3 ms·

They are also nearly as loud to my ear as a gas one. Turns out blowing air is noisy.

modeless 2y ago
Maybe they sound loud when you're using them but the difference is night and day when you're a bit farther away. I haven't heard a single electric blower that's louder than the quietest gas blower. And honestly the air pollution is my bigger complaint.
- tracker1 2y ago
  Banning air freight would be more effective in terms of reducing pollution.
  - modeless 2y ago
    I'm not talking about CO2 for global warming here, it's negligible. This is local air pollution, polluting the air I breathe in my house and on my street. The other big offender in this category is wood smoke from fireplaces, which I would also be in favor of banning, though I understand this would be extremely unpopular (I know, I love a good fire too). People don't realize that wood smoke is every bit as harmful as cigarette smoke and much worse than modern car exhaust. Many (most?) days in winter around here fireplace smoke is by far the biggest contributor to general poor air quality, and then there are the days when my neighbor's chimney smoke blows directly into my yard where my children want to play, for hours...
    - tracker1 2y ago
      The city I'm in banned fireplaces in new houses a few decades ago. Of course, Phoenix is too hot far more than it resembles cold, and most will stay inside as much as possible for at least half the year.
kylebenzle 2y ago
I guess I'm glad we don't use your ear as a way to measure sound levels then because we would all be way off. Gas-powered leaf blowers typically operate around 90-100 decibels (dB), while electric leaf blowers usually range from 60-70 dB.
- jasomill 2y ago
  To put this into perspective, per Wikipedia[1]: 60 dB SPL: TV (set at home level) 100 dB SPL: Jackhammer [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sound_pressure#Examples_of_sound_pressure https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sound_pressure#Examples_of_sou...
  - raddan 2y ago
    Also, crucially, dB is a logarithmic scale. So 100 dB is MUCH louder than 70 dB.
    - ssl-3 2y ago
      Also, crucially: dB is a measure of sound pressure level at a point in space. It is not at all a measure of total sound output. And it tends to fall off at a rate of 6dB per doubling of distance. So by halving the measurement distance and changing nothing else, a thing reads as being about 6dB louder. And by doubling the measurement distance and changing nothing else, a thing reads as being about 6dB quieter. So stating that a jackhammer is 100dB and a television is 60dB is rather meaningless by itself. If the jackhammer is measured at 0.5 meters (the distance of the operator's ears, say) and the television is measured at 2 meters (the distance of the viewer's ears, say), then there is a measurement delta of 12dB, which is a difference more than an order of magnitude in energy intensity. And all we did to produce that massive delta was vary the distance where we've placed the meter. (And, no, there is no standard measurement distance. Loudspeakers are often [but not always!] measured at a distance of 1 meter, and generators are often [but not always!] measured at a distance of 20 feet. It needs to be explicitly stated. In all cases, if the only parameter relayed is "dB" then it doesn't really mean very much. And this isn't even getting into other important factors, like if the measurement is performed in a half-space or anechoic or whatever environment.)

Maybe they sound loud when you're using them but the difference is night and day when you're a bit farther away. I haven't heard a single electric blower that's louder than the quietest gas blower. And honestly the air pollution is my bigger complaint.

tracker1 2y ago
Banning air freight would be more effective in terms of reducing pollution.
- modeless 2y ago
  I'm not talking about CO2 for global warming here, it's negligible. This is local air pollution, polluting the air I breathe in my house and on my street. The other big offender in this category is wood smoke from fireplaces, which I would also be in favor of banning, though I understand this would be extremely unpopular (I know, I love a good fire too). People don't realize that wood smoke is every bit as harmful as cigarette smoke and much worse than modern car exhaust. Many (most?) days in winter around here fireplace smoke is by far the biggest contributor to general poor air quality, and then there are the days when my neighbor's chimney smoke blows directly into my yard where my children want to play, for hours...
  - tracker1 2y ago
    The city I'm in banned fireplaces in new houses a few decades ago. Of course, Phoenix is too hot far more than it resembles cold, and most will stay inside as much as possible for at least half the year.

kylebenzle 2y ago

I guess I'm glad we don't use your ear as a way to measure sound levels then because we would all be way off. Gas-powered leaf blowers typically operate around 90-100 decibels (dB), while electric leaf blowers usually range from 60-70 dB.

jasomill 2y ago
To put this into perspective, per Wikipedia[1]: 60 dB SPL: TV (set at home level) 100 dB SPL: Jackhammer [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sound_pressure#Examples_of_sound_pressure https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sound_pressure#Examples_of_sou...
- raddan 2y ago
  Also, crucially, dB is a logarithmic scale. So 100 dB is MUCH louder than 70 dB.
  - ssl-3 2y ago
    Also, crucially: dB is a measure of sound pressure level at a point in space. It is not at all a measure of total sound output. And it tends to fall off at a rate of 6dB per doubling of distance. So by halving the measurement distance and changing nothing else, a thing reads as being about 6dB louder. And by doubling the measurement distance and changing nothing else, a thing reads as being about 6dB quieter. So stating that a jackhammer is 100dB and a television is 60dB is rather meaningless by itself. If the jackhammer is measured at 0.5 meters (the distance of the operator's ears, say) and the television is measured at 2 meters (the distance of the viewer's ears, say), then there is a measurement delta of 12dB, which is a difference more than an order of magnitude in energy intensity. And all we did to produce that massive delta was vary the distance where we've placed the meter. (And, no, there is no standard measurement distance. Loudspeakers are often [but not always!] measured at a distance of 1 meter, and generators are often [but not always!] measured at a distance of 20 feet. It needs to be explicitly stated. In all cases, if the only parameter relayed is "dB" then it doesn't really mean very much. And this isn't even getting into other important factors, like if the measurement is performed in a half-space or anechoic or whatever environment.)