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.
That's one of the reasons I went with corded... It's a little annoying, but a fraction of the cost, never runs out of juice, I never forget to charge it, and only thing I've had to do in years is replace the blade.
In most of these types of articles, no one mentions the problems that batteries are going to cause... (environment and convenience)
I bought an Ego+ leafblower in Home Depot about 7 or so years ago. It was around $500 and the best garden related purchase I made so far. It is still going strong, there is literally no maintenance to perform, it's quiet, does not smell, starts instantly. I don't have to remember to discard fuel at the end of the lawn mowing season, no need to do oil changes etc.
A+ will buy again.
The battery issue is why I’ll only consider companies that make the OPE (outdoor power equipment) as a side part of their main battery powered tool business.
Milwaukee’s M18 mower is coming out next year and I’ll be getting that.
If you’re not a professional landscaper, consider getting a plug-in lawnmower. I used them throughout the 2000s and 2010s when one of my childhood chores was lawn mowing. I never encountered any of these problems.
The part of this that is actually worrying to me is this also includes gas, diesel, and propane powered electric generators.
My parents live multiple hours north of the bay in the woods along the border of Jackson state forest and rely on their generator a few times a year. Their property is heavily wooded (lots of coastal redwoods) and on the north facing side of a mountain (it’s in the shade most of the day for most of the year), making both home solar and wind impractical.
With PG&E doing power cuts, they need some way to power the fridge, furnace, and sump pump. They had their power cut for two weeks at the beginning of this year because of a winter storm, and had to run the generator a bunch. It’s one thing to have backup batteries to cover a day or two without power, but they’d need half a megawatt hour of batteries to cover the multiple week outages they’ve already experienced.
It’s one thing to convert equipment from gas to electric where it makes sense, a wholesale ban on fuel powered equipment regardless of the situation is a bit asinine.
The article mentions that the restrictions for generators aren't planned to take effect until much later (2028), and that can be postponed by CARB. Also, it's only for portable generators. If you're relying on generator power multiple times per year, it probably makes sense to get one permanently installed.
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?
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 vehicles with built-in AC inverters (new electric F-150 is brilliant) means the batteries can even be charged straight off of the truck, eliminating the need to carry gasoline around or even stop at gas stations at all.
> 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.
> means the batteries can even be charged straight off of the truck
Get a bunch of long extensions cords on those crank reels and put em in the back of the truck. Batteries are a huge waste of money/time/environment if a corded tool will do the job. You would probably still keep a few cordless on the work truck just in case you need to get to some place far away or high up (e.g. the chainsaw example).
Totally second this but on a different ground. It's simply the noise it makes.
Many people have been left trapped at home, working remotely as a result of Covid. A noisy machine, such as a gas-powered leaf blower, can disrupt a peaceful neighborhood day. Imagine your neighbor to your left mowing the lawn at 8 a.m., then neighbor to your right at 9 a.m., then another cross the street started at 10 a.m., and on and on.. It made our already dismal lockdown, stay-at-home life even more despised!
We are in dire need of much quieter neighborhood leaf blower.
While I can get on board with restricting 2-stroke engines in most cases (there’s still many situations where there’s no viable substitutes), I’m puzzled how they expect to have gas-powered generators be zero emission. That seems to defy the laws of physics and chemistry.
By definition, people use generators when there’s no source of mains power, whether that’s during a power outage or needing to use electric devices in a remote area, job site, etc. I don’t see how requiring such things to work on battery power (from where would they charge their batteries?) would be viable in any way.
That said, I wish they’d consider the use of alternative fuels (like propane), particularly for things like generators and larger equipment like riding mowers. Most 4-stroke engines can easily run on propane and dual-fuel devices like generators are already commonly available. Propane burns very cleanly, efficiently, is inexpensive, widely available, easy to store, and doesn’t go stale like gasoline.
All new car and truck sales in the state must be electric by 2035. San Jose had already mandated new residential construction to be electric only. There are solar incentives. It’s not just “wind blowers”.
Power conversion inefficiency, distribution matrix maintenance, demand pressure on local energy price, adding toxic batteries and more complex machines to the system, not accounted for.
Its about socialising and shifting blame onto the consumer rather than resolving the problem at source, ie with the corporations.
Corporations have lobbists to ensure that they will not be out of pocket as people transition to 'green energy' - in fact they hope that this will be a new growth opportunity.
yah, this is the type of thing that i’d nominally support (hate the twice weekly immersion in unburnt pollution wafting into my apartment), but it’s so far down the list of things that can meaningfully reduce pollution, it’s farcical. but lawmakers are going to pat themselves on the back and toot their own horns like they’d saved the world once again.
this kind of law is straight up distraction. energy production and transportation (and industry after that) are where we’ll have actual, material impact, and where our sole focus should be in this regard.
