Snow Blowers

Which should you purchase? An electric snow blower (snow thrower) or a gas snow blower? There are advantages and disadvantages to both and good reasons to buy each one under specific conditions. For example, if you have a small driveway and do not get a lot of snow each year, an electric snowblower might be the right solution for you. On the other hand, if you have a long driveway with lots of snow, chances are you are going to need a lot more power to blow that snow further away and clear it quickly. We have listed a few of the pros and cons of electric snow blowers vs. gas-powered snow blowers.

Advantages for Electric Snow Blowers

Some of the pros for electric snow blowers include:

• No tune-ups required
• Gasoline is not required
• No oil required
• Much more quiet than gas snow blowers
• They are lightweight compared to gas
• Easy to store
• Relatively easy to use.
• No yanking on  a starter chord
• Easy to maneuver
• No tune ups

Some of the cons for electric snow blowers include:

• Suitable for small jobs
• The chord can get in the way
• The chord can be a hazard
• Much less powerful than gas
• Limited by the length of the chord
• Avoid letting the chord lie in slush, it may short out the breaker
• Not powerful enough to clear slush
• The chute can clog if the snow is wet

Comments About Electric & Gas Snow Blowers

It really comes down to what your personal situation is in terms of how much snow you have to clear, how long your driveway is and where can you store the machine during the fall, spring, and summer periods. If you get more than 6 inches of snow at one time, and you are using an electric snow blower you may have to clear some with a shovel. This amount of snow maybe just too much for an electric snowblower.

They are not as powerful as gas snow blowers and cannot deal with ice or crusty snow that sometimes occurs during mild winters when you get sudden freezing of the snow. Heavy wet snow can become pretty tough to clear unless you have a heavy machine that can cut through the drifts, the slush and the crusty snow conditions that occur from time to time. Wet snow becomes very heavy and unless you have a powerful snowblower, the machine will not be able to throw the wet snow very far.

Electric snow blowers can be a cheaper alternative than gas models, however, if they cannot do the job then you have just wasted your money. Most consumers want to have a powerful enough machine that will clear snow easily and make the job easy enough that you can clear the snow in ten minutes or less regardless of how deep those drifts are.

On cold days or in blowing snow, the last thing you want to do is be out in the snow trying to clear the driveway with a machine that does not work well and you have to struggle with it. A 10-minute job turns into a 30 minute job, your cold and wet, and your late for work. We think most consumers will want to invest in a strong powerful snowblower that will clear the snow quickly and avoid all this unnecessary frustration. Spend a little more money and purchase one that will do the job quickly and easily.

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