LogFAQs > #972906085

Did most people not read the article and just thought it was all about noise only? It's a bit about noise, but money and environmental concerns along with how efficient using electric is vs gas in terms of workload.

There are some salient points made.

Gas blowers run from 80 to 90 decibels, versus 59 to 70 decibels for electric blowers, according to the website LeafScore.

But tbh I don't care about the sound, but this part is a bit worrisome.

The environmental benefits of going electric are substantial. Since gas-powered lawn tools lack catalytic converters, which lower emissions and are used in cars and trucks, using a gas-powered lawn mower for an hour creates as much climate pollution as driving 300 miles in an average car, according to the California Air Resources Board. And because leaf blowers typically use especially fuel-hungry two-stroke engines, running a gas leaf blower for an hour is equal to an 1,100-mile drive.

That's a bit intense. I thought it was some made up stat, that maybe this california air resources board is one of those sham statistics places. But no, it's "real" as far as I can follow it.

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/3/5/5/AABn_6AAEZF7.png
https://ww2.arb.ca.gov/our-work/topics/lawn-garden-landscape-equipment
Sourced from here.

Honestly the emissions IS concerning and the switch to electric WOULD be better but then we have these other good points made AGAINST going electric.

Its not that hard to see [switching to electric] in weed whackers, edge trimmers and possibly chain saws. You can use it in a chain saw for trimming, but if youre cutting up large logs, youre not going to get as far with battery-powered equipment with where were at right now. And the same goes with leaf blowers.

So basically in terms of landscapers this switch will hurt them. Which makes sense, but if every consumer took care of their own land scaping maybe going electric isn't so bad. Being electric and doing land scaping for ten houses will suck ass I will admit that. And this is also another point built in. Using an electric chainsaw for trimming IS easy, but using it for a log? Much less MULTIPLE logs will suck ass. I give it to them here for these points.

Some also raise questions about the environmental, labor and human rights implications of mining for minerals used in batteries such as cobalt.

This is also another good point. What's the end goal, short or long term environmental damage vs ethics of mining cobalt. I can't really say much. I would like to believe in the long term benefits of electric however.

Some environmental experts counter that the savings on gasoline will more than even out the cost of switching to electric. The Smart Energy Design Assistance Center calculates that in 600 hours of use and with gasoline at $4.50 per gallon, a gas mower will use $3,200 worth of gasoline, whereas using an electric mower for 600 hours at 12 cents per kilowatt hour will cost $108.

A contractor would have to purchase a battery charger and nine batteries to get through peak leaf season, Woolcott said. Lawn mower batteries typically cost between $100 and $300 and last three to five years.

This is another solid point in terms of savings for the long run. However these batteries may not do so well when you're trying to cut down tons of logs like explained above.

Woolcott said her landscapers' organization supports the long-term switch to electric equipment. Its just a question of phasing it in more gradually, she said, so owners of gas equipment can wait until the end of its natural lifespan to buy electric replacements. She also wants to see some of the environmental concerns around batteries addressed the risk of fire from overheating, and the fact that New Jersey has no program for recycling batteries before a mandate kicks in.
At some point, it would be made up for by the gas savings, but not upfront, Woolcott said.

Even the owner of a landscaping organization sees potential in electric. I'd say doing the phasing out while landscapers get kickbacks possibly for going electric is the best way to go about all of this.

Outside of all this, this was a surprisingly well researched article. I'm shocked, usually articles are half assed but this one kind of goes over both sides and explains both perspectives.