Landscaping companies will pass their transition costs on to their (generally rich-ish and/or corporate) customers, who have been benefiting disproportionately from what is essentially a commons, for a long time. The majority of people meanwhile, mow their own lawns, and will find the typical battery-powered mower cost-effective, adequate to the task, quieter, and more convenient because there's no need to bring fuel from off site.
These engines are not great and I don’t mind the ban in my town. That said it was temporarily an excuse for people to be incredibly rude to folks who keep our homes maintained. I paid a my landscaper’s fine while they figured out the ordinance.
Reading a little further this is a comprehensive ban on an engine class…I wonder if the CA legislature understands that small engine chainsaws are an essential tool in wildland firefighting?
It's funny that people who go out of their way to announce their "support" for marginalized people don't bother asking the gardeners who use them why they use them.
In California those are overwhelmingly Mexican, and they're working in the hot sun to feed their families. They use a leaf blower because it lets them get done faster and make a little more money.
Leaf blowers are used by firms and public agencies because it lets the work get done with fewer labor-hours, reducing labor costs and overall labor demand. By number of firms that may mostly be small independent gardeners, but weighted by CO2 output its probably not.
(Pigovian taxes would be better, ignoring implementation and administration costs, than a straight ban, but simple gas taxes either overcharge cars or undercharge tools like this, which are vastly worse per gallon of gas consumed.)
Why is it, then, that whenever there's a city hearing about this (and Palo Alto, Menlo Park, and other affluent cities), the gardeners always show up and testify against it?
Then, are you considering power converting inefficiencies, relying in a distribution matrix, burdening the local power production, maybe making prices go up, and adding toxic batteries that end up in a land fill ?
But for people money and beautiful grass is more important than the environment
I'm guessing this also affects ultralight aircraft (offroad small engine). It would be nice if CA is going to pursue this if they could also make a push to increase the FAA allowed weight limit to 300lbs (equivalent of 254 lbs empty + 5 gal fuel, not counting ballistic parachute). Battery weight makes it tricky to meet the weight limit.
It would be more significative to REDUCE the spent power, instead of changing the power storage from hydrocarbon to battery, e.g. change the grass to something that doesn't require trimming as often, or at all, like clovers.
But for people, beautiful grass is more important than the environment.
I haven’t read the law but usually these bans are announced ahead of time and are bans on purchases of new equipment. So they do result in gradual phase outs.
I read the article. The ban goes into effect in 3 years. And there is a carve out for zero emission gas ones too.
Seems entirely reasonable. The state of corded and even cordless tools is pretty solid these days with lithium ion and 48V batteries etc.
How to get around the paywall: in UBlockOrigin, select Block element, select the annoying paywall popup, Create in UBlock, then print the page in your browser (don't actually print), you can read the website in your print dialog.
[+] [-] neonate|4 years ago|reply
[+] [-] dghughes|4 years ago|reply
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.
[+] [-] spikej|4 years ago|reply
In most of these types of articles, no one mentions the problems that batteries are going to cause... (environment and convenience)
[+] [-] chokolad|4 years ago|reply
[+] [-] bombcar|4 years ago|reply
Milwaukee’s M18 mower is coming out next year and I’ll be getting that.
[+] [-] RickJWagner|4 years ago|reply
I wish they'd have mandatory battery shapes and standards. I think that would go a long way towards preventing death-by-unsupported-batteries.
[+] [-] jdavis703|4 years ago|reply
[+] [-] PragmaticPulp|4 years ago|reply
[+] [-] Teknoman117|4 years ago|reply
My parents live multiple hours north of the bay in the woods along the border of Jackson state forest and rely on their generator a few times a year. Their property is heavily wooded (lots of coastal redwoods) and on the north facing side of a mountain (it’s in the shade most of the day for most of the year), making both home solar and wind impractical.
With PG&E doing power cuts, they need some way to power the fridge, furnace, and sump pump. They had their power cut for two weeks at the beginning of this year because of a winter storm, and had to run the generator a bunch. It’s one thing to have backup batteries to cover a day or two without power, but they’d need half a megawatt hour of batteries to cover the multiple week outages they’ve already experienced.
It’s one thing to convert equipment from gas to electric where it makes sense, a wholesale ban on fuel powered equipment regardless of the situation is a bit asinine.
[+] [-] wtallis|4 years ago|reply
[+] [-] bob1029|4 years ago|reply
[+] [-] drfxyjhdyfrhgc|4 years ago|reply
Hopefully some time after you have a polite discussion with them about it.
[+] [-] ericbarrett|4 years ago|reply
[+] [-] PragmaticPulp|4 years ago|reply
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 vehicles with built-in AC inverters (new electric F-150 is brilliant) means the batteries can even be charged straight off of the truck, eliminating the need to carry gasoline around or even stop at gas stations at all.
[+] [-] tomp|4 years ago|reply
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.
