Residential Electric Pressure Washer Recommendations

C

CharlieJ

Joined
Jun 12, 2007
Messages
1,670
Location
FL
Hi all, I am looking into getting an electric pressure washer for home use. It would be used for car washes, home exterior and side walks.
I am interested to hear others positive or negative experiences with different brands. I've seen brushed motors and brush-less motors avaiable, but not sure it that would matter with a corded tool.
What are your recommendations?
 
I bought a gas powered one. I just have a difficult time in having electricity and water (and me) that close together.
Also, I can't imagine having three 'tethers' for the unit... a garden hose, a high pressure hose, and an electrical cord.... and managing them all while pressure washing the house. Having just two on a gas powered unit is challenging enough.
I'm sure they're safe and all, but no thanks.
 
I purchased this SunJoe model a few years ago and like it for basic cleaning around the house when I don't need to fire up my 3500 psi gas unit. It is occasionally sold for ~$150 at BJ's Wholesale Club which may or may not be present in FL. I also purchased the 6 ft. extension wand accessory for cleaning siding and gutters. SunJoe has numerous models of electric pressure washers.

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I too have a SunJoe pressure washer that I bought 12 years ago to replace another brand of electric pressure washer that gave out after a couple of years. I don't know the model number. I expected it to give up the ghost long ago but it just keeps on working. Not powerful at 1800 psi but it is fine for small jobs
 
Here is another nice Husqvarna unit that I saw today at the COSTCO warehouse. COSTCO's satisfaction warranty is outstanding where you can return it "anytime" if the item fails to meet your expectations.

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Go it about 2 years ago for $120 and gets everything I want on the car that a hand wash doesn't. Engine bay, undercarriage, door jambs, crevices between the body and molding or trim. Compact square size stores easily and under 20 pounds makes it easy to carry around. Great 3 year warranty. The cord has a circuit breaker thing which died and the whole thing wouldn't work. They sent me a whole new machine, while in the mean time I was able to bypass the breaker and make it work. Still using it as is and have the new machine in the basement to use as a spare if needed. I did buy a pistol grip wand for better access under the car and around the engine compartment.
 
I got the cheap Portland electric one from Harbor freight - I think with the coupon it made it to my house for like $80 bucks. I cleaned my small driveway and a couple other things. Its pretty wimpy, and pretty slow - so I won't recommend it unless your like me and might use it twice per year, in which case it works fine. Probably took me 4 hours to do my driveway - I think its about 50 x 20 concrete, but it was really dirty. I may buy that concrete surface attachment before next time.

My neighbor has the sun joe and likes it a lot. He offered to let me use it, but I hate borrowing tools.

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The advice I can provide is for you to really decide how you are going to use it before you make a purchase.

If you will use it mainly for washing cars, sidewalks etc, and occassional house touch up or vinyl fence washing an electric unit will probably be just fine.

I have my house professionally power washed every 4 years. The company I use has a truck mounted unit and they heat the water when soaping which instantly gets the mildew off siding, trim, and window frames. Because of this I dont have a unit that needs to be that powerful for that kind of use case scenario.

I started off with a Karcher electric unit. I thought that their quality was supposed to be better than others, but like another poster, I had issues with my unit.

I now own this HF unit. It works well for what I use it for and the purchase was within my budget.
www.harborfreight.com

1750 PSI 1.3 GPM Corded Electric Pressure Washer

Amazing deals on this 1750Psi 1.3Gpm Electric Pressure Washer at Harbor Freight. Quality tools & low prices.
www.harborfreight.com www.harborfreight.com
 
sidewalks will be painfully slow with electric maybe 1/4 the speed of a gas model...
 
Active 2.0, Active VE52, CAT 1800 2.0

Anything else is ~1.2GPM and useless for anything other than washing a car.

GPM is what matters. Pressure is just an orifice restriction.

I LOVE the Karcher cube, and I recommend it all the time. But, only to people interested in getting into auto detail. It's not a good solution for all residential purposes. An Active 2.0 runs a 12" surface cleaner no problem.
 
I'm with @mrsilv04 on this one. I don't like electric power washers and the one I had years ago was basically worthless. I bought a gas powered one several years ago and haven't looked back. I cleans my concrete porch, driveway and sidewalk nicely. it removes the stains from the trees as well. I shoot for 2.4GPM or greater and 3000psi+ so it can cover a wide range of jobs. Mine has several pressure settings to aid in use. I has pictures versus pressure ratings so is simple for anyone to use, no guessing how many psi should I use...

Menards gas powered unit

Just my $0.02
 
Do you have access to a 20A outlet?

www.obsessedgarage.com

Active 2.0 Pressure Washer

I’m not exaggerating when I say this, people; the Active 2.0 electric pressure washer is a true game-changer. It does 2.0 plus GPM (gallons per minute) and has a lifespan of up to 250-hours. Not many budget electric pressure washers can do what this thing does.
www.obsessedgarage.com www.obsessedgarage.com
 
Last edited:
I have a good gas powered one. It was a pain to get out and use. Havent run it in years. Hope it’s ok…

Bought the smallest hand carry Ryobi or whatever brand electric. No it doesn’t get as mush flow, but for washing cars and occasionally some spots on the siding it’s fine.

I didn’t want to take up much space as I bring it inside in the winter. That way I can always have it ready, no winterization or blowing it out or anything.

I got a 50 foot long US made pressure hose, and the short stainless steel pressure gun that Ammo NYC uses, and it’s super convenient.
 
The Critic said:
Do you have access to a 20A outlet?

www.obsessedgarage.com

Active 2.0 Pressure Washer

I’m not exaggerating when I say this, people; the Active 2.0 electric pressure washer is a true game-changer. It does 2.0 plus GPM (gallons per minute) and has a lifespan of up to 250-hours. Not many budget electric pressure washers can do what this thing does.
www.obsessedgarage.com www.obsessedgarage.com
Click to expand...

This is the second time this was recommended. Anyone have first hand experience with it?

I'm looking at this one from tractor supply: 3200 PSI 1.76 GPM for about the same price.
 
I have a Sun Joe SPX3000 electric and and All-power 3100psi gas model. Both are great. The only thing I would suggest with an electric SunJoe model, is make sure it has a metal handle. The plastic handlebar ripped right off my SunJoe. It broke the bosses off the case and can't be reattached. This makes it a bit of a pain to tote around.
 
atikovi said:
Specs say 14 amp draw. Why would you need a 20 amp outlet?
Click to expand...
Are you asking me or @The Critic ?
From the link, the reviewer says you risk tripping a breaker <20amps if you use a certain nozzle size and their foam cannon, so their recommendation was to use a 20 amp breaker.
 
Why would a 14 amp draw trip a 15 amp breaker? I'm not an electrician, but if that happened, either one would be defective. Residential outlets don't usually have 20 amp specs.
 
atikovi said:
Why would a 14 amp draw trip a 15 amp breaker? I'm not an electrician, but if that happened, either one would be defective. Residential outlets don't usually have 20 amp specs.
Click to expand...
80% rule for continuous duty.
 
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