Craftsman CMEPW2400 Review

Thoughtful design makes the Craftsman a pleasure to use, and it scores well across the board. If you're looking for an easy-to-use option for lighter jobs, like washing your car or first-story windows, this is a solid option.

Performance Comparison

Cleaning

Since power washers are made to clean, this is where we spend the most time testing them, cleaning a carpet, measuring cleaning units, and blasting a bocce ball up a ramp to test sheer force. The Craftsman posted respectable results in every test, proving itself to be one of the best electric washers in the review.

To test each washer's cleaning speed, we layered activated charcoal on a white carpet and timed how long it took us to clean up. We repeat this test several times, taking notes in between. While many of the gas-powered washers blast the charcoal out of the carpet immediately, revealing a bright strip of white carpet, the Craftsman tends to push it around, holding a muddled gray color much longer. You need a strategy to clean the carpet efficiently. That's true of all electric options, though, and the Craftsman outperforms most of them.

Cleaning units (CU) are a good measure of how well a pressure washer will work. We calculate them by measuring each washer's pressure per square inch (PSI) with an independent garage and multiplying it by how many gallons of water they blast out each minute. Both numbers will vary depending on the nozzle size you use. We use the 15º option since we find it cleans well and most machines come with them.

With a CU of 1992, the Craftsman has one of the highest cleaning unit numbers among electric washers in the test. It's worth noting, though, that even these top e-performers pale in comparison to the gas options, all of which have at least twice the number of cleaning units as the best electric options. One gas washer offers three times the cleaning power of the best e-versions.

Our final cleaning test examines pure power, using each washer to push a bocce ball up a ramp with a 24º to 26º incline and measuring the distance achieved. Continuing the theme, the Craftsman was one of the top-performing electric washers, pushing the ball 3.75 feet up the ramp. The gas options beat the e-versions by at least a foot. Our conclusion, the Craftsman cleans powerfully — for an electric pressure washer.

Portability

The Craftsman is also large for an electric pressure washer, weighs 41.6 pounds, and, at 486 square inches, has one of the largest footprints amongst the non-gas models. It stands 36" tall, 27" long, and 18" wide. That means it takes up more of your space, though you can remove the handle for long-term storage if you'd like.

Thankfully, its size doesn't do much to hinder its mobility. The spray wand, cords, and hose all have dedicated storage that keeps them out of the way when stored away or on the move. Ten-inch hard plastic wheels require no maintenance and roll up and over moderate obstacles. It's easy to steer on dirt or pavement. The large wheels make it easy to push or pull the machine, and the handle is at a nice height with some light foam padding to keep it comfortable.

Noise

In general, electric power washers are quieter than gas options. Like many of them, the Craftsman only makes noise while you're actually compressing the trigger. Pressure doesn't ramp up or down. If it's just sitting there, it's silent. During a long day of labor, it's nice to have an audio break.

When it's running, though, this washer is not shy. When we measured noise levels with a decibel meter right beside the machine, it registered 78 decibels (dBA). At 25 feet away, it read 66.3 dBA. It's not the loudest electric washer in the test, but it's up there.

For reference, you can listen to noises up to 85 dBA for eight hours without worrying too much about damaging your hearing according to the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association. So this amount of noise doesn't necessarily require ear protection. It may require some patience from your housemates or neighbors though.

Ease of Use

Perhaps the most compelling case for the Craftsman is its intuitive design. You hook up the hose, plug it into the wall, turn on the switch, and it goes.

Since connecting a water hose is a task you'll perform whenever you need a pressure washer, we looked closely at each model's connection points. The Craftsman gives you plenty of room around the import to hook up the hose with minimal fuss. The high-pressure hose itself is a bit stiff, but it wasn't distracting while we were unlooping it to use or wrapping it up to store.

The Craftsman provides a dedicated soapy water container that is very easy to pop out, fill, or drain. It's a step up from washers that provide an input hose to place in a bucket of soap water, making it much harder to move your setup around.

This washer comes with five nozzles — a spinning turbo, a soap nozzle, and options with 15, 25, and 40 degrees of spray. They're securely stored in well-marked holsters in a hanging caddy just below the handle. Color-coded infographics make it easy to tell which nozzle is the most abrasive and which is best for light use.

When you're done, the hose has a sturdy metal hook to hang on, making it a cinch to wrap up and store. The hose can bounce out of the hook when you're rolling the unit around, but this is less of an issue when you're using the machine since the hose will be uncoiled. It would be nice if the hook was bigger, though, or included a guard.

The wand has a slot that slides onto a plastic tab near the handle, holding it securely in place. It does seem like a durability concern, though, as we feel the plastic tab may weaken over time. The electric cord wraps around a dedicated depression in the body of the washer. That cord is 35'6" long, giving you one of the best ranges of any electric washer in the test.

The Craftsman is also stable, with a low center of gravity. We knocked it around and pulled on cords and hoses at awkward angles without getting it to tip over. With no oil changes, gas runs, or engine tune-ups to worry about, electric washers require less maintenance than gas-powered options.

Should You Buy the Craftsman CMEPW2400?

The Craftsman is a powerful electric washer that's easier to use and move than most. It is a bit noisier than some but is still silent when not in direct use. If you're looking for a lighter-duty washer, well suited to tasks like washing cars or washing decks within 35 feet of an outlet, this is an excellent option.

That said, gas-powered options are stronger and able to pump more gallons per minute. If you need to strip the stain off your deck or clean second-story windows, we recommend selecting a gas model.

What Other Pressure Washer Should You Consider?

The SunJoe SPX3000 is one of the top electric washers overall in our tests. It is slightly more powerful than the Craftsman and is quieter when in use. It's not as portable or easy to use, though. The Westinghouse WPX3200 Pressure Washer is the top gas option. Louder, larger, and harder to haul around, its cleaning power can't be beaten.