Karcher Pressure Washer
Excell Pressure Washer
Husky Pressure Washer
A Guide to Choosing A Pressure Washer
Choosing a pressure washer can be a difficult task. With so many brands and so many choices, it can be a challenge to sort through the myriad of offers. There are several factors you need to be aware of before you purchase a pressure washer. There are also a couple of acronyms and phrases you need to be aware of so you can make an intelligent choice. This article will explain the main factors you will want to consider as you decide the best pressure washer for your situation. To begin with, regardless of what you will be doing be sure to buy a quality pressure washer. Like anything, you get what you pay for. To have a problem free system with years of service we suggest 1 of the top brands on the market today. A Karcher pressure washer is a top brand today. They have been in business for many years and have gained a top position in the market. Nearly equal to a Karcher is the Excell Pressure Washer and Husky Pressure Washer. These are also name brands that can be trusted for years of service. Since there are so many moving parts to a pressure washer and due to the harsh and demanding conditions that a pressure washer must work in, budget brands will usually not hold up for more than a couple of seasons. Get the most out of your money with a Karcher pressure washer, Excell pressure washer or a Husky pressure washer.
In addition to choosing a brand you need to consider how you will use your pressure washer. This will determine the size and power of the unit that you will ultimately need to buy. To start, what will you be using your unit to clean. Outside furniture, automobiles and exterior house washing will require a small to medium unit. If you plan on striping a large deck or cleaning concrete a medium to large unit will be in order. For large areas, grease and stains on concrete or commercial applications a large to extra large machine will be needed. Usage and cleaning time are also items that need to be considered. If you plan to use your unit to clean your porch and deck once a year, long term durability will not be a big factor. If you have a 4000 sf driveway and you want to be able to clean it within an hour or two a large volume unit will be needed. In other words the larger the projects and the larger the number the bigger your pressure washer should be. We will discuss some of the factors that make up a small, medium or large unit below.
Critical Choices:
2500 PSI or 4000 PSI? 2.5 GPM or 8 GPM? Belt drive or direct drive? What does it all mean? PSI (pressure per square inch), GPM (gallons per minute) and drive systems are 3 of the most important factors to consider when buying a pressure washing. Whether you chose a Karcher pressure washer, an Excell pressure washer or a husky pressure washer, all units will need to be evaluated with these specifications in mind. The goal is to match your needs to the ability of the pressure washer. Lets discuss each one and see how it affects the performance of a unit.
The PSI measures the overall power of your pressure washer. This is one way to compare units. PSI is the pressure that a unit is able to provide. It will determine how much stripping power your stream of water is
capable of. If you are cleaning concrete this is very important. The stronger the stream of water the faster you can work. The gallons per minute refers to the volume of water that the unit is able to deliver over a period of time. The more GPM you have the faster you can rinse away dirt thus completing your job quicker. Sometimes a low PSI and high GPM are desired. For example, when you strip a wood deck you want low PSI so you do not damage the wood. At the same time you want a high GPM so you can more quickly rinse cleaning and stripping chemicals off the deck. The same goes for house washing. Concrete on the other hand will benefit from high PSI and high GPM to get the job done the fastest. Some pressure washing units now use the term CU which refers to 'cleaning units'. This is pounds per square inch multiplied by gallons per minute. The problem with this measurement is that you may not know the PSI and GPM figures specifically. It may only say 8000 CU.
1000-2000 PSI pressure washers are basically for light household applications like cleaning a patio, a mower, cars, and removing dirt. Models rated at 2000-3500 PSI are designed for more frequent users and for larger jobs such as cleaning vinyl siding and small to medium decks. Units rated at PSI 4000 and up are for contractor use on professional jobs. Contractors and commercial users turn to this category to clean their heavy equipment, construction sites, paint preparation and other demanding projects. Some units are rated above 4000 PSI, however there are few advantages or applications for this extreme pressure. In conjunction with PSI you will want to compare the GMP rating. Anything under 2.5 GPM is for the light household applications. 3-4 GPM is the minimum rating you would want for regular medium size projects. For big jobs or professional use a 5-10
GPM pressure washer will save lots of time. Of course the higher the PSI and GPM the more expensive your unit will cost.