What kind works best for the money?
TIA

I own a gas Briggs and Stratton 3000 psi and owned a Craftsman 1700 psi electric. Pros and cons to both. When we had a farmette, the gas was awesome. Now we live in a residential area and wish I had the electric. Get at least 2100psi. Electric is nice because the pump runs on demand and quiet. Gas is dirty, loud, obviously needs gas and oil. But the gas washer has the power to do anything I could ever want. 1700 PSI was great for washing a car or maybe a house. I considered getting an electric, but I won't get anything for my Briggs and don't use it that often anymore. So, it depends on your needs and GFI electric availability for use.

 

[Flogger]

Most commercial systems are electric. They come in all sizes adjustable to your pocket book.

 

[TomDavis]

I have a gas B&S that runs sometimes but wanted something that always runs and would not be too much pressure to wash out the sand from the patio's pavers. Bought a Greenworks 2000 PSI (13 Amp) Electric Pressure Washer (Wheels For Transport / 20 FT Hose / 35 FT Power Cord) from Amazon that today is $165. For light duty it works great. I have not tried in on caked on grease on the tractor.

 

[hslogger]

All you TBNers that own one, does it perform adequately for basic equipment cleaning and concrete drives?

What kind works best for the money?
TIA

I fried a couple of those less than a hundred dollar units at my place doing concrete and house siding. I said to the heck with these things. Laid out big money for a Northern unit with Cat pump and Honda motor. Might as well have the best. Top Drawer super.

 

[KennyG]

It's basic Horsepower. A good pressure washer needs around 3000 psi. That's over 5HP. 1 HP is 800 watts. The most you can get from a 15 amp/110v circuit is 2 HP. 3000+psi would best be supplied by a 3-phase 6Hp motor. No home has 3-phase power.

This isn't really true. Very high pressure can be achieved with only a little HP if the volume/stream size is small. That's why you will see 110 volt units advertised with up to 4000 psi. My 110 volt unit is advertised at 2100 psi and it cleans well but not as fast as a big gas powered unit would.

 

[CloverKnollFarms]

True, my 3000psi electric unit, at that PSI, has little flow. Now, we also have a low yielding well, so that is sort of a good deal for me. Others may not agree.

 

[qualsite]

Like most things, electric will work fine for small jobs, and gas for the big ones. Until you get into the 240V high-amp units, anything you get than can plug into a 120V outlet is power limited by necessity to a 120V 20A circuit, which cannot put out the power of a 6HP gas engine, so they need to concentrate the available power to a smaller area to get the job done. Even more so with a battery operated unit. So yes, if you are cleaning a smaller area, the water will come out with just as much force, just not as much of it. In a limited space, like an engine area, that can actually be a good thing, since you just want to clean the surface, not penetrate into places water shouldn't be... and still remember to wrap or cover any electrical boxes and connectors before cleaning the rest.

Everything is a compromise... if you want electric convenience, then you get less overall power capability than a gas unit [fewer gallons per minute at a rated pressure].

 

[VH5150]

For cleaning equipment, I'd suggest the Ryobi RY141802 (which is currently $99 at Home _epot as I write this). You do not want a pressure washer (PW) that will damage the paint on your equipment. A good rule of thumb is if your hand can tolerate the pressure of the water coming out of the PW wand from about 12" away, it's unlikely to damage your paint. A lot of professional car detailers use the Ryobi to clean their customer cars as it's the perfect combination of water flow and water pressure for that application.

I'm no expert on cleaning concrete, but I suspect a gas PW is probably a better fit for that particular cleaning application.

 

[JeepHead]

I have been power washing professionally for over 30 years and most of my systems are gas/diesel. I do have some specialized wash systems that are electric but I much prefer gas washers over electric.

 

[Rusty Ford]

All you TBNers that own one, does it perform adequately for basic equipment cleaning and concrete drives?

What kind works best for the money?
TIA

Hi. I've had two gas powered pressure washers in the past. Both worked great. However, they can be a pain if not properly maintained and stored (frozen parts from being left out in cold weather and not drained/winterized, not using STA-BIL gas treatment, etc). Three years ago, I decided to go electric. I bought a Greenworks Pro, 2200 psi washer. I don't use it professionally, or do really heavy duty stuff with it. Mostly just our steps, porch, deck, and our house siding once a year. So far, no problems at all. Plenty of pressure, and convenient to use, as I have outside outlets and spigots front and back. I have a basement entrance, and I just roll it out when I wanna use it, and when I'm done, roll it back in the basement. It's a finished basement, never gets cold. If you store it in a shed, you'd need to drain it of course.