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Well, fact is they're very, very useful. I spent a solid couple of decades poo pooing them. Finally tried one, and was instantly sold. It's not just the time sa
by xoa 3y ago
Well, fact is they're very, very useful. I spent a solid couple of decades poo pooing them. Finally tried one, and was instantly sold. It's not just the time savings either, blowers allow doing jobs that just aren't very feasible otherwise. I can get rid of leaves and debris from stony/leafy surfaces and structures that can't be raked. I can clear snow from rough whole rock paths all winter, and it will completely clear the rocks and get between them unlike snow shoveling, which prevents the snow from getting compacted and turning to ice. I eliminated like 99% of the need to ever apply any sand or ice melt when I switched to clearing with a blower. Feet of snow on cars, my solar panels, etc can be blasted off quickly and effectively with zero risk of surface scratching. The ROI has been high, even though I don't actually use them for leaves on my lawn those I just mulch. But getting acorns and such off the lawn and blowing leaves onto it from driveway and walkways for mulching is helpful.
However mixed fuel ones really do suck, but happily electric ones are finally getting really solid too. I got an Ego 600 CFM as soon as it became available and while air velocity and total volume are somewhat lower than my Stihl it was able to take over a good 70% of the work. For this fall and winter season (about a month ago) I got an upgraded 800 CFM Ego Commercial one that takes double battery packs and look forward to putting it through its full paces, but so far I'd estimate that has closed the gap to something like 90-95%. Maybe even enough to completely get rid of the gas though the winter will be the real proof. But the pace of advancement has been pretty solid. They're far far quieter, they don't produce all the awful fumes, they're incredibly reliable and convenient in terms of instant start.
The remaining flies in the ointment are just lack of standardization in batteries and interfaces and upfront battery cost (when used a decent amount I think the value vs cost of fuel and oil is often positive over lifetime, but that doesn't change the fact that it's hard for many people to plunk down hundreds/thousands upfront vs as opex buying fuel). Both hopefully will get addressed over time. But I think at least the capabilities to match/exceed 2-stroke in raw performance is there for nearly everyone which is a good change and makes it politically much easier for governments to step in and start accelerating the transition.
- downut 3y agoNew electric blower owner here, thanks for the additional detail. Mine has 2 batteries too and I don't come close to discharging them in 15 minutes, so a big win. I don't think I've had to use the maximum flow setting yet.
- xoa 3y agoYeah, with the largest batteries available (12aH, which is perfectly doable with a decent backpack system since the weight isn't on what you're holding) I've used mine up to 40-50 minutes in terms of continuous run at maximum power, which is extremely solid imo. Another nice aspect about electric is that when you're not actively blowing it's using zero energy, whereas once started a gas one is constantly using some fuel even when you're just walking around. Using a blower on a larger area often involves a fair amount of blowing-then-repositioning in order to herd things where you want them to go. So 30-50min of continuous run time can represent 1-2 hours of actual usage, which is also about as much (or more) as I'd ever want to do without stopping for a break anyway. And then of course can in principle just swap to new batteries anyway, though that increases TCO.
- Teever 3y ago> It's not just the time savings either, blowers allow doing jobs that just aren't very feasible otherwise. Well I'm sold. How did humanity survive without such a life changing invention? /s But seriously. What are the things that you couldn't do before that you've suddenly discovered that you can't live without?
- JoeAltmaier 3y agoYou could hire a peasant to do it for instance. Great! Let's go back to that.
- xoa 3y ago>Well I'm sold. How did humanity survive without such a life changing invention? >But seriously. What are the things that you couldn't do before that you've suddenly discovered that you can't live without? This is a bad faith logical fallacy, namely an Appeal to Extremes amongst other ones. "This provides value" is not remotely synonymous with "can't live without". "Humanity survived" without antibiotics, vaccines, electricity in general, houses, or Hacker News. That does not necessarily mean we were better off without them or that it's wrong to choose to spend some energy budget on them so long as externalities are accounted for. I explained how I found it very valuable, albeit without getting into things like slip risk on ice or leaves, increasing numbers of ticks and disease risk from them, difficulties as one gets older etc. How about you explain why electric blowers powered by my solar panels are a bad thing?