The Best Home Garage Compressors for 2023

If you're a garage hobby warrior, have a wood shop in your garage, or simply want to be able to use compressed air anytime you need it, whether it's blowing up tires or running an impact drill, or any sort of air tool, your compressor will be the most important decision you make to ensure you have the option of maximum performance out of your home garage equipment. In this guide, we'll go over the important factors to know and consider when choosing an air compressor for your home garage, and we'll provide recommendations of the best compressors for your home garage In 2023.

CFM output of the compressor

The amount of air the compressor can generate is critical to know before you make a choice for your home garage compressor. The amount of air you need will depend on the types of air tools you're going to intend to use in the garage. For example, if you're going to use a paint spray gun, you can easily need 25 CFM to support a quality, top-of-the-line spray gun, like any of the popular ones we review in our Best Automotive Spray Gun article here. But, if you only intend to use it for a blow-off gun, to blow off dust from surfaces, then CFM won't be as important. Take a look at the chart below to see the common CFM needs of a variety of standard tools you may want to use in your home garage. When looking at our suggestions on the best compressors, make sure you consider the number of tools, and how many you want to run at the same time before you make your choice.

Pounds per square inch (PSI)

In addition to the CFM output of the compressor, you'll also want to consider the PSI that the Compressor will deliver. On any compressor on the market, almost all of them are able to deliver at 90 pounds per square inch of air pressure. This is usually plenty sufficient for almost any tool you'd find. However, if you intend to run tools that require a lot of pressure to be able to operate properly, you'll want to consider that and factor that into your choice of compressor for your home garage.

Compressor tank size

Compressors often come with a holding tank, and that can vary in size, anywhere from eight gallons to no tank size at all, all the way up to 120 gallons or more. One common misconception is, is that the compressor tank is what allows the compressor to perform and support larger tools. However, the only purpose of the tank is to provide a buffering between the compressor’s delivery of air and the supply of that air to your equipment. Essentially, the main reason you have a tank is to prevent the compressor from having to run always anytime a tool is operating. So, while you have to make sure you have enough CFM delivery from your compressor, the tank size can help provide a bit of a delay before the compressor has to kick on to support the tool you're using. In general, if you have enough CFM from the compressor, you want at least an eight-gallon tank to allow the compressor not to have to always run to supply your equipment. If you're going to be using tools that require a lot of air, like sandblasters and paint spray guns, you'll generally want an 80-gallon tank or larger so that your compressor can supply the tank with air and have a bit of time before it has to kick on again.

Voltage and phase power

Since we're working out of a home shop or garage, most of the time you will not have three-phase power. Most residential homes have single-phase power, both in 110 and 230-volt configurations. However, you'll want to check how many amps you have available in your control panel for you home to ensure you can support a compressor, especially if it's a relatively larger compressor, like a 7.5 horsepower or larger desogm. Many of the high volume CFM compressors we'll recommend below will require 20 amp circuits or greater to be able to provide the power for the compressor that is needed to generate the air volume that it supports. So, if you're not sure, have an electrician check your control panel before you choose your compressor to ensure there's enough electric supply for the equipment.

Now you know the factors to consider we can make suggestions on our favorite compressors for your garage needs.

Campbell Hausfeld Eight Gallon Oil-free Quiet Air Compressor

This compressor can deliver approximately four CFM at 40 PSI. This makes it an ideal compressor for simple home projects, like tire inflating and using an air blow-off gun, as well as using small air nailers. However, if you want to use larger air-powered equipment, this compressor may not have the performance you need. It it's an oil-free design, so there will be minimal maintenance that you'll have to handle, like changing the oil on the compressor. Additionally, it's a relatively quiet compressor with a decibel level of 68 at three feet away. So if you're looking for a small, portable compressor that can be used for a majority or variety of common home garage projects, consider the Campbell Hausfeld eight-gallon quiet compressor.

California Air Tools 8010 Ultra Quiet Oil-Free Air Compressor

If you like the Campbell Hausfeld, but want something a little less expensive, consider the California Air Tools 8010 Ultra Quiet Oil-Free Air Compressor. CAT 8010 can also deliver approximately 3.1 CFM at 40 PSI, and has an eight gallon steel tank. It can produce a maximum of 120 PSI, allowing it to support higher pressure garage compressed air tools. It has an oil-free design, requiring very minimal maintenance, and has two outlets on it, along with regulators so you can run up to two tools off the unit at the same time. Weighing in at only 48 pounds, and having wheels, makes it relatively easy to be able to move around the home. So if you're doing a project out on the driveway, or somewhere nearby, you can easily use this compressor to move along with you. It only requires 8.5 amps to operate, and so will not be a huge electricity hog in your home.

