The Pros and Cons of an Electric Lawn Mower vs. Gas Lawn Mower

When I bought my house a little over four years ago, I needed buy a lawn mower to cut the grass with.

Sure, I was given several hand-me-down gasoline mowers, but they were all broken or in need of repair. In case you don't know much about me, I am not a mechanic, and have no working knowledge of internal combustion engines.

So I went online to research my options.

Since I was a new home owner with a small yard, I didn't discount buying an electric lawn mower. In fact, I strongly considered an electric mower because they were actually cheaper than the gasoline alternatives.

What I later find is that an electric lawn mower is ideal to cut the grass quickly and easily, but I didn't have this knowledge when buying a new lawn mower.

So let me throw out some obvious differences.

Here are two quick pros and two quick cons:

• You don't have to fill it with gasoline (or go out and buy gasoline)
• You don't have to fill it with oil, or check the oil
• You do have to sharpen the blade, just like a traditional lawn mower
• You do have to pay attention to the cord when mowing, if you don't buy cordless

The lawn mower I chose - The Sun Joe 14" electric mower - was only $119 before tax, and at a price that I was willing to pay to make the switch to try out an electric lawn mower.

I will share with you my long list of pros and cons below.

The main reasons I bought an electric mower happen to outweigh the pros of buying a gasoline mower.

The Pros:

• Cheaper than gasoline mowers
• Lessen dependency on gasoline (and fluctuating gas prices)
• Remove hassle of going to gas station less (to buy more gasoline)
• Don't have to check oil or buy oil
• Quick start requires less time priming, pumping, & no energy pulling
• Will work effortlessly even on thick Bermuda grass

The Cons:

• Have to get accustomed to lawn mowing with a cord (or potential battery fails w/ cordless)
• Limited to area within length of cord/electric outlets
• My particular model only has a small rear bag/box for grass (requires more emptying)
• My particular model has plastic housing (potential to be less durable)

Please note that the last two of the cons are specific to my particular model of electric mower, and do not apply to all electric mowers.

After mowing all types of lawns since I was a teenager, I am very pleased with the performance of my first electric lawn mower.

My initial hesitation is that it would not be powerful enough to cut thick yards, or durable enough to last, but I have had one for three years and still mowing. The price - just over $100 - is very reasonable for the output of work performed, and continues to prove my neighbor wrong. He believed that it would not work on thick Bermuda grass, either, but it still cuts great every time.

The electric mower blade can be removed just like any traditional lawn mower blade for sharpening, at the user's discretion.

An electric lawn mower is perfect for small yards under 5,000 sq. ft. For medium to large sized lawns, weigh the pros and cons for your particular situation to see if an electric lawn mower is right for you.

I have saved well over $300 in gas savings alone, and will continue to cut my lawn, and further increase the cost savings as long as my first electric lawn mower will run.

In my particular case, the pros outweighed the cons, and I have been very satisfied with my electric lawn mower. It works well for the size of yard that I have.

Overall, I would recommend to anyone with a yard under 5,000 sq. ft., to consider buying an electric lawn mower. You may be surprised after making the switch. I sure was.