A lot of good points made here. No need to regrind the sausage, so I will only share my experience with the power washers I have owned and rented. I think the best direction is to decide what you will use it for and how oft en you will use it. My old gas powered monster pushed about 3 gpm at 3000ps i. I could write my name in concrete and it would cut wood with the right tip. It was also $700 about 20 years ago. It had a Honda engine which was superb, and as long as I took care of the pump it was a great machine. I u sed it to wash houses before painting, clean driveways (as a bonus for my c lients when I remodeled), clean commercial walkways and drives, etc. I rep laced the wand a couple of times and the commercial size water hoses (a mus t!) but never had a problem with it. It saw a lot of use and finally when it crapped out, it was the pump. No reason to replace a pump on a 20 year old, well used machine.
Nothing will replace the brute strength of a big gas powered unit for utili ty. You can always "up" the pressure and spray pattern, or go down using t he same method. But you can also run into problems with the pumps fouling and the gas in the engine going bad if you don't use it frequently. And the good ones are made to run all day long.
Electrics are different. They certainly have their place. I like the no f uss aspect of plug and play. I like the fact that they are so much quieter than the gas models which my client's neighbors complain about from time t o time. I like not keeping fresh fuel around or transporting fuel to the jo b and keeping the machines fueled. They are easier and cleaner to transpor t, and one guy can get it in the truck by himself.
So what I don't like about electrics: You have to have a lot of extension cord to use it commercially and you always have to be mindful of your conne ction location. On the larger machines, you need to run a 12ga cord to the m since most pull 14 to 15 amps. I have a few 12ga cords, and when we use t hem in bad weather, I tape the connection, which is the smart thing to on t he washer as well. They don't clean as fast or as easily as a gas machine because they don't move the water out of the machine. The higher powered g as machines will push about 3gpm, the higher powered electric won't push 2 gallons. It makes a really big difference in practice, but mostly in the t ime spent to clean.
But... (can you tell it's a rainy day down here?) I will probably be buying this washer
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Or one like it. It seems to be a pretty generic model, priced right, and a ll the other badged models of this generic get good reviews. Back it up wi th a Square Trade warranty and I will be set. It's small, portable, and ha s about the top end of gpm rating I can find.
I can use this washer occasionally, and it will work fine for washing small houses, projects, a few driveways and decks, and any of my other medium pr ojects. It is small enough to easily store, and with a long cord included I won't always have to connect to more extension cords. And I can put it i n the back of the truck myself with a couple of hoses and be on my way. And it's half the price or less than a really nice gas washer.
I can rent a big gas washer at any number of places here in town for $55 to $65 a day and have no maintenance, special storage consideration, no "wint erizing" for storage. I can pick it up, use it, drop it off.
So just a few more thoughts on a rainy day...
Robert