A Guide to Cordless Tools for Small Business Owners

As a small business owner, you know how important it is to maximize productivity and efficiency on the job. Whether you’re a landscaper, contractor, manufacturer, electrician, plumber, or building manager, you’re constantly competing with businesses just like yours to bring the best value to your customers. That’s where cordless power tools can help drive your business’s efficiency, decrease your team’s downtime, produce a better end result, and even reduce your bottom line. Read on to learn all about the cordless power tools your business should have in its arsenal.

These cordless power tools can bring great value to all kinds of operations.

Cordless Circular Saw	Cordless Drill Driver	Cordless Impact Driver	Cordless Reciprocating Saw
Ideal for cutting plywood, lumber, and other materials on the go.	Used for driving screws, drilling holes, and building structures.	Designed to drive screws, impact drivers offer more torque to outperform cordless drills.	Ideal for use as an all-around utility saw, a reciprocating saw makes both straight and curved cuts through metal, wood, plastic, PVC, and more.
Cordless Jigsaw	Cordless Sander	Cordless Angle Grinder	Cordless Oscillating Multi-Tool
Ideal for making intricate cuts in wood, metal, and plastic.	Designed to sand wood, drywall, or furniture wherever the job takes you.	The ultra-versatile angle grinder can sand, buff, sharpen, polish, carve, and plane. Replaces many tools with different attachments.	Ideal for use in tight spaces, this versatile tool sands, grinds, cuts, and scrapes.
Cordless Rotary Tool	Cordless Impact Wrench	Cordless Ratchet	Rotary Hammer
Designed for use on small electrical components and fixtures, this versatile tool can cut, grind, and polish.	Traditionally a pneumatic tool, cordless impact wrenches relieve you from the need for air. Drive nuts, bolts, and screws with incredible torque anywhere you go.	Designed for tight spaces, this cordless ratchet works much faster than a manual ratchet.	Ideal for drilling holes into hard materials such as stone or concrete. It’s also used for chiseling tile and other tough materials for demolition purposes.

If you’re a facilities or building manager, tools like these will always come in handy.

Cordless Vacuum Cleaner	Cordless Pressure Washer
Ideal for cleaning large facilities or hard-to-reach areas without having to worry about finding a plug-in power source.	Ideal for cleaning outdoor areas, equipment, or vehicles where there’s little access to water or electricity.

These cordless landscaping tools give you the ultimate freedom to care for plants and trees far from a plug-in power source.

Cordless Hedge Trimmer	Cordless Leaf Blower	Cordless Chainsaw	Battery-Powered Lawn Mower
Trims hedges and bushes without the need for long cords.	Great for quickly clearing leaves, grass clippings, and debris from walkways, driveways, and lawns.	Ideal for cutting small to medium-sized branches and trees that are far from a power source.	Battery-powered lawn mowers create less emissions than gas-powered versions.

When choosing a cordless tool, there are a few things to think about.

Functions/Features

What will you be doing with the cordless tool? Drilling? Driving screws? Grinding or sharpening? Or a little bit of everything? Tools are specialized to do one or two things well. If you have several different jobs your tools need to accomplish, a combo kit with interchangeable batteries may be your best bet.

Location of Use

Where will you be using the tool? Indoors or outdoors? On the jobsite or on the manufacturing floor? Occasional contractor jobs or in an industrial setting? The place you use the cordless tool will help determine which features are most important.

Frequency of Use

How often will you use it? A light-duty cordless tool is fine for occasional use, while medium- and heavy-duty tools will stand up to regular, repeated use on the job.

Power

Cordless tools run on rechargeable batteries. The most common batteries today are lithium-ion (Li-ion), though some tools still run on nickel-cadmium (NiCad) or nickel-metal hydride (NiMH). Of these, which cordless power tool battery lasts the longest, and which delivers the most power?

• Lithium-ion batteries are the newest batteries on the market and are used in most cordless tools. They are lighter and smaller than other types of batteries, charge faster, and discharge slowly. They can be charged many times without wearing out and don’t suffer from a “memory effect,” meaning they can be charged at any time without losing much capacity. They work in a wide range of temperatures.
• Nickel-cadmium batteries come from tried-and-true technology and have been around for many years. NiCad batteries are cheaper than other options. Like Li-ion batteries, NiCad batteries can work in a wide temperature range and tolerate many recharging cycles. However, they lose charge when not in use and have a “memory effect.” If a NiCad battery is not fully discharged before recharging, it can quickly lose its ability to store energy.
• Nickel-metal hydride batteries rank in between Li-ion and NiCad batteries. Therefore, they have a higher capacity than NiCad batteries, but a lower capacity than Li-ion batteries. Like NiCad batteries, they discharge quickly even in storage.

Voltage and Ampere-hours

Look for these two key numbers when considering cordless tool batteries.

Brushless Motors

Brushless motors are found on many cordless power tools. What’s so great about them? Brushless motors are more efficient and have better durability. Brushless motors cost more, but longer runtimes, greater power, and less maintenance make them worth seeking out.

Size

Drills and impact drivers come with different-size chucks, which is the part of the drill or driver that holds the bit. The chuck size is the largest bit shank that will fit in the drill. Drills and drivers come in three sizes: ¼", ⅜", and ½". For light-duty jobs a ¼" chuck will suffice. A ⅜" chuck will accept more bit sizes and has a broader range of uses. A ½" drill or driver will accept the greatest number of bit sizes, making it most useful for heavy-duty needs.

Speed

Many cordless power tools, especially drills, have variable speeds with an adjustable clutch. This lets you use different bits for different jobs, such as drilling through harder or softer materials. The rotational force of a bit is called torque. High speeds and low torque work well on wood and plastic, and when using smaller-diameter bits. Lower speeds with high torque deliver more power but lower speeds, which is better for driving screws and drilling through harder materials, such as metal and masonry. The tool’s trigger controls the speed while the clutch is set to the desired torque level. If the clutch is properly adjusted on a driver, it prevents screws from being set too deep and being stripped.

At Zoro, we’re passionate about tools. Enjoy shopping from our expansive selection of the best tool brands from around the world. Find all the cordless power tools and everything else you need for your business today.

Product Compliance and Suitability

The statements contained in this guide are intended for general informational purposes only. Such statements do not constitute a product recommendation or representation as to the appropriateness, accuracy, completeness, correctness, or currentness of the information provided. Information provided in this guide does not replace the use by you of any manufacturer instructions, technical product manual, or other professional resource or adviser available to you. Always read, understand, and follow all manufacturer instructions.