So the DeWalt vac might not clean as fast, but with that kind of run time, there’s no need to rush. The hose stretches out to about 5 feet—2 feet hyper tough tools less than the hose included with either of the Ridgid picks. But because the vac is so easy to maneuver, the shorter hose isn’t a distraction.
For the cordless vacuums, we tested run time by installing a fully charged battery in each vac and using it until the battery drained completely. We made sure to run this test while the vac was in active use and not just sitting there running, in case the battery drain increased when the vac struggled with larger cleanups. At my house, I also have my own workshop, which I keep clean with a wet/dry vac. I’m also a serial renovator, so a wet/dry vac is always at my side while I’m installing bookshelves, replacing windows, relocating kitchen cabinets, and pulling up old floors.
It became an invaluable tool and was relied on far more than initially expected. It was especially useful for quick clean-ups of minor messes, like drywall repairs and smaller amounts of sawdust. With this little vac on hand, it was nice to not have to lug around the full-sized Ridgid canister just for some little dusty piles. The DeWalt vac has a wide utility nozzle and a crevasse nozzle, both of which are smartly stored on the tool (the crevasse tool slides into the handle of the vac). There is also a clip the hose fits into, so it’s out of the way when stowed. One of the distinctions of the Ridgid vac is that the hose actually clips to the vacuum and the wand attachments, creating a very stable connection.
Therefore, it should be safe to use Ridgid 18V batteries with an adapter on Hyper Tough 20V MAX power tools. But you might consider disassembly your Ridgid 18V battery to ensure that there is an over discharge protection circuit. There are plenty of other wet/dry vacuums available, most notably from Shop-Vac, a company so well known for its wet/dry vacuums that its name has become synonymous with all wet/dry vacs. In most ways, hyper tough tool set Shop-Vac models are going to deliver the same thing as the Ridgid vacs. However, on the 12-gallon model, the accessories are bunched at the upper rear of the vac, instead of stored on each caster, and we’ve found they get knocked off much easier this way. The Shop-Vacs models’ availability is also a little more scattered, so you may not be able to get one in an emergency at a place that is as convenient as Home Depot.
In fact, the HD1200 is so powerful that the tester said it was pulling loose plaster off the walls, so she had to be careful in certain areas. Consumer Reports recommends more than half the battery lawn mowers in our current walk-behind lawn mower ratings. Among the more than 60 push- hyper tough tool set and self-propelled cordless electric mowers we’ve tested, most models earn strong overall ratings. So there are plenty of appealing options at a variety of prices.If you have a lawn that’s less than a quarter-acre, you’ll probably find a battery push mower that will fit your needs.
Through the course of testing and using the vacs around the house during a small renovation, this became our go-to vac, even though it does sometimes have a high-pitched whine. The Greenworks vac normally costs around $200, which we think is a fine price, given that it comes with a battery and charger. The HD1200 has enough power to clean up the type of debris that could damage your home vacuum. On our test, it sucked up the entire pile of workshop debris in 15 seconds (the cordless models all took over a minute).