Petrol vs Battery Strimmer - Running Cost Comparison? 

Great comparison there👍 3 years using Stihl battery for maintenance I know I've saved loads. Many will say battery may be cheaper to run but what happens when you run out of power while petrol you just refill, one backpack battery and 2 ap300s get me through a whole days maintenance with no issues 👌

Been using EGO gear for 5 years now and I could not be happier … however, I would humbly suggest that the battery is a consumable and that needs to be factored into as a running cost … one battery will buy you years of fuel for an average yard and mower.

thanks for the vid. this is what I'm looking for! A clear, side by side comparison between petrol and battery powered grass trimmers and not just a separate review on both tools. This makes me think more on getting those electric trimmers. more cost-effective than petrol in terms of using it for my upcoming business. ☺️

For a small home owner, probably an idea solution. On my farm, I will run the trimmer for several hours. I'd need 6-8 batteries to do what my gas trimmer does with 2 or 3 fill ups.

Great video James! I prefer petrol engines, but battery tools are coming along and improving daily. It’s unquestionable they’ll overtake the homeowner market.

Nice One Norman & James Thanks again

Don’t fancy waiting 4 hrs for the battery to recharge, rather refuel and get the job done Good video 👌🏻

Top video guys. Been using Husqvarna and Stihl battery machines for the last 3 years and no way will I go back to petrol.

I’ve moved over to cordless for my gardening business been very happy with it so far.

Well done! That EGO is cracked!

This made me chuckle 🤭

Very interesting. It raises more questions as to the long term life of a battery/motor and subsequent replacement as opposed to the life of a petrol engine and the cost of repair or replacement. Same is true in cars I guess-time will tell!

That was great 👍

Good to know.

Nice one James 👍🏾 battery is looking very interesting but it'll still be quite an investment to replace petrol completely

Hi James: just one point with the cost of the fuel, the 2 stroke oil is quite expensive and if you allowed for that there would be even less run time on the petrol. Other thing is maintenance costs, probably another win for the battery. Recharge time and availability is an issue with the cordless for a commercial user who needs a full days' capacity. Great channel!!

Personally I got the Milwaukee multi tool with the strimmer head that kick ass, then add high demand battery and you got perfection

I like Norman, he's the real hero here.

Great video! Was looking for a comparison like this. I currently own a petrol trimer and looking to get an electric one too. Here are my two cents, and maybe you could use them for testing ideas: a petrol trimmer has, on average, a lower entry price. For the price of an electric trimmer, without batteries and charger, you can get a decent entry level petrol trimmer. This information is based on the prices where I live - Romania. For a petrol trimmer you need to factor in also the cost of the two stroke oil. But 1L of oil should last you a good while. Another advantage for a petrol trimmer is that it has more power, which comes in handy if you need to deal with shrubs and other stuff that thicker than grass. Now, in my case, the electric trimmer would have an advantage over the petrol one: easier to store and readily available. An electric trimmer is also easier to store. no need to worry about the smell of oil and petrol. This comes in handy for folks who don't have a shed (yet), like yours truly. To get the same level of availability from a petrol trimmer, you also need to store petrol, and depending on storing conditions, petrol may degrade over time. The size of the yard comes into play also. Bigger yards may require that you have two, maybe three batteries for your electric trimmer so you can work at a sustained pace. That drives up the cost of the initial acquisition by a significant margin. My take away: petrol trimmer for rougher jobs, electric trimmer for maintenance, provided that you have enough batteries or you're not pressed for time and. A thought on repairability: petrol trimmers can still be repaired/maintained with a relative low cost. Not sure about electric trimmers. Also, I'm not aware of compatible parts from 3rd party suppliers to be available for electric trimmers. The motors, the circuitry (which I suspect is potted in most cases) have to obtained from the OEM, and usually they don't come cheap.

I still like gas. I met a guy at Lowes looking at Ego mowers. The batteries are shot in his 4yr old mower. And cost as much as a new mower to replace. I’m using a 7yr old Honda gas mower that starts on 1st pull. My last Honda lasted 13yrs. Battery life & cost are the weakness.

I'll always go gasoline.. But it's alot cheaper here in Alberta like. 67gbp/l.. Lol great video!

Wow.. Greatly reviewed. Where to buy this electric one?

Finally someone answers the question without talking too much except for the alter ego.