[+] [-] bob1029|4 years ago|reply
Get a bunch of long extensions cords on those crank reels and put em in the back of the truck. Batteries are a huge waste of money/time/environment if a corded tool will do the job. You would probably still keep a few cordless on the work truck just in case you need to get to some place far away or high up (e.g. the chainsaw example).
[+] [-] chenster|4 years ago|reply
Many people have been left trapped at home, working remotely as a result of Covid. A noisy machine, such as a gas-powered leaf blower, can disrupt a peaceful neighborhood day. Imagine your neighbor to your left mowing the lawn at 8 a.m., then neighbor to your right at 9 a.m., then another cross the street started at 10 a.m., and on and on.. It made our already dismal lockdown, stay-at-home life even more despised!
We are in dire need of much quieter neighborhood leaf blower.
[+] [-] echopom|4 years ago|reply
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.
[+] [-] heypete|4 years ago|reply
By definition, people use generators when there’s no source of mains power, whether that’s during a power outage or needing to use electric devices in a remote area, job site, etc. I don’t see how requiring such things to work on battery power (from where would they charge their batteries?) would be viable in any way.
That said, I wish they’d consider the use of alternative fuels (like propane), particularly for things like generators and larger equipment like riding mowers. Most 4-stroke engines can easily run on propane and dual-fuel devices like generators are already commonly available. Propane burns very cleanly, efficiently, is inexpensive, widely available, easy to store, and doesn’t go stale like gasoline.
[+] [-] minitoar|4 years ago|reply
[+] [-] LatinAmerican|4 years ago|reply
Power conversion inefficiency, distribution matrix maintenance, demand pressure on local energy price, adding toxic batteries and more complex machines to the system, not accounted for.
[+] [-] verisimi|4 years ago|reply
Corporations have lobbists to ensure that they will not be out of pocket as people transition to 'green energy' - in fact they hope that this will be a new growth opportunity.
[+] [-] clairity|4 years ago|reply
this kind of law is straight up distraction. energy production and transportation (and industry after that) are where we’ll have actual, material impact, and where our sole focus should be in this regard.
[+] [-] short12|4 years ago|reply
They for hours on end and kick up tons of dust for people with asma. With zero actual before other than a pretty looking patch of concrete
They should just be banned in all forms as they serve very little positive with much larger negatives
[+] [-] rdiddly|4 years ago|reply
[+] [-] sklargh|4 years ago|reply
Reading a little further this is a comprehensive ban on an engine class…I wonder if the CA legislature understands that small engine chainsaws are an essential tool in wildland firefighting?
[+] [-] Cupertino95014|4 years ago|reply
In California those are overwhelmingly Mexican, and they're working in the hot sun to feed their families. They use a leaf blower because it lets them get done faster and make a little more money.
[+] [-] TanakaTarou|4 years ago|reply
[+] [-] short12|4 years ago|reply
I certainly won't weap if the entire leaf blower industry flat out dies
[+] [-] dragonwriter|4 years ago|reply
(Pigovian taxes would be better, ignoring implementation and administration costs, than a straight ban, but simple gas taxes either overcharge cars or undercharge tools like this, which are vastly worse per gallon of gas consumed.)
[+] [-] AlbertCory|4 years ago|reply
[+] [-] unknown|4 years ago|reply
[deleted]
[+] [-] LatinAmerican|4 years ago|reply
Then, are you considering power converting inefficiencies, relying in a distribution matrix, burdening the local power production, maybe making prices go up, and adding toxic batteries that end up in a land fill ?
But for people money and beautiful grass is more important than the environment
Edit: Spelling
[+] [-] NaturalPhallacy|4 years ago|reply
So all the private companies out there are still making everyone miserable at least once a week. Such obnoxious machines.
[+] [-] david38|4 years ago|reply
There are other problems with blowers - they’re generally bad for the soil, but I’ll take the small win.
[+] [-] giantg2|4 years ago|reply
[+] [-] LatinAmerican|4 years ago|reply
But for people, beautiful grass is more important than the environment.
[+] [-] ddingus|4 years ago|reply
That's a lot of gear needing to be replaced, and in many cases, replaced with far less effective equipment.
[+] [-] atonse|4 years ago|reply
I read the article. The ban goes into effect in 3 years. And there is a carve out for zero emission gas ones too.
Seems entirely reasonable. The state of corded and even cordless tools is pretty solid these days with lithium ion and 48V batteries etc.
[+] [-] hannob|4 years ago|reply
[+] [-] WhisperingShiba|4 years ago|reply
[+] [-] chrisbigelow|4 years ago|reply
[+] [-] joelbondurant|4 years ago|reply
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[+] [-] TedShiller|4 years ago|reply
[+] [-] riffic|4 years ago|reply
[+] [-] andy17231|4 years ago|reply