A cordless drill is an indispensable member of any handyman’s toolset. This saves energy and time when you are fixing stuff up around your place. Dont forget the best bit – no cords. In these devices we have power and portability packed into one. There are plenty of drills to choose from. Which one will work best for you?
These are the 3 cordless drill types:
1) Multi-function – Drills that can fix screws and drill holes without messing up the groove of the screw. This reverse drilling feature is a nice-to-have. You will be able to extract screws with minimum effort.
2) Variable speed – This feature of having different speeds is especially useful when using metal screws. For basic DIY stuff, you dont need higher speeds.
3) Hammer – As the old saying goes, you don’t take a knife to a gun fight. Similarly a lightweight drill is not too useful when it comes to getting through concrete. The powerful models can be used for this purpose. So look for this if you want to do heavy-duty work with the same drill.
Tip: Finding the best cordless drills is easy.
The two main things to stay on the lookout for are:
Voltage – For cordless drills the power output is measured in Volts unlike Watts as in the case of corded versions. The more powerful the drill, the higher the voltage settings. For DIY’ers who need to do stuff around the house, a 12 volt drill would suffice. Most moderate fixes will be possible with the 18 V models. For some serious stuff you need more power in the 24 V or 36 V range.
Tip: Have a look at the panasonic cordless drill early on in your search.
Battery Life/Charger – With all this power, your batteries can get drained pretty quickly. You should be looking for models which have a secondary battery or a charger included. The better batteries will be Lithium-Ion rather than Nickel-Cadmium ones. The newer powerful chargers can get your battery back to full charge within 15-20 minutes. Even then, a spare battery and a powerful charger will save you a lot of headaches.
Tip: The milwaukee cordless drill is a popular choice.
