Any good new electric pressure washer on the market these days? Don't want gas. Primarily just for car washing and house siding cleaning to get after spring mildew off the house.
Any good new electric pressure washer on the market these days? Don't want gas. Primarily just for car washing and house siding cleaning to get after spring mildew off the house.
We bought the cheap Ryobi model that HD sells every holiday season 2-3 years ago with the same usage needs and it has worked just fine. Only takes up a small spot on the shelf in the shed, works every time we need it and it basically maintenance free. I think they for for like $80 or something close.
I also have the inexpensive ryobi with the horizontal handle across the top. I use it much more often than my gas one. I just used it yesterday to clean my gutters... Brought the ryobi up on the roof! It will do siding and is good for the car with a foam attachment. It does not however have enough power to clean the driveway like the gas one does. Would buy again
Was contemplating this one but makes me wonder if it is too weak for house cleaning
https://www.costco.com/greenworks-2000-psi-electric-pressure-washer.product.100460435.html
this is a bit more powerful but cost $80 more.
https://www.homedepot.com/p/RYOBI-2-300-PSI-1-2-GPM-High-Performance-Electric-Pressure-Washer-RY142300/300405751
I remember an old post from awhile back about which internal pump to avoid due to breaking easily after several uses. Can't find it.
I've had an AR Blue Clean AR620 https://arblueclean.com/ for a number of years now and am very happy with it. It mainly gets used for cleaning the trailer, the deck with one of those ryobi deck brushes and I have a 18' extension wand for the house. I know folks will chime in about electric not being as powerful as the gas units but they are so quiet you could almost wash stuff in the middle of the night and not bother anyone vs. any gas unit you can hear blocks away. Pretty sure leaf blowers and power washers are the sirens of the suburbs. Only maintenance I do is run pump saver (coolant) through when it goes back on the shelf. I would also recommend switching all low and high pressure hoses to quick disconnects to make life easy.
I have been through 2 of the cheap ones. They work fair but don't put out enough water for what I am usually cleaning. (mud off of vehicles) Both also failed. One through a broken fitting that was unavalible. One had a failed pressure switch.
The last electric I bought was this one. AR Blue Clean AR610 Industrial
It is outstanding. It also uses standard pressure washer hoses so the 50' of hose I bought for my gas pressure washer works on it as well. The other thing I like is it's pretty much silent compared to the gear driven cheap ones.
It is not cheap though.
Yet another vote for the cheap Ryobi. It's great for cleaning and light jobs--light and easy to move around, quick to setup and take down. But we borrow the neighbor's gas washer when we want to do the driveway and sidewalks.
I have a cheap SunJoe I got on Amazon. It's perfect for car washing and other light work. I do have the gas one for things like cleaning concrete.
I didn’t see a link to the ryobi, but went looking for the football sized one I bot at Lowe’s a year ago. And found this:
looks 100% identical to whatever brand I bought (might have been greenworks?) and don’t see on Lowe’s site. Held up great - zero maintenance, plus abuse. Plus the dog ate it, but still works ok. Driveway, no. But we’re on gravel! Deck house and car, ok. Could be better, but paid bout $90.
LOVE that small industrial!!! But I don’t think I can sell the financial manager on that price. But then again, she does understand quality once vs cheap over and over!
Toyman01 (Moderately Supportive Dude) said:The last electric I bought was this one. AR Blue Clean AR610 Industrial
It is outstanding. It also uses standard pressure washer hoses so the 50' of hose I bought for my gas pressure washer works on it as well. The other thing I like is it's pretty much silent compared to the gear driven cheap ones.
It is not cheap though.
Dang. I like that. If I had a real need for one I would get one of those for sure. I hate gas pressure washers.
In reply to Sine_Qua_Non :
I have a Greenworks one, meh on the quality of the plastic parts. It works everytime though.
In reply to Sine_Qua_Non : I purchased a 1600 psi Greenworks from Lowes a couple years back. Just cleaned siding and plastic deck with it,no problems. House looks much better. Also used it at 2nd house for wooden deck, came out better than I thought it would. Wood deck was very dirty and green. House was built in 2006 and looked like it was never washed. Didn't use any cleaner just water.
I also just purchased a cheaper electric Greenworks unit. I figure for an electric unit that is $100 or less, with a decent warranty, buy from a big box store so you can return in person if (when) it fails.
I've only used it a few times, but so far it's worked great for cleaning cars and blasting rallycross mud off. I havent really tried blasting concrete or decking to see how well that works, but it seemed to clean up a concrete slab good enough. The pump has power buttons on the unit, and it will auto-stop the pump when pressure is reached and is pretty quiet. So far only complaint is the hose is pretty short, but this also takes standard pressure washer hose and fittings, another key feature you want in any unit.
https://www.lowes.com/pd/Greenworks-1700-PSI-1-2-GPM-Cold-Water-Electric-Pressure-Washer/1000497513
Pair any washer with this, and you can do a pretty good job of underbody spray. Tip on this one, take out the pre-filter on the fitting to get more flow.
https://www.homedepot.com/p/RYOBI-Pressure-Washer-Water-Broom-RY31211/300701617
Another vote for the AR Blue Clean. Picked one up on Amazon when they ran a deal on them a couple years back. Didn't realize how useful they were. Washing cars and cleaning the patio are both satisfying, but have you ever took one of these to the floormats of a 20 year old car? The chocolate milk looking sludge that comes out of them is horrifying and mesmerizing, and when they dry the mats look amazing.