Wow that was amazing James who would of thought battery would go that far and didn't know you was a twin ha ha

The battery will need to be replaced, usually within 5 years, so add $200+ to the maintenance on the battery side. I like my Ryobi battery trimmer for the convenience and I can trim the entire yard on 1 charge. I don't care about the savings, I see it as about equal. A large lot would require gas or lots of very expensive batteries.

What electric strimmer is this? Is there a link for it?

"A bit stiffer than my marital aid" that Norman is a hoot!!!!! 🤣🤣

Consider your own ability to faultfind with a petrol strimmer, if it won't start, would you know what to check, and how to repair them. I'd say, the electric would give you less problems. I've never used an electric one, but I had a Ryobi strimmer, small, lightweight, reliable, so I think I'll try one of their electric ones, based on the strimmer, it's got to be good.

Was the tank entirely empty when the petrol strimmer stopped? No filter at the bottom of the fuel line that would such air and stop the machine?

Would like to see that on 2 top handle saws

james is blowing like a cheap gasket after all that lol top quatity content m8

Now that was really interesting James it really shows how the battery's are getting better, well done to Norman for doing the mathematics but he should have worked out the wind factor and the length of grass also, get them tried on long overgrowth, really liked the editing of the video 👍

Do a ride on comparison 🤙

I bought a petrol strimmer this week because of my husqvarna 536 lirx could not handle a weed brush of 20 cm. Motor overheated. This petrol engine has much more power! And cheaper as an electric one.

I use petrol for convenience and easier fuelling

Maybe do it again and take into account with battery cost?

I think i will try electric after my 2 stroke failed. Anyway i had enough of vibration ( its 15 year old stihl - maybe new ones are better)

I like the video and it has great educational character on the differences. BUT. All the buyers here should not be looking at this from cost perspective as there is NO ADVANTAGE in battery over petrol. Its more about choosing the right tool for the job. I will not trim my house garden with a petrol trimmer to smoke it whole out or to spill the fuel and oil but on the other hand I will not recklessly kill batteries which uses rare earth metals and create toxic waste for landfills when I need to cut a field with overgrown grass. The correct approach is to use the correct and most ecological tool for said job.

if it same price to buy...how long you need to run it to get your money back...

Even if it cost the same, the easier maintenance is worth it to me for battery. Plus I never throw my shoulder or trying to start it. Also interesting in your country clouds only impact half the field while the other half remains sunny, how cool! 😂

Odd idea, I'd be curious how a gas powered tool would compare to a battery tool charged with a gas powered generator. Could be an interesting test of how efficiently gas powered tools actually cover gas to energy.

Working a 26 acre property,battery just does not have the run time.I might run a brushcutter for five hours,at times.

I thought you were your brother, been proven wrong. Both in the same picture, cameras never lie ! Great test, I knew the result though. Our org trialled battery gear and the strimmers were the only tools they kept

Yeah that makes sense but how about the price of the 2 stroke oil as well so you can properly half thar 67ml really so 2 minutes of run time on a petrol strimmer for 12p and would like to see a battery mower against a petrol one 😉

I own ego and petrol stuff. It will be interesting to see how well ego holds up with continuous commercial use... I guess you need to factor in the upfront cost of the batteries and potential replacements over time.

Great video mate with the price of fuel battery is looking the way to go

I've been trying to work out which way to go with this as well. But my recent experience with electric tools has made me pause. My battery charger unit just stopped working. It has had very, very limited use. It was working one minute and when I went to change batteries to charge the other 18v, it just stopped working. Go figure. Electronic components fail and batteries wear out as soon as you start using them. Actually, I think batteries are degrading from first manufacturing if I am not wrong. And sure, petrol engines and their parts can also fail but, are also easy to work on, and repair yourself. You also do not need a generator or battery pack if your not near a working power point in order to recharge the used batteries. How many batteries would you have needed to buy to cut that whole area I wonder? But the cost of fuel is also going up and up due to lack of oil being released and for many other reasons. On the other hand, so is the cost of electricity. And with less options for power, I can see it continuing to rise as there is no competition. 🤔 But your vid was also compelling. For home use, battery seems a no brainer. The great outdoors or commercial use? I am thinking perhaps petrol for reliability.

You certainly seem keen to push this battery gear, getting a good commission on it obviously 🤣 Don't see it ever working for me, 2 stroke all the way!

