A group of activists got leaf blowers banned in the nation’s capital (2019)

Post by googlryas » Thu, Aug 04, 2022, 3:44 PM UTC

Sankozi wrote: post #61

showerst wrote: post #32

I live in DC, a few bits of info about why it makes sense here, and may not make sense in your home: 1. They didn't ban leaf blowers, the banned _gas_ leaf blowers. Electric ones are quieter, inexpensive, and work just as well nowadays. My building has an electric Milwaukee that was 200 bucks and lasts all afternoon on a battery or two. 2. This isn't about people wanting to manicure their lawns out in the burbs at 7a…

> They didn't ban leaf blowers, the banned _gas_ leaf blowers. Electric ones are quieter, inexpensive, and work just as well nowadays. While noise is an issue with gas blowers, the biggest issue with all kinds of blowers is how much air pollution they cause by putting dust back into the air.

Post by culi » Thu, Aug 04, 2022, 3:46 PM UTC

causi wrote: post #94

rob74 wrote: post #75

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I would really wish other cities followed suit. And I propose to extend this to a ban on all devices with noisy and smelly two-stroke engines: chainsaws, lawn mowers, motor scooters etc. The scooters may not be a problem in Washington, but anyone who has ever been to an Italian or Spanish city can probably relate...

Wanna ban stuff based on noise pollution? Fine, I'll give up my gas mower as long as I never have to hear some jerk on a motorcycle blast through my neighborhood ever again.

Post by mech987 » Thu, Aug 04, 2022, 3:49 PM UTC

rob74 wrote: post #104

UpstandingUser wrote: post #98

Earlier quoted context omitted.

California banned gas chainsaw sales last year IIRC. It was such a poorly worded law that firefighters and loggers have to go out of state to buy them, instead of it being a prohibition on suburban homeowners using them. The electric saws aren't practical in the woods at all because the battery and spares are so big and heavy. It's hard to beat the energy density of gasoline. Also electric saws are a damn hazard comp…

> They cut right through safety chaps, no problem Ouch! I assume that's a combination between the higher torque of an electric motor and shoddy low cost Chinese engineering?

Post by afiori » Thu, Aug 04, 2022, 3:52 PM UTC

rektide wrote: post #101

koheripbal wrote: post #72

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The issue with the electric ones is that those lawn care companies have crews that run leaf blowers all day long from one house to another. This is no longer possible as they take hours to recharge after each use. It works if each home owner buys a leaf blower of his own, but that's way less efficient from a manufacturing/maintenance perspective. We're just increasing inefficiencies.

These folks can have multiple batteries. That's the real answer, imo. Greenwork's Pro backpack's runtime is 37 minutes at full power on their 60V 8Ah battery (~1/2kWh). Yeah, it's a $300 battery. But with a 4 year warranty, and much longer expected life-time, buying 3-6 for each blower you've got is scary upfront but a drop in the bucket over time. There's some other sub-optimal options, but hopefully we don't see th…

Post by em-bee » Thu, Aug 04, 2022, 3:58 PM UTC

rob74 wrote: post #75

showerst wrote: post #32

I live in DC, a few bits of info about why it makes sense here, and may not make sense in your home: 1. They didn't ban leaf blowers, the banned _gas_ leaf blowers. Electric ones are quieter, inexpensive, and work just as well nowadays. My building has an electric Milwaukee that was 200 bucks and lasts all afternoon on a battery or two. 2. This isn't about people wanting to manicure their lawns out in the burbs at 7a…

I would really wish other cities followed suit. And I propose to extend this to a ban on all devices with noisy and smelly two-stroke engines: chainsaws, lawn mowers, motor scooters etc. The scooters may not be a problem in Washington, but anyone who has ever been to an Italian or Spanish city can probably relate...