Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

California moves toward ban on gas lawnmowers and leaf blowers

latimes.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

21–30 of 155 posts

Re: California moves toward ban on gas lawnmowers and leaf blowers

#21

Post by dghughes »

I had an electric lawn mower it was great compared to gas mainly due to it being so quiet.

Charging wasn't too bad at first one battery for the front yard and one for the back. But then one battery would not charge as much or run for as long as when new. The store had moved on to new models so I couldnt buy a battery in store. Even if I could it was expensive $100, the mower cost $250. Online even the manufacturer seemed to have moved on and not have the battery type. But if it did price plus shipping and tax would be high.

It cut grass OK but if it was too long it would eat up the battery or stall. The grass catcher bag would also require more from the battery.

One day at three years old thw mower just quit. The good battery is OK so it must be the mower motor.

I looked at electric but the new ones are $500 they took a big jump in price. I bought a new gas mower.

Re: California moves toward ban on gas lawnmowers and leaf blowers

#22

Post by kevin_thibedeau »

PragmaticPulp wrote: post #16

This only applies to sales of new equipment starting in 2024. Existing equipment isn't banned. Good move, IMO. Electric yard equipment is now good enough that gas alternatives aren't necessary in most cases. Lawn care professionals will have to make a moderate investment in batteries up front, but even those are becoming more affordable and easier to charge on the go. The combination of multi-battery chargers and veh…

There aren't any self propelled walk behind electric mowers that can handle non-flat ground.

Re: California moves toward ban on gas lawnmowers and leaf blowers

#23

Post by tomp »

PragmaticPulp wrote: post #16

This only applies to sales of new equipment starting in 2024. Existing equipment isn't banned. Good move, IMO. Electric yard equipment is now good enough that gas alternatives aren't necessary in most cases. Lawn care professionals will have to make a moderate investment in batteries up front, but even those are becoming more affordable and easier to charge on the go. The combination of multi-battery chargers and veh…

> Electric yard equipment is now good enough that gas alternatives aren't necessary in most cases.

Have you used any? The batteries last 100x less than the tiny amount of petrol you pour into. You have to recharge 3x just to mow the whole (moderately sized) lawn. Hopefully newer models are better, but given the slow progress of car batteries, I doubt they're much better.

Re: California moves toward ban on gas lawnmowers and leaf blowers

#26

Post by PragmaticPulp »

dghughes wrote: post #21

I had an electric lawn mower it was great compared to gas mainly due to it being so quiet. Charging wasn't too bad at first one battery for the front yard and one for the back. But then one battery would not charge as much or run for as long as when new. The store had moved on to new models so I couldnt buy a battery in store. Even if I could it was expensive $100, the mower cost $250. Online even the manufacturer se…

There are services that will refurbish old batteries with new cells. Do some research to make sure you're buying from a trusted company, though.

Re: California moves toward ban on gas lawnmowers and leaf blowers

#27

Post by PragmaticPulp »

tomp wrote: post #23
PragmaticPulp wrote: post #16

This only applies to sales of new equipment starting in 2024. Existing equipment isn't banned. Good move, IMO. Electric yard equipment is now good enough that gas alternatives aren't necessary in most cases. Lawn care professionals will have to make a moderate investment in batteries up front, but even those are becoming more affordable and easier to charge on the go. The combination of multi-battery chargers and veh…

> Electric yard equipment is now good enough that gas alternatives aren't necessary in most cases. Have you used any? The batteries last 100x less than the tiny amount of petrol you pour into. You have to recharge 3x just to mow the whole (moderately sized) lawn. Hopefully newer models are better, but given the slow progress of car batteries, I doubt they're much better.

Yes, I use them every week and they're great.

They've come a long way in the past few years. If your only experience is from several years ago then it's nothing like modern tools. Definitely don't have to recharge to mow an entire lawn, or even recharge every week.

I expect they'll progress even more in the next few years before this law goes into effect.

Re: California moves toward ban on gas lawnmowers and leaf blowers

#28

Post by echopom »

> New portable gas-powered generators also must be zero-emissions by 2028

Fascinated by this large scale "green washing" taking place.

As of today 50% of the electricity made in california comes from natural gas...

On top of that an extra 37% of california electricity is imported from others states which are running mostly of natural gas...

You can also add an extra 30% of energy coming from petrol for cars , public transport and so forth.

Yet they go after "wind blower".

It baffles me.

Re: California moves toward ban on gas lawnmowers and leaf blowers

#29

Post by toomuchtodo »

tomp wrote: post #23
PragmaticPulp wrote: post #16

This only applies to sales of new equipment starting in 2024. Existing equipment isn't banned. Good move, IMO. Electric yard equipment is now good enough that gas alternatives aren't necessary in most cases. Lawn care professionals will have to make a moderate investment in batteries up front, but even those are becoming more affordable and easier to charge on the go. The combination of multi-battery chargers and veh…

> Electric yard equipment is now good enough that gas alternatives aren't necessary in most cases. Have you used any? The batteries last 100x less than the tiny amount of petrol you pour into. You have to recharge 3x just to mow the whole (moderately sized) lawn. Hopefully newer models are better, but given the slow progress of car batteries, I doubt they're much better.

The argument is we shouldn’t be dumping air quality externalities on everyone to have attractive landscaping.

Everyone is collectively used to burning fossil fuels without paying the true cost, and wrings their hands when they have to pay for their use case with zero emissions technology. The value of clean air is proven from scientific research on emissions.

https://www.niehs.nih.gov/health/topics/agents/air-pollution...

Re: California moves toward ban on gas lawnmowers and leaf blowers

#30

Post by drfxyjhdyfrhgc »

bob1029 wrote: post #9

I agree with all of this simply on grounds of noise pollution. My neighbor had been running a fucking 2 stroke pressure washer engine all weekend. I'm sure he thinks he's being helpful cleaning all that concrete that people drive on, but it's hell to live next to. At what point do you get to call the cops on someone for this?

>At what point do you get to call the cops on someone for this?

Hopefully some time after you have a polite discussion with them about it.

Post reply on HN