As more homeowners are looking to swap their noisy gas-powered lawn equipment — such as leaf blowers — for electric options, home improvement retailers have been taking notice.
The Home Depot, for example, has greatly increased its stock of electric leaf blowers in recent years. In a major win for air quality and combatting planet-heating carbon pollution, the company now expects 85% of its outdoor lawn equipment sales will be electric by 2028, as its chief sustainability officer told The Cool Down last year.
But with so many models available on the market, it's sometimes difficult to know which one is right for you.
What are the top-rated electric leaf blowers?
When shopping for an electric leaf blower, consider your budget, the amount of power you need, the size of your yard, and any additional features you want, such as variable speed options. Always be sure to compare options online across these conditions in conjunction with customer ratings and what specific users are saying before relying on any one review source like this one.
Toro offers a wide range of options, from its cordless 60V Max leaf blower "cannon" to its corded PowerJet F700, which are both excellent options. The 60V Max reaches 160 miles per hour, and the company describes it as boasting "massive air volume that makes easy work of every pile," selling for $250.
It's big, though, and the corded F700 is cheaper and smaller without sacrificing much power, with air speeds reaching 140 mph, and it has the highest air volume of any corded leaf blower at 725 cubic feet per minute. The F700 is a great pick if you want to save money and battery resources by going corded. It's also Home Depot's top-selling leaf blower among its best-rated category, making it a great choice for the best corded blower at just $99 — though buying direct from Toro is currently even cheaper, at $80.
If you'd rather go with a cordless electric leaf blower that isn't as big as Toro's "cannon" model, Green Machine's 62V blower, which typically sells for $300, is a great marriage of features. Its lithium-ion battery offers 100 minutes of runtime, it's not too big, and it has a brushless motor for more power.
Another consideration is whether you may want to be able to share a battery with other power tools. Many companies, like Greenworks and Black+Decker, do a great job of producing strong battery-powered lawn and home improvement tools that can all share the same battery. That allows you to build a collection of, say, five tools that can share two batteries so that you can always have a backup charged and ready to swap in.
Electric leaf blowers can vary widely in price depending on features like power, cordless vs. corded, and design, ranging from as low as $30 to over $900 (Makita's top model, the LXT, sells for $928 but does back it up with sterling reviews). Many of the best sellers cost between $60 and $300, though, so you're sure to find something within your price range.
Are electric leaf blowers worth the money?
If you're on the fence about buying an electric leaf blower, a performance test by Consumer Reports comparing them with gas leaf blowers may help you decide. CR's test engineers found that not only are electric models much quieter than gas options, but they also perform better.
In addition, they're usually cheaper than leaf blowers fueled by gas. On average, they cost around $137, compared to $206 for gas-guzzling models. You won't have to buy gas or oil for your electric leaf blower, keeping even more money in your pocket.
Going electric with solar panels or household appliances can also help you save money on your electric bills. Resources like the nonprofit Rewiring America can help you create an electrification plan and determine your eligibility for incentives and tax breaks.
Electric equipment, such as leaf blowers, is also kinder to the planet since it produces zero harmful planet-warming gases. A press release from The Home Depot stated that running a gas-powered leaf blower for an hour creates the same pollution as a 1,100-mile drive. Let that sink in.
All that pollution is bad for your health as well. Gas leaf blowers emit fine particulate matter and ozone-forming chemicals that can worsen asthma, cardiovascular disease, and COPD.
Because of these reasons, some states, such as Colorado, are banning the use of gas-powered lawn equipment during the summer.
So, if you want a quieter, pollution-free leaf blower that gets the job done, there are dozens upon dozens of options now that really cause no sacrifice in power or versatility. Gas-powered leaf blowers might be what we're used to, but they are quickly becoming relics of the past, and it's time to get with the times and electrify.
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