Great video but in my opinion you have to consider and other things for a right conclusion. on petrol machines you have to include the cost of oil for 2 stroke and the maintenance. on battery machines you have to consider that they are more expensive to buy also that if something happens to them most of the times you throw it away. Also you need to replace the batteries (it depends from the brand) about every 1000 charges and they are not cheap. In my conclusion at the moment if you have problem in the area with the noise the battery machines are clear winners. Also if you use them occasionally for light works then battery machines wins again. But if you wanna work with them more professional only petrol because they gonna cost you far less in the next years if you include all the above I mention. If total cost its not a problem then go with battery because the noise and that they work every time without need to pull the rope every time is a game changer, but if things stay as they are right now in long term they will cost far more than petrol machines

No one amortises the cost of the batteries when working out the running cost of battery equipment. Just simplistic charging costs!

1:26. You forgot to ad cost of 2T oil, to the mix so it's easilly 2£ a liter.

Only problem is they die out too fast, And you need a good 5 batteries to get the job done. especially trying to do wood cutting / tree felling. I will sharpen that chain the best it can and i will get maybe 2 decent sized trees cut and sectioned before the battery dies out. if i could afford another 3 or 4 300$+ batteries maybe it would work. but i need gas for wood.

Looks like you're all set for the future speeding our way. Assuming the wind is blowing and the sun is shining. Of course by then it'll be a bit more expensive than 12 cents for a nip of electricity, assuming there is any electricity.

so while the results are clear there are 2 factors you could include \ account for, 1 when you started the petrol strimmer you revved the nuts off it and waited short time to start cutting while the electric strimmer you was straight at it while there are slight advantages to a electric motor over a combustion engine to make it fair account for the fuel needed to get it ready to cut i know this is kind of irrelevent as a comparison is due to make these assumptions for the above reason but would be clear an precise on energy used for the CUT, 2nd would be the quality of the CUT petrol tend to have more power and a cleaner cut due to rotation speed and be able to cut thicker material food for thought happy to test the theory with you

figure 500 cycles for a lithium oion abttery, how much does that work out vs maintenance on petrol?

There is going to be a point when the majority of cars, trucks, etc, are electric. It's at this point the Government is going to have to get revenue from electric as it'll be losing so much tax that it's not getting from petrol/diesel. This is just an 'electric honey moon' period, it will get more, a lot more, expensive.

Did you also calculate the oil price too?

Yeah but when the battery runs out you simply put more fuel in and away you go and it only takes a minute to fill the tank the batteries on the other hand will take at least a few hours to charge in witch time you could have a lot more done with the petrol strimmer

I have an EGO.. I like it. But if the battery only lasts 3 years, and then I have to buy a new battery for $229 4.0Ah or $249 5.0Ah battery ugh

Cheaper but it's about staying in the game all day

Most of gas equipment was free and I fixed it free or very cheap. Once these electric units break no one is bring them back to life.

R u kidding 20 work time?im a professional gardener a full petrol tank last more than one hour work straight

Cost isn’t worth mentioning really. I have a huge garden and use 5 pence a week in petrol in my strimmer. Besides, battery strimmers have no where near the power and don’t make that lovely two stroke smell.

Uhm that trimmer used up a tank freaking fast? o0 but no doubt battery is the future... alot of people ask when calling... are you using motor or battery equipment? the noice makes a big difference

Brilliant video I keep telling people battery power is the way to go but everybody laughs at me 🤣 😭 is that an active strimmer from midland power haven't seen them for a few years had one of there top handle chain saws absolute crap 🤣

Plus since that is a 2 cycle trimmer you forgot to add the cost of the oil that has to be mixed with the fuel lol

I mow the grass with a Deutz tractor and slasher.

He forgot to tell how much battery cost. And what battery degrades and dies. While petril 15 years still working, so if you go for battery which is lighter, no sound no need to put ear protection. Only solution is to learn fixing battery, ordering battery cells and replacing

Hi petrol all day long I am old school

Use a 4 stroke next time.

What if you used a modern petrol engine? Probably still loose but maybe get more done 🤷🏻‍♂️

this doesn't make any sense as you need to buy the battery first. you need to factor the cost of a battery pack.

Petrol/gas tools are absolutely horrendous for the environment. We just had the hottest July in a hundred thousand years, we need to start thinking about more than convenience!

Go fund me page for a pair of new glasses for Norm 👍😆

ok now do some real terraine cleaning not just grass