Campbell Hausfeld Eight Gallon Oil-free Quiet Air Compressor

The Dewalt eight gallon Wheelbarrow compressor comes wired for 120 or 240 volt power delivery. This dual-phase option on the motor can allow you to run larger equipment by using the two-phase version, or where you don't have the ability for 240, can use single-phase. It'll deliver more air than the two models we mentioned before, with options to deliver seven CFM at 40 PSI. This tool can easily support larger air tools and also comes with portable tires. This is a popular compressor for nail guns and even entry-level contractors, though the unit does weigh a bit more than the two before with 160 pounds weight. The eight-gallon compressor tanks will also help to stabilize air coming from the compressor, so it is not always running when you're using this compressor.

If you're looking for compressors that will out-perform and deliver a ton of air, because you need air for the projects you want to handle, whether you're running a CNC machine or a paint spray gun or a sandblast cabinet, these models below will deliver a ton of volume of air to ensure you can successfully complete your project.

Industrial Air Five Horsepower 60 Gallon, 230 Volt, Two-stage Air Compressor

Industrial Air's 60 gallon, five-horse compressor can deliver 15 CFM at 100 PSI. It has a vertical air tank, making it take up less space in your garage. You can tuck this away in the corner, but still, have enough air to run a variety of larger equipment. You will need a 230 volt, 30 amp breaker for this equipment, so check your power before you consider this one. The pump on this compressor is a belt-driven pump and is oil lubricated, so you will have maintenance on the pump to ensure optimal run time over the years. The unit does come with an oil sight glass, so you can easily see that the unit has a proper amount of oil and is working the way you need it to.

EMAX Industrial 38 CFM, Single-phase, Two-stage, 80 Gallon Vertical Electric Air Compressor

EMAX offers the highest CFM output of any single-phase compressor on the market. To achieve this, EMAX has to use large motors. This particular unit uses a 10 horse power motor. But because of the large motor size, is able to deliver up to 38 CFM at 175 PSI, and at lower PSIs, can even offer more CFM in the 40-45 CFM range. This makes this EMAX unit capable of supporting even pressure sandblast cabinets and large air equipment. While this compressor might be quite a bit for a home garage, the most serious garage user, it'll support any air tool you would want to run. To use this unit, you need 40 amps, and it is recommended to have a 60 amp breaker. It comes with a five-year warranty and an 80 gallon tank, so you're ensured that you can consistently run any tool you want and have the compressor running only minimally to refill the large air tank it includes. It also has a manual tank drain, so that any moisture that would be built up by the compressor can be easily removed at the end of the day.

Campbell Hausfeld Two-stage, 7.5 Horse Power Single-phase 80 Gallon Compressor

This Campbell Hausfeld compressor offers plenty of CFM to run large air demand tools, including paint spray guns and similar equipment, while only needing a 40 amp breaker to be able to properly use this unit. It can deliver up to 175 PSI and uses an oil-lubricated belt-type pump design. So, if you don't have quite the amps needed to support a large 10-horsepower motor, consider this a nice step down. It will allow you plenty of air volume to deliver for your home garage.

Campbell Hausfeld 80 Gallon Single Stage 16 CFM Compressor

While this compressor won't deliver quite the volume of air the other two mentioned do, this compressor can run off a 30 amp circuit, which is often what is needed when you're running a dryer. So, if you don't have quite the electricity available, this compressor can deliver enough air to allow you to do projects like painting and small sandblasting projects with relative ease. It does still use an oil lubricated belt design pump, and so you will have maintenance on this. The pump is designed for up to 10,000 hours of use, and should last you for years and years without any trouble.

So there you have it, our best picks for the best home garage air compressors in 2023. To ensure you choose the ideal compressor for your needs, consider the CFM you need, the PSI you want to use equipment at, and the electric amps that you have available in your home garage, along with the tank size that you think will be ideal and whether you need the compressor to be portable. By weighing in on all these factors, and then looking at some of our best recommendations, you should be able to choose a compressor that will meet your air project needs for a long time, with great performance results.