A Comparison between Steam and Hot Water Pressure Washers

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Courtesy of Daimer Industries Inc.

Steam pressure washer machines are a gradual extension of hot water pressure washers. The main difference lies in the output temperature. While steam pressure cleaners provide an output of 330 degrees Fahrenheit, hot water machines offer an output pressure of 210 degrees Fahrenheit only.

The other important specifications, such as output pressure and technologies present, do not change much across the two types of machines. For example, both types of machines can have a maximum output pressure of 8000 psi or the lowest output pressure level of 500 psi.

This post provides a comparison between the performance of steam and hot water pressure washers.

Cleaning Power
Obviously, the enhanced output temperature of steam pressure washers plays a part here. These machines have a better cleaning power than their hot water counterparts, provided the other things are equal. That is, if the two sets of machines have the same output pressure, flow rate, and same kind of hardware and technological features, then commercial pressure washers with steam output are more powerful.

However, many cleaning workers have pointed out a major flaw in such a plain comparison. In most common cleaning tasks, one does not require that much high cleaning power. Take for instance an everyday cleaning job, such as cleaning a parking lot or cleaning the floor of a service station.

Both steam and hot water pressure washers tend to finish the cleaning task in almost the same time and with the same cleaning efficiency. There is no point in opting for steam pressure washers if the cleaning work involves only such common cleaning tasks.

In the flexibility count, both types of machines probably end up with the same score. Steam pressure washing machines offer two kinds of outputs -cold water and steam output. Cold water is non-heated output, and steam output has a temperature of 330 degrees Fahrenheit (in some types of machines, steam output refers to an output temperature of only 250 degrees Fahrenheit though).

Hot water pressure washers too, provide two kinds of output - cold water and hot water, which has an output temperature of 210 degrees Fahrenheit. With both these commercial pressure washers, if the surface cannot withstand the hot water or steam output, then the only option is to use cold water output.

Tri Mode Technology
The introduction of tri mode technology has blurred the distinction between steam and hot water pressure washers. Tri mode pressure washers can provide all kinds of output temperatures - cold water, hot water, and steam. Tri mode technology allows the cleaning workers to change the output temperature based on the nature of the surface to be cleaned.

Source of Power
An even greater consideration with these machines should be how the output temperature is achieved. Pressure washing machines are broadly classified into two, based on the source of output power - electrical pressure washers and gas pressure washers.

Electric pressure washers use an electric motor to generate output pressure. Some of these machines make use of electricity to power the heating element that raises the output temperature. Some other machines use diesel or gasoline to fuel the heating element. In gas pressure washers, it is always some fossil fuels that powers the heating element.

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