Here's my hot take: if you're still buying gas-powered blowers and mowers for your commercial property, you're probably paying more than you should. Not in the sticker price—in everything else. I've managed purchasing for a 180-person company since 2020—roughly $130,000 a year across eight vendors—and I report to both operations and finance, so I see the impact from both sides. For the last three seasons, I've been shifting our grounds maintenance lineup to EGO's 56V battery system. I'm not going back.
I know that sounds like a strong statement. A few years ago, I would've argued the exact opposite.
My original assumption was wrong
When I first took over purchasing, I assumed gas was the only real option for commercial use. Every facility manager I talked to told me the same thing: gas tools are "real tools," and battery stuff is for homeowners. So I bought gas. A commercial-grade blower, a walk-behind mower, a trimmer. All gas. I even kept the gas can and oil in the maintenance closet right next to the fire extinguisher.
What I didn't budget for was everything after the purchase. That first season, our gas blower needed a carburetor clean after sitting for two months. The shop charged us $180 in labor on a blower we'd bought for $350. My finance director read through that invoice, looked at me, and asked: "Is this normal?"
It was. And that's the problem.
It took me three seasons and a stack of repair invoices to understand that the purchase price was the least interesting number in the whole equation. The real cost of gas equipment lives in maintenance, fuel storage, off-season repairs, and the hours your staff spends wrenching on a machine instead of using it.
The math that changed my mind
Let me walk through what our gas leaf blower actually cost us over two seasons:
- Initial purchase: $350
- Carburetor cleaning after off-season storage: $180
- Spark plug and air filter replacement: $45
- Mixed fuel, oil, and stabilizer: roughly $120 per season
- Starter cord repair: $95
That's about $790 over two years for a handheld blower. And that was a good run—no catastrophic failures, just normal gas-engine reality.
When I finally replaced it with an EGO cordless leaf blower (the 765 CFM model, whose specs are publicly listed on their site), the math changed completely. The tool cost $299 with a 2.5 Ah battery and charger. Two seasons in, my only expense beyond the initial purchase has been keeping the battery charged. Total cost: $299. I'm not claiming batteries don't wear out—they do—but the engine is where gas tools bleed you. Replace that cost center with a battery, and the total cost of ownership picture looks very different.
The battery platform is the real strategy
Here's what actually won me over—and it wasn't any single tool. It was the ecosystem.
EGO's 56V ARC platform means one battery fits everything on our rack: the leaf blower, the self-propelled lawn mower, the chainsaw, the string trimmer, and the snow blower we use on walkways. One charger type. One spare battery in the closet. So glad I standardized on this before the team expanded—we'd have been juggling multiple chargers and battery types otherwise.
When you manage purchasing for a company, that standardization saves real money. Not just in batteries, but in training, troubleshooting, and the things you simply stop having to think about. It took me a while to appreciate that, and I learned it the hard way in a different corner of my job.
We have an old Ingersoll Rand T30 air compressor in the shop from long before my time. Last winter it seized, and I spent a week hunting for a replacement part. I lost count of how many hours I spent staring at a T30 air compressor parts diagram, trying to identify which specific gasket I needed. (Fun fact: nobody makes a parts diagram for a battery.) The part eventually arrived and the compressor lives on, but that experience made me appreciate how simple battery-powered equipment is by comparison.
The same principle applies on the hand-tool side. I keep a 12-inch pliers wrench in the maintenance closet because it adjusts to grab pipes, fasteners, and fittings without needing five different sizes. One tool, many jobs. That's the logic I now apply to our power tools: one battery, many tools.
The angle nobody talks about: noise and compliance
Here's the argument I didn't expect when I started this journey—and it's become one of the most important for me as an administrator: noise. Our office is in a mixed commercial area, and we have a small lot, maybe a third of an acre. We used to get a complaint at least once a month about the gas blower running at 8 a.m. The VP of sales would forward me client feedback about lawn equipment noise during calls. (Ugh.)
Since switching to cordless, those complaints have basically disappeared. EGO's blowers are noticeably quieter than gas—not silent, but conversational—and that matters in a professional environment. We also no longer store fuel or mix oil on site, which simplifies our safety compliance paperwork. No spill report forms. No fuel can inspections. On top of that, regulators are tightening rules on small gas engines—California's Air Resources Board has been phasing out gas-powered leaf blowers under its Small Off-Road Engine regulations, and other states are watching closely. If you're making multi-year equipment purchases, that regulatory trend is worth tracking.
This is where the gas-versus-electric question comes into focus. People still ask me, "what is better, gas or electric tiller?" or "should I buy a gas mower?" My answer now: for anything under a couple of acres, electric—especially a 56V platform like EGO's—is almost always the better call. I'm not anti-gas. If you're clearing acres of brush on a daily basis, gas still has its place. But for commercial lots, office campuses, schools, and most municipal spaces, the cost and hassle math favors cordless.
What about the arguments against battery?
I hear the objections, because I raised all of them myself. Let me address them head-on.
"Batteries are expensive to replace." They are, if you buy them at full retail. The 56V ARC batteries in our fleet are still holding above 80% capacity after two seasons of regular use, and replacement would run around $250 each. But that's roughly what one season of gas repairs cost us. The total cost of ownership still favors cordless.
"Cordless doesn't have enough power." That was true a decade ago. The current 56V tools are a different class. Our leaf blower moves 765 CFM—comparable to gas handheld blowers I've used—and the lawn mower handles our entire lot without bogging down. I wrote an ego lawn mower review for our internal purchase file last spring: it started on the first try, every time, all season. I can't say the same for the gas mower it replaced.
"What about runtime on big jobs?" For our use case, a full charge covers the whole maintenance cycle—mowing, edging, blowing—with capacity to spare. On heavy weeks, I keep a second battery charged and ready. Swapping it takes twenty seconds. Compare that to a mid-season fuel run or a pulled starter cord, and the time advantage is obvious.
Look, I'm not a brand evangelist. If another 56V-class platform met our needs at lower cost, I'd switch. But after three seasons and roughly 80 purchase orders a year, EGO's lineup is the strongest option I've found for commercial maintenance. The tools perform, the battery platform is consistent, and the warranty support has been reliable. In my opinion, that's the full picture a buyer should weigh.
Where I landed
If you're on the fence, here's my advice: start with one tool. An ego cordless leaf blower is the easiest entry point because it's the tool you'll reach for most often. Run it for a season and track everything—repairs, fuel, time, complaints. Compare that with your gas equipment costs. I suspect you'll see what I saw: the cordless tool costs less, causes fewer headaches, and there's something deeply satisfying about closing out a season with zero fuel expenses.
I'd rather spend ten minutes explaining total cost of ownership than watch someone learn it the expensive way like I did. An informed buyer makes better decisions—whether they're choosing a leaf blower, sourcing T30 air compressor parts, or picking up a 12-inch pliers wrench for the maintenance kit. Know what you're buying, and buy for the long run.
Three years ago, I thought gas was the default for commercial grounds care. Now I think the smart money is on cordless—and if you've been managing a maintenance budget for a while, I think you'll land in the same place.
Maren Jorgensen
Maren Jorgensen is an independent hand tool and torque applications analyst covering wrenches, pliers, screwdrivers, hammers, sockets, ratchets, hex keys, and tool sets. She applies ISO 6789-1 torque-tool conformance principles while examining jaw capacity, leverage, fastener engagement, torque range, accuracy, handle geometry, and material hardness. Her practical guides help tradespeople and procurement teams select suitable tools, plan controlled tightening, and compare durability without relying on brand reputation alone.