Many municipalities restrict when you can use leaf blowers and how loud they can be. But can a quiet blower get the job done?
There's no question power blowers are noisy. To find out just how much noise your neighbours experience, Consumer Reports tested 32 blowers at a distance of 50 feet.
Gas blowers are the loudest.
The electrics are nowhere near as noisy.
And electric blowers cost a lot less, too. But gas blowers are generally more powerful clearing up the yard.
By contrast, tests show some of the electric blowers, like the low-priced Homelite blower, proved pretty wimpy.
But Consumer Reports' Peter Sawchuk found some electrics from Toro that were almost as good at clearing leaves and debris as the best gas blowers.
"It's powerful, it's lightweight and the noise is easy on the neighbours," Sawchuk said.
It's the Toro Ultra Blower Vac 51599 and at $90, it's a Consumer Reports top-rated electric blower.
"The big drawback of all electric power blowers is that you need an available outlet. And you're limited to the length of the power cord, which is about 100 feet," he said.
If you have a bigger yard, you'll have to go with a gas-powered blower. Consumer Reports says a good choice is the $220 Stihl BG55. It does a great job cleaning up, and it isn't as noisy as some of the other gas blowers.
Consumer Reports says with just about any blower -- even an electric one -- you need to wear hearing protection when you use it so you don't damage your hearing, and safety glasses are also a very good idea
With a report from CTV British Columbia's Chris Olsen
