I'm looking at buying a wet/dry vacuum. So far I favor the plastic-body variety, because I'll be able to bang it a little while dragging it around through its wheels, without constantly worrying that the body is getting dented.
I also favor the smaller capacity ones, because I'm expecting that a pump labeled "peak 2 HP" will have more than enough power for my applications: cleaning the garage floor and the inside of the car.
Yet I'm concerned about the noise. I hate that the Hoover-branded one I use at home is awfully loud. Does a plastic body (instead of stainless steel) mean more noise in a wet/dry vac?
What about the volume? One reviewer writes that the larger the capacity, the lower the noise. That doesn't make sense to me. Could larger-capacity wet/dry vacuum indeed be less loud than smaller ones?
Best Answer
Not really. In my experience, fan design and exhaust muffling are the primary factors. Since most of the noise occurs at the fan motor, the vacuum collector doesn't have much to do with noise volume.