Certain shop vacs are better suited for specific purposes and make picking up messes a lot easier. I wanted to find some of the best shop vacs for 2017 and list them here in somewhat of a resource guide. There are large models, more compact ones, portable models and more. I tried to list some of the shop vac models that are better suited for these tasks for your convenience.
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I hope this article is informative and a good resource for anyone out there that wants to sift through some of the models and find one that will suit their needs.
The Best Rated Shop Vac:
The Vacmaster VBV1210 is really a two in one type of tool, a vacuum and a blower but has a few unique features to the blowing aspect that really set it apart from other vacuums. The head of the vacuum completely detaches from the canister and is what ultimately becomes a traditional type of leaf blower, if you will.
Some of the features that the Vacmaster VBV1210 boasts are its 7 foot hose, 12 foot power cord that comes with an area to wrap the cord up, which is always nice and keeps things tidy, a nice kit that includes most of the essential items that are needed with shop vacs and general so you won’t have to go out and buy separate accessories after purchasing the vacuum.
Some other features that I notice right out of the gate was the extra-large drain port located at the bottom of the canister which is nice for liquids, a large, sealed on/off switch and a pretty decent warranty (two year). It had a ton of reviews from multiple sources and had some of the best ratings out of all of the shop vacs listed.
One Of The Best Portable Shop Vacs:
The All-In-One Shop Vac had a substantial number of reviews from a number of different websites and a very good overall rating to boot. The price was very reasonable and well worth the investment for what this particular model is capable of.
Now this is a smaller unit, only having a 1 ½ gallon capacity in its canister but comes with a pretty complete kit that includes the vacuum, the house, many different attachments, filters and a few other things that makes it pretty useful right out-of-the-box, in my opinion.
The power cord on this little vacuum is quite long, coming in at around 18 feet in length and it can actually be mounted onto a wall if you prefer that type of setup. It comes with an impressive three year warranty and can be used for both wet and dry types of messes. The motor operates around two peak horsepower and is fairly quiet when comparing it to other types of shop vacs in its class. Its compact size make it perfect for toting around just about anywhere.
And The Best Hepa Shop Vac...
The Next vacuum in the lineup is the Vacmaster VK811PH which is a little bit different than the other vacuums we looked at mainly due to the two-stage motor it comes equipped with and the HEPA filtration system. The canister can hold a maximum of 8 gallons and the HEPA filter is essentially 99.97% efficient and is effective up to .3 microns.
The two-stage motor has a maximum CFM of 125 and a maximum water lift of 106 inches. The house is about 10 feet in length and the power cord is a whopping 30 feet in length and has a lighted plug built into the end of it.
This doesn’t have quite the warranty that some of the other vacuums have, only a one-year guarantee which is a little bit disappointing especially considering the nearly $200 price tag.
This comes with several different attachments, the vacuum of course, hoses, filters, extensions and so on making it ready to use right out of the box. The wheel set up on this Vacmaster VK811PH is quite unique as well, having smaller caster wheels in the front and larger fixed wheels in the back making it easier to tote around.
The Best Compact Shop Vac Out There:
The next shop vac on the list is a little bit smaller unit (the Armor All AA255) but has an astounding number of reviews in a very respectable overall rating, in fact it made the bestsellers list for Amazon which is a hard thing to do. Like I stated, it is a little bit smaller having only a 2 ½ gallon maximum capacity but a decent 2 hp motor attached to it as well.
It is available in a kit, which is basically a few attachments, the vacuum and the hose (not as substantial of a "combo kit" as some of the other models listed.
The hose is roughly 6 feet length, the power cord can extend up to 10 feet and it comes with on-board storage areas to store some of the accessories.
It does come with a two-year warranty which is a pretty good deal considering that this shop Vac was under $40 at the time. It has all of the other features that you would expect to see on one of these vacuums, just in a smaller and affordable package.
The Best Budget Shop Vac Is...
The Stanley SL18127P is another more portable, compact type of shop vac that made the list and is very "budget friendly" on top of that, coming in at under $40. The reviews weren’t stellar but were very good for the most part with a few dissatisfied customers but nothing too serious that would make them deal breakers, in my opinion.
There are many different configurations that you can buy, we happen to be looking at the 2 gallon, 2 hp model but it is available in many different sizes with different horsepower ratings for the motor that basically go from one gallon all the way up to 12 gallons in size.
It comes with a 6 foot power cord, can be wall-mounted and a disappointing 4 foot hose which was one of the biggest drawbacks I saw.
It does come with a few accessories, which is always nice including extension wands, a crevice tool, utility nozzle, filters, etc. It boasts a respectable 60 CFM and is pretty simple in design, not really any frills just functionality.
