Water, when pressurized by some type of pump & motor with a specialized nozzle can certainly help us do some great cleaning projects. Water by itself is a great cleaner but when it gets some pressure behind it, more pressure that can come thru a simple garden hose with a nozzle, it can do amazing things.
Now if you’ve been doing your homework & a little reading or research on the internet, you already know that there are several types of sources of power – the two primary ones used for DIY or homeowner projects, are electric & gasoline.
Gas powered power washers can produce more power but can’t be used inside. So, if you have projects that need less power, ones on the lower end of the scale, electric powered pressure washers are better & more affordable.
More cleaning projects in the home require less power or pressure to be applied to the surfaces to be cleaned so electric powered washers are more practical.
The electric models are smaller & easier to store as they don’t have gas to worry about influencing or determining where they can be stored when not in use.
We will focus on electric washers here because there are several considers when choosing among the models available on the market.
You can however, still get a broad range of electric powered models to choose from & they can even go up to the level of handling some relatively industrial sized cleaning projects.
The typical ratings for power washers deal with how much pressure they can generate thru their pumps pushing the water thru the hose or wand thru the nozzle onto the dirty surface to be cleaned. Manufacturers & rating agencies calculate CUs (cleaning units) as a measure of the pressure produced by a given pump.
The other consideration is the way the water comes out of the nozzle as in the shape of the spray emitted from the nozzle, the area it covers with water as the nozzle goes thru the ranges it is capable of. The range is typically from a pen to a fan. The size of the surface you need to clean, how dirty it is & how much pressure it takes to efficiently clean the surface are all considerations when choosing the size of the area approached at any point in time.
Distance you have the nozzle from he surface being sprayed is also a concern. Generally, the less pressure generated by the pump, the closer the wand has to be held to the surface being cleaned.
There are also turbo-mode pumps & nozzles usually implemented as rotary nozzles.
The type of pump & the number of valves producing the stream of water coming thru the nozzle is also a consideration. The typical pumps used these days are axial triplex in design with 3 pistons in the pump.
There is another feature to look for that helps performance of the pressure washer. That feature is a sensor that turns off the motor when the nozzle is closed. That keeps the engine from heating up & makes the overall pressure washer last longer.
Most electric powered washers also don’t heat the water or deal with hot water. They all use cold water, which is sufficient to accomplish most all homeowner-based projects.
