Best Battery Leaf Blower for 2024

Battery Leaf Blower Buying Guide

Because of recent technological advancements, a battery leaf blower is an incredible outdoor power tool. These advancements have allowed cordless blowers to compete in power with gas models while avoiding maintenance such as oil and gas mixing, winterization, spark plug replacement, and carburetor issues. A battery leaf blower can make yard work much easier, and the right model can provide plenty of power for the job.

The considerations when selecting a battery blower are slightly different from choosing a gas-powered counterpart. We've ranked each consideration in order of importance and the rankings should make sense as we move through the list below.

Important Features to Consider When Buying a Battery Leaf Blower:

• Battery Ecosystem
• Battery Capacity
• Leaf Blower Runtime
• Power Output
• Noise
• Battery Charge Time
• Battery Level Indicator
• Motor
• Brand
• Weight
• Speed Controls
• Storage
• Availability of Accessories
• Warranty

Battery Ecosystem

The most important factor to consider when purchasing a cordless leaf blower is the battery ecosystem. You're probably aware that batteries for cordless tools are not interchangeable across brands. As a result, you can't use a Milwaukee battery with a DeWalt tool and vice versa. What difference does it make? There are three reasons for this: battery pack longevity, battery replacement cost, runtime, and charging.

The lifespan of the battery pack is the first reason why the battery ecosystem is important. Every rechargeable battery has a finite lifespan. Typically, it lasts three years or 1,000 charging cycles, whichever comes first. It's the same as your cellphone. After a few years, your cellphone's battery no longer holds a charge very well. The battery in a cordless leaf blower is identical. Its Li-ion cells will no longer hold a charge in a few years, and you'll have to throw the battery away.

The cost of replacing a battery pack is the second reason. A rechargeable battery for a leaf blower, or any cordless tool, is not cheap. A spare battery can range in price from $79 to $249 in many cases! It's simply not worth it to purchase a replacement battery on its own.

The third and final reason that the battery ecosystem is important is because of runtime and charging. It's not fun when your battery dies and you don't have a charged replacement on hand. Do you want to charge the dead battery? Even the best lithium-ion battery can take up to 3 hours to charge completely. Then, after all that time spent charging, it may only run for 25 minutes on a single charge.

So here's how you can save hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars. The majority of tool manufacturers design their products with interchangeable batteries. The trick is to purchase the same brand of tools for all of your needs. For example, if you buy a leaf blower, make sure all of your other power tools (drills, drivers, circular saws, reciprocating saws, lawn mowers, etc.) are the same brand. Most of the time, the battery that came with your leaf blower will work with other tools of the same brand, and any batteries that came with those other tools will work with your leaf blower.

Another tip is to keep an eye out for battery deals. It's not uncommon to come across deals that include a tool as well as multiple extra batteries as a bonus. This type of deal is usually available around Black Friday and the holidays. When they happen, we'll make sure to post about it on our social media pages.

Finally, we recommend that you look into how many tools are available in a brand's ecosystem. Assume you require a leaf blower, circular saw, drill, and reciprocating saw. Okay, then look for a brand that includes all of those tools. Otherwise, you'll have to buy multiple brands to meet your requirements.

Battery Capacity

The capacity of the battery is the second factor to consider when selecting an electric leaf blower. When shopping for a battery-powered tool, you'll notice volts and amp-hours being thrown around in product descriptions and packaging. But what do these terms mean, and how do they affect the battery's power level?

Volts are comparable to the horsepower rating of a car engine. It denotes power, and a 36-volt blower typically has more power than an 18-volt blower (everything else being equal). However, at some point, you reach a point of diminishing returns. This is why a 56-volt leaf blower may have the same CFM output as an 80-volt model. Higher voltage becomes less about strength and more about marketing at some point.

Amp-hours are different from voltage in that they indicate how much power is stored in the battery (i.e., its available energy). For example, a 5 amp-hour 18-volt battery is designed to deliver 5 amps of current at 18 volts for an hour before running out of power.

Now comes the crucial part. Watt-hours are calculated by multiplying the battery's volts by its amp-hours. The watt-hours of a battery indicate its true energy capacity, and they have a significant impact on the runtime of an electric blower, which we will discuss in the following section.

