21st century is all about electronic communication, which simply means a maximum decrease in the use of paper. However, the use of paper cannot be completely reduced as it is one of the traditional ways of communication and publishing.
From the introduction of paper, the use of paper has increased rapidly, if you check the history, the use of paper is diverse, it ranges from communication to cleaning. However, as mentioned above, with the introduction and widespread use of the internet, the use of paper has reduced. But, still, a majority of home and offices use paper has a basic medium of communication and publishing.
One of the common problems faced by offices and home is that security leaks, this is one of the reasons for using paper shredders. Most of the people know what a shredder does and why it is important to use it. However, you should know that there are different types of shredders available on the market today. One of the types is a home shredder and the other is office shredder, each type is different in design and functioning. Here are some of the common differences in a home and office shredders.
Home shredders –
Motor – Home paper shredders are designed in such a way that it has DC motor incorporated into it, which drives the shredder. DC motor is comparatively noisy and the heats up easily. This is one of the main reasons why home shredders cannot be used for heavy-duty.
Automatic switch on and off function – Most commonly no home shredders come with an automatic switch on and off feature and even if they come with such a feature, it would be purely mechanical. However, an automatic home paper shredders with an auto on and off feature comes with rigid protruding arm incorporated into it which will be depressed when the paper is pushed into the machine and returns to the original position after the paper is shredded. In such machines, when the arm is depressed, it switches on the machine and when the arm is returned to the normal position with the aid of the spring, the machine switches off.
Duty Cycle – As already mentioned above, home shredders come with a DC motor incorporated, one of the major drawbacks of DC motors are that they get heated up very soon. This is why a home shredder cannot be used for a long time. Most commonly a home shredder comes with a maximum running time of 5 to 10-minutes only.
Waste capacity – Home paper shredders are designed in such a way that even the largest home shredders have a maximum waste holding capacity of 20-litresonly. One of the things about home shredder is that they come with shredder head-mounted on the top of the bin and this means, the user will have to remove the bin each time to empty the bin.
Sheet capacity – Most commonly, a home shredder come designed in such a way that it can shred almost 10 sheets of paper at a time and they are shredded into strips. However, premium products with high security can shred more paper.
Shred size – Home shredders are not designed to offer high security, therefore, the size of shred will be between 6 and 8mm.
Office shredders –
Motor – Office paper shredders are designed in such a way that it commonly comes incorporated with an AC motor. One of the best things about the AC motor is that they are designed to run for a long time continuously. An AC motor does not require any extra setup to convert the supply to DC, this, in turn, makes the device quieter and lightweight.
Automatic switch on and off function – One of the best things about office shredders is that they come with sensors that would enable the device to switch on and switch off automatically. Most commonly, there would be two types of sensors incorporated into it, one of them would switch on the device when the paper is inserted into the machine and switches off the device when the shredding is completed. Another sensor is set in the bin/cabinet so that if the bin is filled it switches off the machine and instructs the user to empty the bin.
Duty cycle – office shredders come with AC motor that will drive the device for a long time without overheating or malfunctioning. When it comes to office shredders, the lowest model could shred almost up to 400 paper continuously. This is comparatively 40 times higher than what a home shredder could do.
Waste capacity – As already mentioned above, the waste holding capacity of a home shredder is limited to a maximum of 20-litres and the bin cannot be removed without moving the shredder head. However, when it comes to office shredders the lowest model would have a capacity of 20-litres, the mid-model would have a capacity of 40-litres, and premium model would have a capacity around 60-litres. At the same time, office shredders come with a shredder head mounted on the cabinetso that the user could empty the bin without removing the shredder head.
Sheet capacity – One of the best things about an office shredder is that it comes with a maximum shredding capacity of 40 sheets per minutes. However, you should know that a low range model could shred only 12 paper per minute and premium model could shred 35 to 40 paper per minute.
Shred size – Unlike home shredders, office shredders come designed in such a way that it offers the user the option to select the shred size. The shed size could vary from 6mm to thousands of tiny particles. The 6mm shred size offers the least security, on the other hand, if you need the maximum security then shredding a sheet to a thousand tiny shred is the best option.
Now you know the common difference between home and office shredders, however, one of the most important differences in the construction. While home shredders come made of plastic material, office shredders come with a chassis made of metal and other parts made of plastic. Some of the office shredders would come made of 100% metal.
Conclusion –
As you have read above, the difference between home and office shredder is not just limited to design and capacity, but also the construction and internal functioning. Hope this article would help you decide which type of shredder to purchase.
