Electric Push Mowers: All The Power, None of the Pollutants

Before you fire up that gas powered lawn mower tomorrow, think about how much black smoke they spew into the air.

In fact, Just Cause says, “The EPA estimates that 10% of the nation’s air pollution is caused by lawn equipment such as chain saws, lawn mowers, golf carts, blowers and weed whippers. 5% can be contributed to lawn mowers alone.”

Electric push mowers are not the wimpy little corded things of years past. They are lawn mowing mega-beasts with an appetite for all varieties of grass (and weeds, in my case) with a much lower level of environmental flatulence.

 

People Powered Machines also reports some staggering EPA numbers:

“Each weekend, about 54 million Americans mow their lawns, using 800 million gallons of gas per year…a traditional gas powered lawn mower produces as much air pollution as 43 new cars each being driven 12,000 miles.”

Let’s put it a different way: one hour of mowing is the equivalent of driving 350 miles in terms of volatile organic compounds.

Now that is staggering!

 

What Can Be Done About the Lawn Mowing Mayhem?

If you have a large area to mow, the ONLY all electric riding mower, the Electric Ox, is the way to go.

If you’ve got less than 1/2 an acre to worry about, then it’s time to replace your gas powered mower with an electric one.

The only difference you’re likely to notice is all the money and pollution you’ll save by being small engine free.

 

2 Electric Push Mowers to Consider

 

Neuton CE 5.2:

I stumbled across this incredible electric mower at GreenUpgrader. HowStuffWorks recently reviewed this electric mower and gave it a wonderful rating!

Mower specs:

• Only 48 pounds with the battery
• Grass collection bag, a side discharge chute, a mulching plug, a 240 watt-hour battery, a battery charger and a safety key are all included in purchase
• 24-volt, 10-amp-hour sealed lead/acid battery (roughly 1 hour run time)
• Convenient drop-in battery design, which means the battery can be charged inside or outside the mower. (This makes it easy to have another battery always charged for larger jobs.)
• 14-inch mower deck (could be seen as a drawback, but also contributes to the incredibly light weight)
• Single-lever cutting height adjuster (all 4 wheels adjust with one lever)
• Battery powered only; no corded mowing option
• 3-inch cutting height

 

Remington Power Mower MPS6017A:

This mower was also reviewed by HowStuffWorks. It earned a slightly better score than the Neuton and the Consumer Guide Best Buy Award!

Mower specs:

• Powerful, removable 60 volt battery with up to 1 hour of runtime on a single charge
• 3-in-1 mowing capabilities with bagging, mulching and side discharge (sold separately)
• 60 pounds with battery
• 17-inch mower deck
• 3.5-inch cutting height with single lever wheel adjustments
• PowerSelect technology for customized dual-power operation (cordless or corded option)
• Boost Power Mode feature that generates identical blade tip speeds found in gas mowers

For my money, I would probably go with the Remington. It’s more powerful, has a larger mowing deck, .5” higher possible cutting height, corded and cordless options, and has the power boost feature.

The cons to the Remington, however, are that it is heavier, more expensive, and doesn’t come with mulching and side discharge attachments–they are options.

If you decide on the Remington, take one of the Amazon reviewer’s advice and unplug the battery once it is fully charged. They say that if you do not, the battery will actually begin to drain.

Just so you know, most electric push mowers are not recommended for yards larger than 1/4 of an acre.

What do you think about switching to an electric push mower? If you have already, how do you like it?

 

One More Green Mowing Tip:

If you have a little know-how, you could even convert your current gas mower to run on SOLAR POWER!