The short answer
The terms are used interchangeably, and for most homeowners that's fine. The one technical difference: a power washer heats the water, a pressure washer doesn't. Both push water at high PSI through a pump; only the power washer adds a burner to deliver hot water.
That heat matters for grease and gum. It barely matters for the dirt, algae, and pollen on a typical driveway, walkway, or patio — which is why most residential exterior cleaning is done with unheated water and the right chemistry, not heat.
When heat actually helps
Hot water shines on petroleum and oil-based grime: restaurant drive-thru lanes, mechanic-shop floors, dumpster pads, gum-covered storefront sidewalks. Heat breaks the bond between grease and the surface faster than cold water can.
For residential concrete and hardscape, unheated water plus the correct cleaner and a surface cleaner gets the same result without the extra fuel cost. The thing that determines whether your driveway comes out evenly clean isn't heat — it's the tool and the technique.
Battle Born handles driveway cleaning across the Loganville area with published, up-front pricing — the price you see is the price you pay. No callback runaround.
What matters more than heat: PSI, GPM, and the surface cleaner
Two numbers describe any machine: PSI (pressure) and GPM (gallons per minute, or flow). Most homeowners obsess over PSI, but GPM is what actually rinses dirt away — flow does the carrying. A high-PSI, low-flow consumer unit cleans slowly and streaks; a balanced professional unit with strong flow cleans evenly.
The bigger factor is the attachment. A flat surface cleaner — a spinning bar of jets inside a round shroud — gives an even, edge-to-edge finish on flatwork. A handheld wand at full pressure leaves zebra stripes and can etch concrete. If an operator is wand-only on your driveway, that's the red flag, not whether their water is hot.
And the method that beats both on siding and roofs
Neither hot nor cold high pressure belongs on house siding or a roof. Those surfaces get soft washing — cleaning solution at low pressure that kills algae at the root and rinses away. High pressure, heated or not, drives water behind siding and strips roof granules. So the real decision tree isn't 'pressure vs power' — it's 'high pressure for concrete, soft wash for the house.'