In reply to engiekev :
That water broom looks pretty rad. How well does it actually perform?
I have a Sun Joe that I mounted on the wall in the garage just for washing cars. It does a good job and is good with the foam cannon.
nderwater said:In reply to engiekev :
That water broom looks pretty rad. How well does it actually perform?
It works well enough, I'm sure it would work better with a higher pressure washer, as mine is only 1700psi. It's not going to blast off really caked on swamp mud, but it seemed to get most of the surface dust off. There are cheaper versions on Amazon but they all use cheaper materials and not nice durable "roller skate" wheels like the Ryobi. I don't have one yet, but I think a washer extension is a must with this, without it you can't get the broom deep enough under the car.
Here's some videos on it:
I bought this one from Harbor Freight! Don't! Just don't! Spray handle leaks like a sieve. I'm just tired of rebuilding the stupid thing.
In reply to trucke :
I have the same one, spray handle on mine has also leaked copiously since the second use. Still, it works well enough for what I use it for (mostly washing cars) and I love the ease of use of an electric pressure washer. If and when it dies, I'll probably replace it with a somewhat nicer one.
Tom_Spangler (Forum Supporter) said:I have a cheap SunJoe I got on Amazon. It's perfect for car washing and other light work. I do have the gas one for things like cleaning concrete.
I have the SunJoe and feel the same way about it. The only bad part is I lent it to my sister and haven't seen it since. Light and easy to use.
Good deal for black friday if you only need to wash cars and light duty https://www.sfgate.com/shopping/article/Sun-Joe-electric-pressure-washer-Walmart-15716136.php
I will add a couple things as I used to rent and sell pressure washers for a few companies.
First, pressure is only half of the equation. GPM is a big deal. If that electric washer makes 2000 psi, but only has 1.8 GPM, it will take forever to wash your house.... as in, you might have to split it up between two days.
Washers sold for occasional use/residential use are exceedingly cheaply made. It may be fine for 10 years if you use it twice a year, or it may not last through one house washing. The big problem I have with any electric washer that you can buy for your purposes is 100% proprietary. If you buy that HF electric pressure washer for $125, it will have a proprietary wobble pump that costs $200 to replace, but you'll never have the opportunity. It will be superceded by next year's washer and the part will be NLA. Having said that, that isn't necessarily a bad thing, just know that you are purchasing a completely disposable appliance that won't last long. Nice thing is, you can buy one every couple years for $125.
If you buy even a cheap $250 gas pressure washer, I believe you are way ahead of the game. Not only will your GPM-per-PSI be far better in most situations, parts are nearly universal. It will have one of three engines on it that are ubiquitous and bulletproof, and the pumps themselves are (almost without exception) all exactly the same fitment, bolt pattern, shaft size, etc. Go to Amazon or Ebay and type in your pump's part number and you'll get literally hundreds if not thousands of options ranging from $30-60
My current pressure washer is a 3000 psi Craftsman that has a chinesium copy of a Subaru Robin engine. It's about 12 years old. The engine has been flawless. I had to replace the pump (not because it broke, because a "friend" borrowed it and left water in it and it froze), and I upgraded to a piston pump. Since a piston pump is more efficient, I am now at 3600 psi and 3.6 GPM. That thing will remove asphalt pavement from a driveway. Ask me how I know. :) Over 12 years, I have about $350 in it, and that's only because I had to buy the replacement pump for $80. It was $279 at HD.
I fully understand if you still want an electric, but there just isn't any way to really duplicate the cost-per-lifespan of a gas unit. My suggestion (honestly) is to get the absolute cheapest electric you can, use it until it breaks, throw it away, and buy another one. I hate to say it, but an inexpensive and good electric pressure washer doesn't exist. The cheapest electric we sold was $1800. It was good for 1800 psi and 2.3 GPM. Comparing that to a $350 gas washer that is just as reliable and makes 3600 psi and 3.6 GPM is hard to compare for me.
In the PSI/GPM discussion; think of it like electrical current. If you have 2000 volts in a tiny wire, it can only carry 1.5 Amps, and therefore the wattage (work) you can get done is small. In this example, you're making 3000 watts of work. Now, switch to an 1800 psi and 2.5 GPM, you are doing 4500. High PSI/low GPM will physically have the same power, but it will be in a much smaller area. You'll have to work small sections and take your time. High PSI/high GPM is where the real work gets done on larger areas like houses. PSI dictates what it can rip off a surface. GPM dictates how quickly you can do it.
The angle of the tip you use has a lot to do with it as well. High PSI/High GPM, you can use a wider tip and get more area done. Smaller PSI/GPM, you'll have to use a narrow tip to "concentrate" the spray and it will take longer. You can always turn down a big pressure washer, but you can't turn up a small one.
Of the electrics (continuing from above) SunJoe is a good bet. As of 4-5 years ago the Ryobi/Dewalt/Stanley/a few others were all the same guts and made by the same company (Wen) that makes Portland washers for HF, just with a different outer case. I would research that to see if it's still true, but if it IS true, then just buy the cheapest version of those flavors since they are basically the same unit.
Checked the reviews on Sunjoe in that Walmart Black Friday link. I only see "fake" reviews on it done by product testers getting it for free with 5 star ratings.
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