If you have a few projects that you need to tackle you could save yourself some money by choosing one of the Cordless power tools factory on offer. If your not familiar with these tools this article will give you a few pointers to look for in your search.

What are they?

Combo kits can consist of a combination of drill, hammer drill, impact driver, circular saw, reciprocating saw & light. Some are supplied with carrying bags, additional batteries & chargers. It can be cost effective to buy tools this way & they use the same batteries.

Here are few things to keep in mind when making your choice

Volts

The power output you choose will depend upon what you need the tool to do. The higher the voltage the more powerful the tool. Anything with 18V should apparently handle most jobs. Something else to consider is the higher the voltage the heavier the kit is likely to be. For general Diy tasks around the home as 12V should be fine, although opinon is divided. For contract type works & heavy duty jobs look for 24 & 36V models, some do question if cordless tools are powerful enough for this type of work.

Battery

The latest type of battery is Lithium-Ion (Li-on). You will also come across Nickel-Metal Hydride (NiMH & Ni-mh) & Nickel-Cadmium (Ni-cd & Ni-cad).

A Li-Ion battery offers longer run times than other types, are up to 40% lighter, don't contain toxins & can hold their charge when not in use for up to 2 years.

Ni-Cd batteries are the oldest type of cell battery, they contain toxic chemicals & suffer from what is known as the "memory effect" This means when you recharge a battery repeatedly when it has only been partially discharged it will "forget" it has the capacity to discharge fully. This will lead to shorter periods of use over time.

Ni-MH are often found in laptops. They also suffer from memory effect, are more expensive than Ni-Cd & are not as powerful.

Size & Weight of the tools

This is often overlooked but an important factor. If your drill is too heavy, bulky & awkward to use you won't be able to work for long periods. That's fine if you just have a few small projects around the house but not practical if you have a kitchen refit on the agenda. So its worth thinking about your useage, something light & relatively small in size may be adequate, just remember you'll have to compromise on power.

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