You’ve probably heard about all the reasons to switch to battery-powered lawn equipment. Battery power is environmentally friendly with no emissions. It’s low maintenance for easy use. With modern technological innovations, battery-powered equipment has comparable performance and power to many gasoline models.
But what about the cost? Is it a good investment, not only in terms of the initial price but in terms of how much you’ll spend on electricity to charge the batteries?
The cost difference between gasoline-powered and battery-powered models depends on a variety of factors, including cost per gallon of gas and cost per kilowatt-hour of electricity. That can vary depending on your location as well. In general, though, you can save quite a bit of money on fuel by switching to battery.
STIHL’s Cost Savings Calculators
STIHL is one of the premier names in the outdoor equipment industry. For their battery-powered equipment, they provide two cost-savings calculators so you can see an estimate of how much money you can save by switching to battery power.
- Fuel Savings Calculator: Battery-Powered Tools. With this tool, you can enter the current price of gas, the gallons of gas you typically use in a week, and the number of weeks per year that you work. The tool will then give you an estimate of how much you can save every year by switching to battery-powered tools.
- Calculate Your ROI with STIHL Battery Power. This is a more detailed tool that lets you directly compare two STIHL tools. You pick one battery-powered tool and one gasoline-powered tool, then enter usage information. The tool calculates your estimated yearly and monthly savings, as well as how long it will take to recoup your initial investment.
These calculators will be most useful for commercial applications or homeowners who prefer commercial-grade tools. Homeowners can also use the Fuels Savings Calculator to estimate savings, but the ROI calculator doesn’t include many of STIHL’s homeowner models.
Let’s Look at Some Numbers
If you try out the calculators, you can see cost savings that are specific to you. But let’s run some numbers through them to get an idea of how much you could save.
As I write this article, gas prices here in Richardson, Texas, are $2.82 to $2.89 per gallon. If you pay $2.85 per gallon for gas, use 15 gallons of gas per week in your lawn care company, and work for 38 weeks out of the year, then the estimated annual fuel savings is $2,698.67 if you switch to battery. If you only use 10 gallons per week and work for 35 weeks out of the year, then the estimated annual savings is $1,657.08. That’s quite a bit of money you could save switching from gas to electric, especially if you run a large and busy company.
One of the things you also have to consider is that there’s typically a higher upfront cost associated with battery-powered equipment. That’s where the ROI calculator comes in. Let’s say you need a new trimmer and want a heavy-duty, bike-handle model that can handle trimming grass and weed whacking. STIHL’s FS 131 is a gasoline-powered model and their FSA 200 is a similar battery-powered model.
For those trimmer models, if you work 35 weeks out of the year and use electricity at $0.13 per kilowatt hour to charge the FSA 200 instead of 5 gallons of gas per week at $2.80 per gallon to fuel the FS 131, you’ll save about $847 in fuel per year and recoup your initial investment in just 9 months. The initial investment for the battery tool is around $1,210 compared to around $580 for the gasoline model, but if you use the tool often enough, you’ll save so much in fuel that you’ll spend less money by investing in the battery model.
Other Brands’ Battery Powered Equipment Costs
Other battery-powered brands don’t offer the same types of cost estimate calculators that STIHL has, but they enable similar savings.
For homeowners, Consumer Reports found that even though the initial cost of electric lawn mowers is typically higher than gas, people who purchase electric mowers break even in about 2 years (assuming you purchased a self-propelled mower, gas costs $2.80 per gallon, and it takes 35 minutes to mow the lawn). You can adjust their calculation tool to match current gas prices, whether you’re using a push or self-propelled mower, and the time it takes to mow your lawn. That tool just covers mowers, but you can expect long-term cost savings from hand tools as well.
For commercial users, the ROI depends on the price of gasoline and electricity in your area as well as what type of equipment you purchase. According to Brandon Haley, Senior Project Manager, Grounds and Sustainability for SSC–Services for Education, there’s a clear ROI benefit to purchasing battery-powered hand tools, but you might not get a great return-on-investment for larger equipment like a battery-powered zero-turn mower. Haley’s article “Gas Vs. Electric OPE: Real World Costs” in Turf Magazine provides example calculations that you can use to estimate costs and savings associated with using battery-powered equipment in your business.
Battery at Richardson Saw
Here at Richardson Saw, we carry battery-powered equipment from STIHL, EGO, Echo, and Toro. You can choose from several different options for battery-powered blowers, chainsaws, walk-behind lawnmowers, trimmers, and hedge trimmers.
On top of the cost-savings associated with battery-powered equipment, you can save even more money by picking one brand and sticking with it for all your equipment purchases. Then, you’ll be able to interchange batteries between equipment. That’ll also give you more flexibility for charging your equipment.
If you have any questions about battery-powered equipment for home or commercial use, come visit us at Richardson Saw & Lawnmower. We’ll be happy to help you figure out if battery power is right for you and find just the right tool for the job.
