California bans gas lawn tools in 2024

[imported_tajmahal]

Newsom signs law to eventually ban gas-powered lawn equipment in California

California will soon ban the sale of new gas-powered leaf blowers and lawn mowers, a move aimed at curbing emissions from a category of small engines on pace to produce more pollution each year tha…

ktla.com

"Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a new law on Saturday that orders state regulators to ban the sale of new gas-powered equipment using small off-road engines, a broad category that includes generators, lawn equipment and pressure washers.

The California Air Resources Board has already started working on a rule to do this, a lengthy process scheduled to conclude early next year. But the law Newsom signed on Saturday removes any doubt, ordering the agency to apply the new rule by Jan. 1, 2024, or as soon as regulators determine is “feasible,” whichever date is later."

California law to eventually ban gas-powered lawn equipment

It includes generators, which may be tough on some homes with the routine rolling blackouts, but it's for a good cause.

 

[sandorski]

Good. They are noisy, nasty, and unnecessary.

 

[imported_tajmahal]

When i lived in California i used an electric lawnmower and battery powered tools............ except for a generator. I don't know what they'll use to replace those in a practical sense.

 

[sandorski]

One option would be to Standardize "PowerWall" type Battery packs and make them more DIY/PlugnPlay capable. There are Solar/Wind options as well.

 

[Leeea]

With the possible exception of the generator, this is for the best.

As for the generator, we already have CA compliant pool heaters*, boat emissions**, etc. They just need to make a CA compliant generator***.

*lowNOx versions, and they are just better then standard pool heaters. I work with one. Made by Rheem in CA.
**catalytic converters & four cycle engines for boats. Boaters hate them, fish love them, and so does everyone who eats fish and drinks water. Technically four cycle is not required, it is just difficult to make a 2 cycle pass the test.

***just make the generator 4 cycle, stick an EFI system, and a catalytic converter on it. The increase in fuel efficiency will likely make up for the increased cost in short order anyway.

 

[sportage]

GAWD YES !!!!!!
Most homes in CA have small yards anyway, so all you need is a long drop cord. Or better yet a battery operated weed eater, lawn mower, trimmer, leaf blower. Mine are all battery and I especially like my battery lawn mower however the extra batteries are costly, but then so is gasoline.

I miss California soooo much. They are my people. I relate to Californians. They don't vote for Trump, they would never vote for a Trump, but in the midwest everyone are so redneck that even the women have beards.

 

[Fanatical Meat]

Newsom signs law to eventually ban gas-powered lawn equipment in California

California will soon ban the sale of new gas-powered leaf blowers and lawn mowers, a move aimed at curbing emissions from a category of small engines on pace to produce more pollution each year tha…

ktla.com

"Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a new law on Saturday that orders state regulators to ban the sale of new gas-powered equipment using small off-road engines, a broad category that includes generators, lawn equipment and pressure washers.

The California Air Resources Board has already started working on a rule to do this, a lengthy process scheduled to conclude early next year. But the law Newsom signed on Saturday removes any doubt, ordering the agency to apply the new rule by Jan. 1, 2024, or as soon as regulators determine is “feasible,” whichever date is later."

California law to eventually ban gas-powered lawn equipment

It includes generators, which may be tough on some homes with the routine rolling blackouts, but it's for a good cause.

your position on this is very evolved. Actually more liberal than me.
I am surprised about it.

 

[pmv]

Absolutely they should ban leaf-blowers. Quite aside from the environmental effects, they are just noise-making machines. They make a ridiculous cacaphony. I'm frequently disturbed at home by someone blowing leaves around a nearby car-park (for no useful purpose, as far as I can make out).

Seems they exist purely because people are too lazy to use a broom or a rake.

 

[KeithP]

Won't people that really want these things just buy them out of state and have them shipped? I am not reading anything in this law that would stop that.

-KeithP

 

[SmCaudata]

I think that America's obsession with a green, manicured, lawn is stupid. We should use natural ground coverings and cut it back. Irrigation should be banned with the exception of using gutter collection for the supply. People shouldn't be wasting treated city water on green lawns.

