If you’ve been thinking about upgrading your lawn gear to electric power, this episode of EV Rider is for you.
The best advice I can offer you if you’re just starting out in either buying lawn gear for the first time or switching to electric is to think in terms of a unified system.
What I mean by that is consider getting as many electric lawn tools as possible with the same battery system.
For example, in my case I have four Black and Decker products; a blower/vacuum, hedge trimmer, tree branch trimmer and edger that all use interchangeable batteries.
In my case I did spread out the purchases over several years, and yes, the technology did change so in the end I purchased a Ryobi lawn mower that uses a different battery system. It’s OK, but it’s not ideal, because if you can stick to one brand you may be able to utilize those batteries across more appliances, which will save you money since you won’t have to buy as many batteries, which is the biggest expense when switching over to electric.
In terms of features, I’m sure you’re going to want to look for the same things that you would look for in gasoline-powered gear. In my case when it came to the lawn mower, I wanted one that was self-propelled, included bagging, was light as well as easy to fold up and put away in the garage.
Using electric lawn gear saves me time. I don’t have to go get gas anymore and maintenance is practically non-existent since there’s no oil, air filters or spark plugs.
As an example, the Ryobi electric lawn mower I own is easier to keep going. With gas, I would run out of power about 3/4 of the way through mowing. I would have to head back to the garage to get more gas. Since the Ryobi holds two batteries, if one runs out, I just switch to the other in about 15 seconds and keep mowing.
If you do switch to electric, your ears are going to thank you because electric motors like the ones found on mowers, blowers, etc., are quieter gas engines. Another great thing about having electric lawn gear is the batteries can be also used as a generator in the event of a power outage.
In my case I bought a 300-watt inverter, which cost me about $70 at the time I purchased it. It’s enough to run my TV, speakers, DVD player and a light for about an hour-and-a-half. Much more powerful inverters that can even run refrigerators are also available, such as Ryobi’s 1,800-watt portable generator.
I’m purposely avoiding recommending specific gear in this post because I haven’t personally tested all the brands out there but here are a few tips to get you started:
- Pick a brand that you know you can get serviced if anything ever goes wrong. This is one of those times where you might want to buy from your local brick-n-mortar like Lowes or Home Depot in case you ever have a warranty claim.
- In the case of my lawn gear, I went with Ryobi and Black and Decker but some other well-known electric brands to consider include Ego, Greenworks and Workx.
- Also, a quick note about batteries. Don’t let the high price of OEM batteries scare you. For example, a factory OEM replacement Ryobi battery for my mower cost $189 at the time of this post based on a Home Depot price check I did. But I bought an aftermarket battery on Amazon for $79 and it’s still going strong after two years. Better yet, the aftermarket battery has a longer run time. So be sure to shop around.
In terms of upfront costs, you may find some items are more expensive than equivalent gas-powered gear but remember you’re not going to need to buy gas, oil, air filters or spark plugs.
In terms of fuel costs, think pennies instead of dollars. Electricity is much cheaper. For a look at exactly how much cheaper, check out this video:
If you’ve got any questions about switching over to electric lawn gear, post them in the comments on my YouTube channel and I’ll do my best to answer them and if you’ve found this video or post helpful, please give it a like and subscribe the EV Rider YouTube channel.