Namely, these machines are frustratingly cost-effective. City maintenance crews, professional gardeners, and home owners have all defended blowers to protect their pocketbooks. We'd be the first to acknowledge the many sins of leaf blowers, especially when they are inconsiderately used. Further, these machines are quieter, especially the ones powered by electric motors. Gathering and shredding leaves is one of the most obvious.
Gardeners love the vacuum function for making mulch and compost out of grass and leaves.
Used this way, blower-vacs can reduce 16 bags of loosely packed leaves to one mulched blower bag. Blower-vacs are particularly useful for clearing out leaves and debris when space is restricted, such as inside basement window wells and around tightly packed plantings. They're also used to sweep pool decks and even dry off cars and their engines after a wash. Noise and Pollution Measuring noise is problematical because sound-measuring devices can't account for the total effect of a sound on our nerves. Sound levels are reported using the method established by the American National Standards Institute and known as ANSI B175.2.