# Electric Pressure Washers?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/electric-pressure-washers/266594>\
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion\
**Created:** [September 29, 2004, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/electric-pressure-washers/266594 "2004-09-29T01:44:37Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Sassafras\_Kid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c0e974/32.png) [@Sassafras\_Kid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sassafras_Kid)\
**Post date:** [September 29, 2004, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/electric-pressure-washers/266594/1 "2004-09-29T01:44:37Z")

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I need a pressure washer for around the house: clean siding, wash driveway…etc. I don’t want to spend a lot or take up a lot of space. I’ve seen the electric versions (as opposed to the gas powered) on sale for around US $ 140.

Anybody else out there have the electric ones and gave talk me into or outof getting one? Thanks in advance.

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**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\
**Post date:** [September 29, 2004, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/electric-pressure-washers/266594/2 "2004-09-29T02:11:19Z")

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Whatever you do stay away from Karcher units. A bigger POS has never been manufactured. They are notoriously poorly made. I went through 2 before I gave up. When I returned it to Lowes there were 5 units sitting next to the return desk stacked up.

Check Epinions. The Campbell-Hausfeld electric pressure washer unit I have now has been working fine.

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**Author:** ![beltbuckle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3da27b/32.png) [@beltbuckle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beltbuckle)\
**Post date:** [September 29, 2004, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/electric-pressure-washers/266594/3 "2004-09-29T02:29:15Z")

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Most electric ones are good for what you want to use it for. I second the nod to go to epinions and check out the various models. Also, amazon has reviews on this type of stuff once you narrow down your model selection.

Also, it is true about the Karchers. I saw one when I was at Costco a few months ago and damn near bought it. It had a Honda engine (good), but I decided to wait an research it. I am glad I did. Many reports of failures with various Karcher models.

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**Author:** ![Sassafras\_Kid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c0e974/32.png) [@Sassafras\_Kid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sassafras_Kid)\
**Post date:** [September 30, 2004, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/electric-pressure-washers/266594/4 "2004-09-30T01:32:34Z")

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Thanks for the info, I was in fact looking at a Karcher model at the local Sam’s Club, now I’ll look the other way.

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**Author:** ![MrFantsyPants](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ba0ec/32.png) [@MrFantsyPants](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrFantsyPants)\
**Post date:** [September 30, 2004, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/electric-pressure-washers/266594/5 "2004-09-30T01:59:37Z")

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Yeah, I’ve got a Simoniz, which is made by the same folks as the Karcher unit, I think. Worked fine until 2 months after the warranty ran out. Nuff said.