Students invent quieter leaf blower • Hacker News Board

Re: Students invent quieter leaf blower

#71

Post by bhandziuk » Sat, May 18, 2024, 12:01 PM UTC

jdc0589 wrote: post #49

cwmma wrote: post #48

It's mentioned in the article but easy to miss, this is an improvement on the already much much quieter electric leaf blowers that are readily available. The ones you are thinking of are two stroke gas powered ones which are loud as fuck and terrible for the environment, anyone using one of those could have gotten a quieter electric one but chose not to, which means they definitely aren't going to use this improved e…

You are right, and I agree with the last bit for the record. But, keep in mind that "just going electric" isn't a good option universally. It's MUCH more expensive to put together an electric setup and the number of batteries necessary to do any significant amount of work than it is to buy even a mid range backpack 2-stroke blower. Especially if you do what a lot of people do and look for used equipment to save a ton…

I use a corded electric blower (it's also the motor for a shop vac). It works very well for the driveway, blowing out the garage and, for the very rare times I've done it, leaves on grass.

Re: Students invent quieter leaf blower

#72

Post by donkeyboy » Sat, May 18, 2024, 12:18 PM UTC

cnity wrote: post #46

KingOfCoders wrote: post #17

After reading all comments, not rushing to the comments, I have to say, I have a quiet leaf blower to, it is, as mentioned in this thread somewhere else, a rake and I would appreciate if more people would use one.

Hear hear. Rakes can be more efficient[0], provide an upper-body workout, minimise impact to the environment, make next to no sound, cost almost nothing, and provide a relaxing experience if you know how to embrace it. I suppose these days people take techno-efficiency over all else to the point of ruining the environment, other people's peace, their own air quality, their own wallet, and so on, all so that they can…

This video is way too funny. Thank you for sharing.

Re: Students invent quieter leaf blower

#73

Post by atlas_hugged » Sat, May 18, 2024, 8:41 PM UTC

8xeh wrote: post #62

jasode wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>a rake and I would appreciate if more people would use one. Most of the leaf blower noise in neighborhoods is cleaning up tiny grass clippings off of driveways and sidewalks instead of handling the Fall season's dead leaves, like this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ak5VoB-ceeU&t=0m06s Rakes don't help with grass cuttings. People could use brooms to sweep up the grass but homeowners and lawn crews don't do it that…

Most of the leaf blower noise in my neighborhood is the one or two guys on the crew who's job it is to run the leaf blower while the other guys are doing the lawn mowing or edging. If it was that guy's job to use a rake and broom instead of a leaf blower, the same amount of cleaning would be done.

Try doing that 12 hours a day 5-6 days a week for 1 year and report back your findings to us.

Re: Students invent quieter leaf blower

#74

Post by insane_dreamer » Sat, May 18, 2024, 10:34 PM UTC

I really hate leaf blowers. They are the main generator of noise in our neighborhood and they don’t conserve that much energy in most cases than a rake (and in some cases are less efficient). I’d be happy if they were banned in residential neighborhoods. Edit: not the mention the pollution from the gas powered ones which most are.

Re: Students invent quieter leaf blower

#75

Post by jdc0589 » Wed, May 22, 2024, 3:34 PM UTC

bhandziuk wrote: post #71

jdc0589 wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You are right, and I agree with the last bit for the record. But, keep in mind that "just going electric" isn't a good option universally. It's MUCH more expensive to put together an electric setup and the number of batteries necessary to do any significant amount of work than it is to buy even a mid range backpack 2-stroke blower. Especially if you do what a lot of people do and look for used equipment to save a ton…

I use a corded electric blower (it's also the motor for a shop vac). It works very well for the driveway, blowing out the garage and, for the very rare times I've done it, leaves on grass.

corded ones can be great. I moved to a battery powered one for cleaning gutters because eventually the cord was going to trip me on the roof and cause a fall.

obviously less convenient than gas or battery, but they can be good for stuff reasonably close to your house.