Many of us use compressed air either at work or in our role as a back yard mechanic. It certainly is a good tool to help get many jobs done.
Compressed air does have a high price tag. If you use an air compressor at home or on your farm, you have seen what it can do to your electric bill.
Using compressed air is very inefficient from an energy point of view. It takes about 8 horsepower of input energy to get one horsepower worth of work done.
So why do we use it? Some jobs just go better with compressed air. Roofers use air powered nail guns because compressed air can easily put the right amount of force in just the right place. You will not get a shock if you drive a nail through the air hose.
Jobs involving flammable liquids, like solvent-based paints, are done more safely with compressed air than they are with electric power tools. Using compressed air, as your power source, avoids the risk of electrical sparks starting a fire.
Electric power tools and actuators are less expensive to operate than their compressed air driven counterparts. Unless there is a safety or functional reason to go with compressed air, it is better to choose electric power. Air powered tools often cost less than electric tools to do the same job. The pay off is avoiding the higher operating cost of air powered tools.
If you ever need information about compressed air, air compressors or equipment that it is used with it, I suggest you visit the About Compressed Air.
The author of the compressed air blog is a seasoned professional. If the information you need is not already posted there he can steer you in the right direction.
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