For your purpose you will need as high a wattage as you can get. Al

I believe the one my dad gave me before he passed away is 100 watt. I use it for making holes in containers and for elting the ends of nylon braiding rope.

What is the "trigger" for on my Dad's old soldering gun? (circa 1960s or 1970s - Sears Craftsman)

If you are going to buy something just to make holes, I would suggest getting a cordless drill. I know many people use soldering iron to melt plastic, but melting plastic gives toxic fume.

It is probably ok if you are not doing a lot and do it outdoor, but you don't have to worry about it with a drill; plus you can do much more with a drill (except that you cannot do soldering with a drill).

But you cannot solder anything with a drill.

Drills do not always work on plastic and can shatter some types of plastic.

I bought my soldering iron, for soldering, more than fifty years ago. It is a Wen brand, 200 watts. It heats in less than a minute, has its own light, and as far as I know is only good for soldering. I also have several drills that do a good job making holes, but are worthless for soldering. Al

I read somewhere recently, don't recall where, that slits were better than holes for drainage. No explanation as to why. No other information either.

I expect that the slits prevent "stuff" from getting out. (Only water.)

nancyanne_2010
Being trained as a machinist, I am curious about shattering plastic with a drill. If one pushes hard using a dull bit, I can see where the plastic would break, but that would not be "drilling", that would we "forcing a steel rod through plastic causes it to break." (I would agree with you!)

A sharp bit, preferably a brad-point bit, should drill nicely through all plastics. The brad-point on the drill bit will prevent the bit from "walking" when you are trying to drill through smooth plastic.

MarkN