My battery powered lawn mower was awesome for my old half acre lawn. I now have 15 acres and need a small tractor since I have a 1/4 mile driveway and other needs. I try to cut it as seldom as possible. I'd gladly get a battery powered tractor, but they aren't really out there for consumers yet.

 

[nOOky]

Electric pressure washers suck compared to their gas counterparts. I sure hope this doesn't extend to contractors or people with lawn care businesses that need the extra power. Electric tools are fine for city folk with tiny lawns.

 

[local]

We bought a battery powered mower and trimmer last year when our old mower finally died. It is awesome. I always hated having to go get gas to do something I didn't want to do anyway. I would have to invest in batteries though if I had any more than our .25 acres.

 

[Fanatical Meat]

When we first bought our house we were given an electric mower that wasn’t needed anymore. Mower was probably made 2008 or so. Thing worked awesome started immediately, no need to winterize it for storage, very light, blade felt like it spun faster, immediate power and no need for gas runs. I liked it a lot. Deal breaking issue was the cord dealing with a tether while mowing really sucks. Batteries solve that issue and I bet even with a battery it is very light.
I have a gas mower now. When it ultimately needs replacement I will seriously consider a battery powered mower. Lack of power to charge the battery in the shed will be a small hassle but whatever charge battery inside the night before isn’t that bad of a thing.

 

[SmCaudata]

Electric pressure washers suck compared to their gas counterparts. I sure hope this doesn't extend to contractors or people with lawn care businesses that need the extra power. Electric tools are fine for city folk with tiny lawns.

The pressure washers and heavy duty compressors (blowing out water lines) seem to be the places where electric is still lacking. I believe this has more to do with perceived consumer needs and development than actual limitations. I mean look at performance of electric VS gas cars. Companies could make high end electric washer, it would just be expensive and likely large/heavy due to battery. The avarage consumer would gravitate to a less capable electric or a cheaper gas powered one.

For people in the maintenance business, gas makes more sense because they run for 8 hours a day. Battery swapping and charging would be a pain.

 

[UNCjigga]

I bought my house in 2015. When searching for lawn tools (trimmer, edger, blower etc.) I noticed that the displays at Lowe’s and Home Depot were already featuring battery operated tools with interchangeable batteries (each brand had their own system.) They were already being displayed more prominently than their gas counterparts. In 2015. And I don’t live in a hippy dippy state, I’m in NC. I picked up black and decker’s 40v system and it’s worked great.

So I think this is a case of market demand having already shifted in favor of electric for the lighter tools.

Mowers are a different story. I ended up with a reel mower and then later outsourced lawncare. The 40v mowers weren’t quite up to snuff in 2015. If they can get up to a 1 hour run time with self-driving on, I may take another look.

 

[SmCaudata]

I bought my house in 2015. When searching for lawn tools (trimmer, edger, blower etc.) I noticed that the displays at Lowe’s and Home Depot were already featuring battery operated tools with interchangeable batteries (each brand had their own system.) They were already being displayed more prominently than their gas counterparts. In 2015. And I don’t live in a hippy dippy state, I’m in NC. I picked up black and decker’s 40v system and it’s worked great.

So I think this is a case of market demand having already shifted in favor of electric for the lighter tools.

Mowers are a different story. I ended up with a reel mower and then later outsourced lawncare. The 40v mowers weren’t quite up to snuff in 2015. If they can get up to a 1 hour run time with self-driving on, I may take another look.

I get about an hour from my eGo without the self propelled system engaged. It has self diving but I rarely use it. It's so light that unless it is a steep hill, it really isn't harder than walking without the mower. In my old house the front yard had a 45 degree hill. My self propelled gas mower couldn't actually climb it. My electric ran away from me on the hill.

 

[imported_tajmahal]

GAWD YES !!!!!!
Most homes in CA have small yards anyway, so all you need is a long drop cord. Or better yet a battery operated weed eater, lawn mower, trimmer, leaf blower. Mine are all battery and I especially like my battery lawn mower however the extra batteries are costly, but then so is gasoline.