Aside from runtime, keep in mind that cordless blowers require a lot of power. This is why most manufacturers ship their leaf blowers with high-watt-hour batteries. The high-capacity batteries will benefit you because they will allow you to use them on lower-powered tools with longer runtimes, such as a cordless drill. A cordless drill, unlike a leaf blower, is not used at maximum torque for 30 minutes at a time. It only drills or screws the material in short bursts.

Cordless Blower Runtime

The runtime of a leaf blower is primarily influenced by its battery capacity, but it is also influenced by other factors.

Factors that Affect Leaf Blower Runtime:

• Battery capacity in watt-hours
• Average CFM during usage
• Motor design (brushed vs brushless)
• Motor efficiency
• Impeller design

Aside from battery watt-hours, the average CFM at which you operate the cordless handheld blower is the second largest contributor to runtime.

The majority of leaf blowers have variable speed controls and a trigger to adjust the CFM while in use. Furthermore, some blowers reach 450 CFM while others reach 600 CFM. The CFM is similar to the RPM in your car. The more you press the gas pedal, the higher the RPM and the greater the fuel consumption. Increasing the CFM with the trigger, on the other hand, increases power consumption and depletes the battery faster.

So, all else being equal, a larger watt-hour battery provides more minutes of run time at an identical CFM than a smaller watt-hour battery. However, because blowers vary in design and CFM while in use, it's all relative.

Power Output

Aside from the battery, the most important buying consideration for a cordless leaf blower is its power output. The power of a leaf blower is typically indicated by two factors: air speed and air volume.

The maximum speed of the air passing through the nozzle of the blower tube is measured in miles per hour (MPH). In general, the air speed of a battery blower is comparable to that of a gas engine model, ranging between 82 and 168 mph.

The maximum volume of air that passes through the blower's nozzle per minute is measured in cubic feet per minute (CFM). In general, most battery-powered leaf blowers can achieve 450 CFM, which is comparable to handheld gas-powered leaf blowers.

So, which factor is most important to consider when selecting a battery-powered leaf blower? The answer is to concentrate on the CFM because the higher its value, the easier it will be to move large piles of leaves across a large yard.

A turbo mode is available on a few models. It is typically activated by a push button and significantly increases the CFM for a brief burst of extra power. Just keep in mind that this higher setting will drastically reduce battery life. It's best to use turbo boost only when you really need the extra blowing power.

Noise

A battery-powered leaf blower has the advantage of being much quieter than a comparable gas-powered model. A battery blower's average noise rating is around 65 decibels, which is slightly higher than the noise level of a normal restaurant conversation. In comparison, the average noise level of a gas blower is around 85 decibels, which is higher than the noise level produced by a food blender.

Battery Charge Time

Before deciding on a model, consider how long it takes to fully charge the battery of a leaf blower. It's less of an issue if you have a spare battery on hand because you can use it while charging the dead one.

What if you don't have a spare battery on hand? In that case, we recommend reviewing the product specifications to determine how long charging takes. Rapid chargers are sometimes included in the box by some manufacturers. A quick charger can cut charging time in half. In some cases, reaching 100 percent can take as little as 30 minutes, compared to several hours with a standard speed charger.

Battery Level Indicator

A battery level indicator is a useful feature found on some leaf blowers. It's an LED indicator that shows how much battery life is left before it needs to be charged. The indicator is usually found on the battery and is activated by a button. A more expensive leaf blower may even have a second indicator on the blower's housing.

Motor

The type of motor found in a cordless leaf blower is an important consideration when making a buying decision. The two types include brushed motors and brushless motors. A brushed motor uses a set of carbon brushes to drive the rotor whereas a brushless motor uses magnets and is much more efficient.

A brushed motor was the most common type of motor used in a battery tool a few years ago. However, as technology has advanced and demand has increased, the cost of brushless motors has decreased, and they are now more common.

Advantages of a Brushless Motor:

• High efficiency
• Less heat
• Harder to stall out
• High performance

The majority of the models on our list above are brushless. But what if the model is powered by a brushed motor? It's not such a big deal if you don't use the leaf blower every day. You'll probably be fine with a brushed motor, and it'll be less expensive. However, if you need a leaf blower for a job or trade, you should definitely choose a model with a brushless motor. It's the best option for everyday use, as well as for heavy jobs and longer runtime.

