5 ms·

The gas leaf blower also is also burning gas, and hence adding that particulate matter in addition to what gets stirred up.

aidenn0 3y ago
It's not just burning gas; as a 2-stroke engine, it's burning a gas/oil mixture that is even dirtier than burning just gasoline.
jrflowers 3y ago
That makes sense. I am curious as to how big the difference the power source makes for a machine that’s purpose-made to kick up particulate matter up into the air from the ground.
- roywiggins 3y ago
  2-stroke engines in general are awful for air quality. https://phys.org/news/2014-05-two-stroke-scooters-super-polluters.html https://phys.org/news/2014-05-two-stroke-scooters-super-poll...
  - jrflowers 3y ago
    I believe that! I am curious as to how big the difference the power source makes for a machine that’s purpose-made to kick up particulate matter up into the air from the ground though.
    - ztrww 3y ago
      Did anyone imply there was a difference (besides electric ones possibly being less powerful)?
      - jrflowers 3y ago
        If you scroll up this thread you will see where the discussion began. Edit: For example, you’ll see where I asked my initial question here https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=36501689 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=36501689
    - Fomite 3y ago
      Purely anecdote, but my neighbor uses a gas leaf blower and we use an electric one, and our yards are broadly similar. The difference is notable.
      - jrflowers 3y ago
        How?
        83 3y ago
        The electric blower yard probably still has leaves on it. I'm all for electrifying yard tools, but electric blowers still aren't anywhere near a high end Stihl or Husqvarna in performance.
        Fomite 3y ago
        We both kick up a fair amount of fines, but there's also a noticeable amount of fairly dirty output from the gas blower.
    - comedowntous 3y ago
      It's in that CARB report posted above: https://ww2.arb.ca.gov/sites/default/files/2018-11/Health%20and%20Environmental%20Impacts%20of%20Leaf%20Blowers.pdf https://ww2.arb.ca.gov/sites/default/files/2018-11/Health%20... Compare Table 3 to Table 5. PM emissions from exhaust are on the order of 1 gram per hour. Whereas fugitive dust emissions, depending on the surface, are 100s or 1000s of grams per hour.

aidenn0 3y ago

It's not just burning gas; as a 2-stroke engine, it's burning a gas/oil mixture that is even dirtier than burning just gasoline.

jrflowers 3y ago

That makes sense. I am curious as to how big the difference the power source makes for a machine that’s purpose-made to kick up particulate matter up into the air from the ground.

roywiggins 3y ago
2-stroke engines in general are awful for air quality. https://phys.org/news/2014-05-two-stroke-scooters-super-polluters.html https://phys.org/news/2014-05-two-stroke-scooters-super-poll...
- jrflowers 3y ago
  I believe that! I am curious as to how big the difference the power source makes for a machine that’s purpose-made to kick up particulate matter up into the air from the ground though.
  - ztrww 3y ago
    Did anyone imply there was a difference (besides electric ones possibly being less powerful)?
    - jrflowers 3y ago
      If you scroll up this thread you will see where the discussion began. Edit: For example, you’ll see where I asked my initial question here https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=36501689 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=36501689
  - Fomite 3y ago
    Purely anecdote, but my neighbor uses a gas leaf blower and we use an electric one, and our yards are broadly similar. The difference is notable.
    - jrflowers 3y ago
      How?
      - 83 3y ago
        The electric blower yard probably still has leaves on it. I'm all for electrifying yard tools, but electric blowers still aren't anywhere near a high end Stihl or Husqvarna in performance.
      - Fomite 3y ago
        We both kick up a fair amount of fines, but there's also a noticeable amount of fairly dirty output from the gas blower.
  - comedowntous 3y ago
    It's in that CARB report posted above: https://ww2.arb.ca.gov/sites/default/files/2018-11/Health%20and%20Environmental%20Impacts%20of%20Leaf%20Blowers.pdf https://ww2.arb.ca.gov/sites/default/files/2018-11/Health%20... Compare Table 3 to Table 5. PM emissions from exhaust are on the order of 1 gram per hour. Whereas fugitive dust emissions, depending on the surface, are 100s or 1000s of grams per hour.