If you’re thinking about buying or renting equipment from Landa pressure washer dealers, there’s a very important decision to make: Should the washer blast hot or cold water? This is a surprisingly divisive topic, even within the pressure-washer industry.
With nearly 40 years providing great Landa pressure washers and other industrial cleaning equipment, our stance is simple: both hot and cold water pressure washers have their uses. This isn’t a “one size fits all” situation. Whether you should be using hot or cold water mostly depends on your needs, and what sort of materials you’ll be cleaning.
Should Your Landa Pressure Washer Spray Hot or Cold?
I. Hot Water Pressure Washers
All things being equal, hot water cleans better than cold. This has been known for a very long time, and it’s true of pressure washers as well. The extra energy stored in hot water makes it easier to break down thicker materials that might resist cold water. In addition, you can – and should – be using some kind of detergent in the pressure washer, unless you’re spraying an extremely sensitive surface. The hot water will also make the detergent more effective.
That said, effectiveness also depends on just how hot the water is. Some basic models only heat the water up about as hot as heated tap water. Others can push the heat up near boiling. The hotter it is, the better it will clean, but the greater the risk is of damaging materials with the heat. In addition, of course, working with hot water can be dangerous, so extra care is needed when using a hot water pressure cleaner.
Finally, it’s worth noting that hot water machines will typically be a bit more expensive than cold water since they have to have extra systems for heating the water internally.
II. Cold Water Pressure Washers
The main benefit of cold water washers is that they are gentler on materials being sprayed than hot water. Numerous types of paint, siding, plastics, etc, could potentially be damaged by hot water. Cold water washers are often recommended as “general purpose” washers for this reason, while hot water washers are usually reserved for more challenging jobs.
In addition, cold water washers are a bit safer to operate – although you always need to be careful with a pressure washer! – and they’ll be a bit cheaper to own and operate as well.
Basically, if you know you’ll be dealing with extremely tough caked-on grime AND you know that the underlying material can take the heat, a hot water pressure washer will do the best job. On the other hand, if you want to just have a pressure washer sitting around for use when needed, it’s probably better to go with a cold water sprayer.
Crown Cleaning Systems is one of the top Landa pressure washer dealers in Ohio, along with a great selection of machines from Karcher. We’re here to make sure you get the right cleaning system for your needs! If you want help selecting a washer, just contact us.