I will be the first to tell you that from time to time this summer the juice in the batteries have run out on our solar charged electric lawn mower prior to us finishing mowing our lawn. Yes, it is frustrating to me when this happens ... as the customer service department of the mower manufacturer will tell you.
So, we present to you our tips on how to get the most out of a single charge of the batteries in a battery powered electric lawn mower. And, yes, most of these relate to any electric battery mower, whether solar charged as is ours or another type where the batteries are charged by plugging the battery charger into an electrical outlet:
1. Make Sure The Batteries Are Fully Charged
ry chargers, as ours does, has a light indicator which will go from red to green to indicate when a battery / batteries are fully charged. If you want the electric mower to go as along as possible before the juice in the batteries is fully used, only use the mower when the batteries are fully charged.
2. Raise The Mower Height
Experts agree that it is healthier for the lawn to cut the grass at around 3 inches or so. The higher the grass, the more moisture that will be retained in the ground . So, simply raise the height of your mower.
3. Mow the Lawn More Frequently
With a solar charged mower, it costs you absolutely nothing, consumes absolutely no non-renewable resources and generates absolutely no polluting emissions when you mow the lawn. So, mow the lawn more often. Why not? The more frequent you mow the lawn the shorter the grass will be when it is mowed which in turn will cause the mower to work less hard. Especially with the constant rain that some parts of North America have been experiencing this summer, the grass is growing very, very fast. So, don't mow your lawn only on Friday evenings or Saturday afternoons per a usual summer. Mow twice a week. And, with the self-propelled feature, it won't take that much more effort on your part either.
4. Do Not Use the Optional Mulching Blade
Per manufacturers of lawn mowers, many times the mulching blade can use more power from the batteries. And, it's not really the optional mulching blade itself; rather, it would be the containment of the blades of grass staying inside the mower base making the engine use more power. Compare this to when a mower is not used in mulch mode but when the bagging option is used or when the grass leaves the mower as soon as it is cut to the side or rear of the mower.
5. Self-Propelled Feature
Any mower's self propelled feature requires energy. In the case of an electric lawn mower, that energy is from the batteries. So, simply stop using the self propelled feature if you think that the batteries may not have been fully charged, or if the grass seems thicker than usual. Sure, you will get a better workout than if you used the self-propelled feature. However, what is more important to you: ease of use or length of use?
6. Avoid Early Morning Mowing
Where we live there seems to be a neighbourly protocol where one does not mow the lawn before 9 a.m. during the week and Saturday's and not before 10 a.m. on Sundays. For lawn mowers using batteries, this is a good rule. A better rule would be to not mow the lawn in the morning at all. Why? Well, over night, dew forms on the grass. Mowing the lawn when the grass is wet, either from the morning dew or from a recent rain storm makes the mower work harder, consuming more energy. If you wait until after all of the morning dew has evaporated from the grass, it will be easier to mow, take less of an effort from the mower and thus allow the batteries to run longer in a single mow.
7. Alternate Mowing The Front and Back Yards
The most typical approach to mowing a lawn is to mow both the front and back yards at the same time. Well, why? It takes only half as long to mow just the front or just the back yard at a time (assuming that your front and back yards have similar amount of lawn space). So, if you want to be sure that a battery electric lawn mower will not use up all of the battery charge during the mow, just mow the front or the back.
To learn about our adventures with our solar charged lawn mower or our listing of numerous energy conservation tips for the home owner, simply access our home web site, Daily Home Renovation Tips, using the resource link below.