Brand

The brand of anything is important, including a cordless leaf blower. However, unless you buy a low-cost model, most leaf blower manufacturers produce high-quality machines. We don't have a "best" brand that we recommend, but we can provide a list of well-known brands with a large number of satisfied customers.

Common Battery Leaf Blower Brands:

• DeWalt
• Milwaukee
• Makita
• Greenworks
• EGO Power
• RYOBI

As we've already mentioned before, the most important consideration when selecting a cordless blower is the battery ecosystem. As long as you focus on that, you should be in good hands with whatever brand you choose.

Weight

In our other articles on gas leaf blowers, we rank weight as more important in the buying considerations. The lightest gas blower starts at 9 pounds and increases to nearly 23 pounds! You can imagine how heavy it starts to feel after 30 minutes of use!

However, the reason we rank weight lower for a battery-powered leaf blower (compared to a gas-powered leaf blower) is that they weigh significantly less. Some of the lightweight models are as light as 5 pounds! Because of the lighter weight and ergonomic design, it is possible to use a cordless blower for extended periods of time.

Another reason weight is less of an issue is the short runtime. A battery-powered leaf blower will only run for about 25 minutes, whereas a gas model will run for much longer. So, if the battery dies, you'll have some downtime to rest your arms while you switch batteries or charge the dead one.

Speed Controls

Another factor to consider when purchasing a battery leaf blower is whether you require speed controls on the machine. A variable speed trigger is the most common type of speed control found on a cordless leaf blower. A variable speed trigger allows you to change the CFM based on how hard or soft you press the trigger.

The obvious advantage of a variable speed trigger is that it extends battery life. Switch to a low power mode if you don't need the blower to run at higher speeds. It's a good option when you don't need full power and are working against a hard surface or inside a garage. Some models do away with the variable speed trigger in favor of a speed dial, which essentially accomplishes the same thing.

Another feature found on some high-performance leaf blowers is cruise control (aka: speed lock). This allows you to set the blower to a specific speed, remove your hand from the trigger, and the motor will continue to run at that speed. Although it may not seem like much, not having to squeeze a trigger for 30 minutes will save you a lot of hand strain. A cruise control option unquestionably improves usability.

Storage

Because of their smaller footprint and compact design, battery leaf blowers require less storage than gas-powered models (especially compared to backpack leaf blowers). But you should still plan ahead and figure out where you're going to store it and where you're going to put the battery.

It is strongly advised to keep the battery inside if the temperature rises above 90 degrees Fahrenheit or falls below 35 degrees Fahrenheit. Exposing a battery to temperature extremes is the quickest way to reduce its lifespan.

Additional Considerations

We've included some additional considerations in the list below that you might want to think about before settling on a specific model.

Additional Nozzles - Flat and round leaf blower nozzles are the most common. Some models come with both, while others only come with one. Although aftermarket nozzles are usually available, you may need to use duck tape to achieve a perfect fit. The distinction between the two types is as follows. A flat nozzle can be used as a broom to sweep dead leaves across your lawn or to remove wet leaves from your driveway. When blowing leaves in large piles across a yard, a round nozzle works best.

Gutter Cleaning Kit - A gutter cleaning kit is a frequently requested add-on. It consists of a series of tubes that attach to your leaf blower and allow you to blow out your gutter, keeping it leaf-free for the fall season. A gutter kit is less common, but it's not difficult to make a do-it-yourself solution.

Ergonomic Features - To improve user convenience, a few manufacturers have added features such as ergonomic handles and adjustable shoulder straps to their cordless leaf blowers. If you intend to use your leaf blower for several hours at a time, you should look into these options.

Backpack Blower Option - Although it is not a common feature on battery models, a backpack blower is available on a few models. When compared to a handheld unit, using shoulder straps to sling the unit on your back and distribute the weight across your shoulders makes it easier to use for longer periods of time.

Warranty

The warranty is the last thing to think about when shopping for a battery leaf blower. It's fairly common for a manufacturer to warrant the leaf blower for several years (ex., 2 to 5 years), while the battery has a separate one or two year warranty.