In early autumn a leaf blower becomes a gardener’s best friend providing a simple and effective way of moving and collecting fallen leaves and garden debris. It's important to understand how they work to, that's why we have compiled some top tips to help you understand how leaf blowers work and how to pick the right one for you.
How Leaf Blowers Work
A leaf blower will take the outside air and spin it using a motor and fan with multiple blades this is called the impeller.
As the air is spinning, it creates a centrifugal force that sends it through the smaller blower tube. Centrifugal force refers to an outward force in a rotating frame of reference.
The inner casing contains a motor and a fan with blades (often referred to as an impeller). The leaf blower will take the outside air and spin it using the fan blades. Due to the pressure inside the casing that has been built up by the centrifugal force, air will shoot out of the blower tube at a high speed.
The overall air speed will ultimately depend on the power output from the motor. Often the overall air speed is measured by one of two ways;
Miles per hour is most widely understood as it is simply the measurement of how many miles the air would travel in one our if the velocity remained constant.
Manufacturers can also use metres per second (M/S) as a similar distance to time measurement. In general 1 M/S equates to 2.24mph, so if a blower has a power of 55m/s like the Flymo Scirocco 3000 this equates to a power of roughly 123 mph.
When researching a new leaf blower, the higher the CFM means the higher the volume of air is coming out of the leaf blower. If this is then combined with a high MPH or M/S, you know that the power output will be strong enough to remove the most stubborn of leaves.
Picking the Right Leaf Blower
There are many different factors to think about when it comes to picking the right leaf blower, from power and mulching, to storage, it is all really important to consider.
We have put together some of the things to look out for and models to consider when buying a leaf blower.
Electric, Battery or Petrol Powered
While petrol-powered blowers are usually more powerful, they are also much louder and much less environmentally friendly. Petrol powered leaf blowers also require petrol or oil storage which can become expensive and a little bit of pain to maintain.
On the other scale, electric and battery-powered leaf blowers are much lighter and quieter than petrol-powered leaf blowers. They are very sustainable and easily stored. If power is something that is a deciding factor for you the Flymo PowerVac 3000V corded electric blower has a 3010km/h blow speed making it a great alternative to petrol blowers.
Blower Vacs
Some leaf blowers have a built in vacuum setting. Most vacuums work in the same way as the blower settings, as the airflow is still spun in the same way; the difference is it is directed towards the collection bag instead.
The other consideration you will need to make is the weight of the blower vacuum. Naturally it will get heavier as the bag fills up.
Mulching
Several types of garden vacuums feature built-in leaf shredding capabilities where the machine can cut up/shred the leaves as it collects them. Both collection and shredding/mulching have their positives and negatives so it will be down to the individual and the garden that determines which is best.
Blower vacuums like the Flymo PowerVac 3000 shreds the leaves to such a small size (16:1 ratio) you can collect more leaves before you would need to empty the bag. The leaves are then pre-cut ready for your compost heap!
Storage
Some larger leaf blowers can be clunky and difficult to store. The heavier styles can sometimes become an inconvenience if you don't have to use the leaf blower often.
If you don't have much space for storage the EasiClear 100 battery-powered leaf blower only weighs 1.8kg, is super lightweight, and can even be wall mounted for storage optimisation. The easy-to-use and lightweight design is perfect for those who don't require the leaf blower for a large amount of time.
Whatever your needs are there are a range of leaf blowers that offer lots of different and effective features to help you in your garden.
