Air Compressor Buyer's Guide: Everything You Need to Know
Types of Air Compressors
There are several types of air compressors, each of which works a little differently to supply compressed air.
Compact air compressors are the smallest, lightest, and least expensive compressors available. They don’t have a tank to store compressed air; instead, they run continuously to generate air pressure. Compact air compressors are most commonly used to inflate tires, some small air tools, and other residential applications.
Piston-driven compressors, also called reciprocating compressors, have pistons that compress the air in a cylinder and force it into a high-pressure storage tank where it is stored. When the air is released from the tank, the pressure inside the tank slowly decreases. Once it drops to a certain level, the air compressor automatically turns back on to build the pressure back up. These are some the most affordable type of air compressor and are most commonly used in portable applications or home workshops. There are two kinds of piston-driven air compressors: Single-stage and two-stage compressors. We’ll talk more about those when we talk about other features.
Rotary-screw compressors use twin screws, like two oversized drill bits next to each other, to force air up into higher pressures. These are also available as single or two-stage, the latter meaning that it compresses the air a second time to greater increase the pressure. While rotary-screw compressors do come in smaller horse power models, they tend to be the most popular type of air compressor for industrial applications.
Centrifugal compressors are massive, high-end compressors use rotating blades to create high pressure and are almost exclusively used in power plants and huge industrial applications. To get an idea of the scale, most home/small shop-use air compressors operate around 7 horsepower and under, while an industrial-use centrifugal compressor can operate from 400-8,000 hp. (Read more about horsepower in our next section..)
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