I miss California soooo much. They are my people. I relate to Californians. They don't vote for Trump, they would never vote for a Trump, but in the midwest everyone are so redneck that even the women have beards.

My yards were about 25 ft. X 25 ft. easy to mow, i later changed them to xeriscape with mostly natural vegetation and rock gardens.

 

[imported_tajmahal]

your position on this is very evolved. Actually more liberal than me.
I am surprised about it.

I hate the sound of 2-cycle engines.

 

[imported_tajmahal]

Won't people that really want these things just buy them out of state and have them shipped? I am not reading anything in this law that would stop that.

-KeithP

You probably won't there's going to be large exceptions made for industrial and civic reasons. (schools, museums etc.)

 

[imported_tajmahal]

Absolutely they should ban leaf-blowers. Quite aside from the environmental effects, they are just noise-making machines. They make a ridiculous cacaphony. I'm frequently disturbed at home by someone blowing leaves around a nearby car-park (for no useful purpose, as far as I can make out).

Seems they exist purely because people are too lazy to use a broom or a rake.

I still use a push broom and rake to do my final clean up.

 

[Fanatical Meat]

I hate the sound of 2-cycle engines.

Doesn’t bother me at all however I don’t think it is strange that it bothers someone.

 

[K1052]

One of our old stores had a yard equipment sales and service business next door. Twice a year they would have soooo many pieces of equipment dropped off for service when grass cutting or snow seasons began. Everybody just left gas in their stuff for a 6-8 months or more assuming it would work when the next season came around and seemingly nobody ever learned.

So many people unable to even put a few bucks worth of fuel stabilizer in their stuff to save them the trouble.

 

[mindless1]

This is going to need backed off. They're estimating more than 16.7M of these engines, yet only $30M planned for rebates.

I have a cordless leaf blower. Who is thinking this is much quieter? It isn't, if it has as much power. The battery for it is $130 to get 10 minutes of runtime.

Mowers, string trimmers, and some other tools are a different story, are significantly quieter but not equally powerful leaf blowers.

Now imagine a contractor who needs to run only one a mere two hours a day. Add on the expense of a vehicle lighter/battery powered charger to charge in the field, say 1X each pack/day, and you'd still need ~$850 worth of batteries and addt'l charger for two hours use. Granted, it's probably more like two or more guys with one hour use but that doesn't make the cost go down.

Get a weaker blower and it may run longer per charge, but takes longer to get the job done, as does going somewhere to recharge fewer batteries, so more man hours equals higher labor cost too.

The rebates (less than $2/engine) wouldn't even cover the additional labor cost from reduced productivity for a single day of swapping batteries multiple times, never mind that $850 per piece of equipment for batteries/charger, PLUS the equipment cost, or higher when talking about something larger than a leaf blower.

This doesn't even count replacement batteries. If you are charging one, say 300X per year (6x per hour per my leaf blower example above), you will need those soon enough.

This is just another liberal move by those who believe in unicorns. It will make sense once we have that new revolutionary battery tech that solves the cost and power density issues but until then, legislature should not trump math and science, because math and science always wins.

It's going to result in more repairing of older equipment, running 2 cycle engines with a richer oil mix (more pollution) to make them last longer, and a black market if the date of enactment isn't pushed back till that magical new battery tech hits the market.

 

[Vic]

The law only bans the sale of new gas-powered equipment, and similar electric equipment is already comparably priced and more or less equally capable.
If I were in the market for a new lawnmower today, I would for sure buy electric. Not because of the environment, but because it's now a better value.

 

[pmv]

One of our old stores had a yard equipment sales and service business next door. Twice a year they would have soooo many pieces of equipment dropped off for service when grass cutting or snow seasons began. Everybody just left gas in their stuff for a 6-8 months or more assuming it would work when the next season came around and seemingly nobody ever learned.

So many people unable to even put a few bucks worth of fuel stabilizer in their stuff to save them the trouble.

They should just use the same gas that every vehicle uses in The Walking Dead. That stuff remains perfectly usable after _years_ of sitting in the tank, apparently.