How the Vacs Stack Up
Small 4- to 5-gallon vacuums are easy to carry and store, but they still have the power to suck up spills, sawdust, and car-floor debris. Contractor Dave Andrews put these four wheel-less models to the test in his own house, now undergoing a gritty gut renovation. Here’s how they stacked up.
Dave Andrews, owner of Andrews Custom Building, in Fairfield, Connecticut, has 25 years’ experience as a carpenter.
Ridgid Pro Pack WD4522
Price: $100
Highlight: Includes two 20-inch extension wands for hard-to- reach areas.
My two cents: “The boxy design allows for convenient storage of all accessories. The extension wands allow you to vacuum standing up.”
Tool stats: 15½ pounds, 4½-gallon capacity; 5-horsepower motor generates 187 air-watts* (the measure of a vac’s sucking power) and 90 dB. Includes 20-foot cord, filter, 7-foot hose, five attachments, lifetime warranty; ridgid.com
Contractor Dave Andrews, owner of Andrews Custom Building in Fairfield, Connecticut, with 25 years’ experience as a carpenter, put this and other compact vacs through their paces during a gritty gut renovation of his own house—a real-world stress test for any vacuum.
Pro Tip: In a later This Old House Magazine shop vacuum guide, Ridgid’s updated compact vac earned praise for its boxy exterior that makes it easy to stack on or under other toolboxes, with accessories and cord stowing away in the lidded top—though testers cautioned that smaller canisters can fill up quickly on bigger jobs.
*Measured at the end of the hose; air watts of the other three vacs are measured at the motor
Vacmaster VWM510
Price: $130
Highlight: Power switch is located on the business end of the hose; has the quietest motor.
My two cents: “While the wall-mount held securely, it was tricky to remove the vacuum.”
Tool stats: 23½ pounds, 5-gallon capacity; 5-horsepower motor generates 320 air-watts and 78 dB. Includes 20-foot cord, wall bracket, 21-foot hose, noise diffuser, eight attachments, two-year warranty; vacmaster.com
Pro Tip: This Old House carpenter Nathan Gilbert recommends having more than one size of shop vac on hand: “My big tub-shaped vac is great for major cleanups, but for minor repairs, a toolbox-sized vac is easier to carry around and much faster than using a broom.” A compact wall-mount model like the Vacmaster can fill that second-vac role nicely.
Snap-On 93052
Price: $99
Highlight: Includes a HEPA filter to capture fine particles of dust.
My two cents: “Great suction; the best at picking up dust and chunkier stuff like nails, but its small-diameter hose clogged the most often.”
Tool stats: 18 pounds, 4-gallon capacity; 5-horsepower motor generates 220 air-watts and 86 dB. Includes 20-foot cord, 7-foot hose, noise diffuser, three attachments, five-year warranty; jcwhitney.com
Pro Tip: A HEPA (high efficiency particulate air) filter uses pleated boron-silica fibers to remove 99.97 percent of particles 0.3 microns or larger—a critical feature when vacuuming fine drywall or sanding dust that standard filters would simply blow back into the air.
Shop-Vac Heavy-Duty Portable 5872462
Price: $80
Highlight: Disposable vacuum bag keeps the dust contained when emptying the unit.
My two cents: “Solid performer with a hose that locks onto the tank.”
Tool stats: 20 pounds, 5-gallon capacity; 5½-horsepower motor generates 345 air-watts and 82 dB. Includes 20-foot cord, wall bracket, filter and filter bag, 7-foot hose, two attachments, five-year warranty; shopvac.com
