Class Action Claims DeWalt Wet-Dry Vacuum ‘Peak Horsepower’ Claims Are ‘A Farce,’ ‘Unobtainable’

New to ClassAction.org? Read our Newswire Disclaimer

A proposed class action alleges Stanley Black & Decker has falsely advertised its DeWalt wet-dry vacuums in that it is “physically impossible” for the products to achieve anything near the touted horsepower numbers. 

Want to stay in the loop on class actions that matter to you? Sign up for ClassAction.org’s free weekly newsletter here. 

The 32-page lawsuit says that although Black & Decker claims the DeWalt wet-dry vacuums can produce anywhere from four to six-and-a-half “peak horsepower,” these metrics “are illusory and can never be obtained in actual use” given the wattage capacity of the vacuums’ motors. Instead, the true horsepower produced by the wet/dry vacuums is “only a small fraction” of what Black & Decker claims, the suit alleges. 

According to the complaint, Black & Decker has misleadingly advertised the horsepower, a common measure of a device’s work power, of its DeWalt wet-dry vacuums to stand apart from competitors and because it knows consumers rely on this number in deciding which vacuum to buy. 

“The higher the horsepower number, the more likely a consumer is to purchase the vacuum over another model, and the more money a consumer is willing to spend,” the case summarizes, alleging the DeWalt vacuum horsepower claims are “unobtainable, under any conditions.” 

Given the wattages and amperages of the DeWalt vacuums at issue, testing performed by third-party Underwriters Laboratories revealed that the total electrical power input possible for any instance of the “5.5 Peak HP” model of wet/dry vacuum is only 1,200 watts, the lawsuit states. The suit relays that if the vacuum’s motor perfectly converts the electrical power, its total possible output is only about 1.609 horsepower, more than 70 percent below what was advertised. 

“The manual for that model lists the amperage as 10 amps at 120 volts ... This gives the vacuum a max wattage of 1200 watts (10 amps multiplied by 120 volts). [H]orsepower in electric terms is 745.7 watts. Given the wattage, this vacuum has an actual max horsepower of 1.609 horsepower.” 

Per the suit, one horsepower, in electrical terms, is equivalent to 745.7 watts. For an electrical device to output a particular work power, the case says, the device must “draw, or input, an equivalent power from an electrical source such as a wall outlet or circuit.” 

Standard three-prong wall outlets found in U.S. homes, and the standard three-prong plugs found on the DeWalt vacuums, are never rated for more than 1,800 watts and 0.5 horsepower, respectively, the lawsuit states.

“In the interest of simplicity … the power limit of 1800 watts from a household circuit is grossly exaggerated from actual use because it does not consider efficiency losses in the wiring, motor, or other sources which would reduce the wattage capabilities of the device considerably. As such, the calculations in this Complaint are highly conservative and over-estimate available power. Even so, Defendant’s Vacuums in fact only deliver a small fraction of the claimed amount.” 

The case summarizes that the DeWalt wet-dry vacuums do not and will never be able to meet the power requirements for their advertised horsepower, namely due to the power output of standard household circuits and Black & Decker’s own wattages and amperages falling short of the aforementioned power requirements. 

“Simply put, Defendant’s horsepower claims are a farce,” the lawsuit says. 

The case looks to cover all consumers in the United States who bought a DeWalt-brand vacuum sold with the claim that it can produce “4 Peak Horsepower,” “4 Peak HP,” “4 HP,” “5 Peak Horsepower,” “5 Peak HP,” “5 HP,” “5.5 Peak Horsepower,” “5.5 Peak HP,” “5.5 HP,” “6 Peak Horsepower,” “6 Peak HP,” “6 HP,” “6.5 Peak Horsepower,” “6.5 Peak HP,” or “6.5 HP.” 

Get class action lawsuit news sent to your inbox – sign up for ClassAction.org’s free weekly newsletter here.