Commercial Floor Burnishers: Battery, Propane & Corded

Commercial floor burnishers are like a standard floor buffers, but on steroids. While a buffer typically rotates somewhere around 150-300 RPM, burnishers can reach speeds of up to 3000 RPM. They are also much heavier, which is something that works in their favor in producing that glossy, wet-looking shine on hard floor surfaces. Burnishers are also significantly more complicated than low-speed buffers and require more upkeep and maintenance to keep them operating in top form.

Three Basic Burnisher Choices

Choosing the correct burnisher for your specific situation depends on your budget and the size of the burnishing jobs you'll typically be doing with your new machine. There are three basic choices for burnishers. They are:

• Corded electric models
• Battery-powered models
• Propane-powered models

Corded burnishers are the least expensive to purchase initially and require the least amount of ongoing upkeep and maintenance. At a rotation speed of 2000 RPM, a corded unit will be able to cover approximately 8300 square feet per hour. This doesn't take into account the amount of time required to frequently stop the machine, unplug it and find a new electrical outlet closer to where you're currently working.

Battery-operated machines are the most expensive of the three to purchase initially, and there's also the hidden cost involved in replacing the batteries every two years or so, which can be quite expensive. A typical battery-powered floor burnisher can cover an estimated 9700 square feet of floor per hour.

Propane-powered burnishers cost more than corded electric models - approximately $2000 compared to $1500. However, they can be expected to cover nearly 20,000 square feet per hour, which is almost three times the square footage their corded electric rivals can do and more than double what you'd expect to get out of a battery-operated unit. Battery operated machines also can cost up to $6000 to purchase. You'd have to use two of these machines, worth up to $12,000, or three corded electric machines, worth up to $4500, to get the same burnishing productivity as one propane-powered unit costing around only $2000.

Other Costs

Add to this the fact that the labor costs, which are the single most important financial consideration in commercial floor care, are much lower with propane floor burnishers. If your floor burnishing area is large, say 20,000 sq. ft., propane power is the only logical way to go. The less productive corded electric and battery-powered options may not afford you enough time to get the job done in a timely manner. It should also be considered that, with a battery-operated burnisher, you can typically expect to get two hours or less of run time before you're required to shut down to complete a recharging operation, which will often take overnight.

For those concerned with the indoor air quality generated through burning propane, rest assured today's machines must pass strict emissions testing.