I would take leaf blowers over gun fire I think. We used to have a neighbor across the highway who spent a fortune at least once a week firing his rifles. I am not sure what he was preparing for but lately it is rare. We also had a neighbor with a small plane and he would always chose the most perfect beautiful day to do his touch and goes. I considered investing in some sort of antiaircraft equipment. I wonder if I could have enlisted the assistance of the gun nut across the highway

@carolb_w_fl_coastal_9/10 We're talking about surface buildup on the stove. Electric stoves have a flat surface and are easier to clean, and gas stoves have burners and grates, etc., it takes a bit longer to clean, another few minutes; that's the only con, if you can call that.

In Florida, we have an electric stove, and I hate cooking on it, much harder to control the temperature vs. my gas stove here. It's like night and day in comparison. I do lots of cooking, and I wipe it down after I'm done. It takes a few minutes, no big deal.

The most important thing is to ensure proper ventilation and to maintain your appliances; there will be no issues whatsoever.

“how grease buildup seems to be more of an issue with a gas stove than with an electric one.”

Yes, grease buildup tends to be worse on gas stoves because they have more parts and crevices where grease can collect, and the open flame can spread grease and combustion residues around. In contrast, smooth glass electric cooktops are flatter and easier to wipe clean

There isn't less grease so you're talking about the cleanup. It's a little more than a wipe of a flat surface but it's not that hard and more than worth it.

I haven't used induction but I'd never consider a conventional electric cooktop or range that produces heat by electrical resistance. I've replaced a number of them that were in different homes we'd newly purchased.

Another thing just occurred to me about land maintenance and noise from tools (of whatever kind)-

People who use outside service providers for their yardwork usually pay by the hour. Powered devices save labor which saves time. I have a long hedge - if my guys had to trim it with hedge shears, it would take much longer. If having to clean my driveway, patio, and paved areas each week with a broom, MUCH longer. Harder work for them, more costly for me.

For me and for similar noises coming from neighboring homes, I understand and gladly tolerate them.

(In some parts of Europe, using power tools or any tools making noise outdoors is prohibited on Sundays. Where I lived, it wasn't permitted to wash cars on Sunday if the trail of water crossed the sidewalk. I learned this not exactly the hard way but from a polite reprimand from a neighbor. It's not like everyone went to church on Sunday or anything of the sort. I think the intent is to set aside one day for rest and quiet.)

" In Florida, we have an electric stove, and I hate cooking on it, much harder to control the temperature vs. my gas stove here. "

If you get an induction electric stove, you won't find that a problem. All the control of gas, without the flame, exhaust, and increased cleaning. The reason there's often increased cleaning on a gas stove is not just because of the crevices, but because the stove top and grates get hot all over; on an induction stove, the stove top does not get hot except when a hot pan is on it.

I got my first induction stove 9 years ago, and I hope never again to use a "traditional" electric stove.

Remember when we had leaded gas? We knew it was dangerous and polluting our ground waters, but we took more than 20 years to completely stop producing and selling leaded gas. The two strike engines produce tons of dangerous pollutants and slowly, one township at a time, we are acknowledging the danger and limiting their use, but I expect it will take decades to do the right thing and ban production of lawn equipment with 2 strike engines.

RE: grease buildup - we were talking about greasy buildup in the kitchen, not just on the stove - on the cabinets and walls too.

I replaced a glass top electric stove with a new gas stove a couple of years ago. I had used gas for the past 30 years and was more comfortable cooking with gas. I think that there are two things that contribute to more grease in my kitchen compared to some others.

1. I am using gas. There really isn't anything to debate - Gas ovens and stoves produce a yellow greasy film on the cabinets directly above or on either side of the stove. It will also get on the utensils and the crock that holds them. I didn't change what I cooked, just the method and the film appeared. It makes sense - they have lots of studies showing greater air pollutants using gas. I am willing to deal with the film and increased pollutants in order to get the immediate response from gas.

2. I find that people who are willing to sacrifice the ease of cleaning in order to get the method of cooking that they prefer often cook more and are less likely to worry about what kind of mess their cooking may cause. I deep fry, make candies, can fruits, pickle red beats - cook many things that others say is too messy or makes too much mess. They own the glass cooktops - I have the gas grates.

Sorry - but I cook a lot - from scratch - and use the oven at least several times weekly too. I've always had electric. I think many people have it/prefer it because more than anything else, it's what they're used to.

Gas was sold to the public as cleaner and more efficient many years ago in a concerted PR campaign - it worked.

I only use gas outside on the patio. I will never use gas inside, I will never use induction. I prefer electric coil burners, but I will use electric smooth top. I will never use gas or induction.

Sherry, I’m curious why you will not use induction? We are considering it as the crack in our glass cooktop lengthens (user error). I definitely prefer my glass cooktop to the coils.

" There really isn't anything to debate - Gas ovens and stoves produce a yellow greasy film on the cabinets directly above or on either side of the stove "

Use the exhaust hood and this won't happen. If it isn't powerful enough, get one that is.

We've always used gas for cooktops, always turn on the exhaust hood and crack open a window (even if just boiling water), and have no deposits on kitchen cabinets or walls. The fan blade and exhaust pipe, different story. They need to be cleaned regularly. But that's fine, that's where any residue belongs.

Even if using an electric range, I'd still want a functioning exhaust hood. I don't want indoor air "perfumed" by cooking smells.

I've never used an induction range and if it operates in a manner similar to gas, I'd have no reluctance to using it. In my area, the use of natural gas for water heating, space heating and cooking has long been the most common approach. All electric homes are to be found but historically they've been the cheap, tract home and large apartment types. That's changing now, of course, but for a long time all electric homes were uncommon.

We have a gas range(propane-no natural gas here) and we do not get any yellow film or any greasy film on cabinets or items near the stove. We stir fry, wok and sear. We always use our hood which is 1200 cfm. My daughter has an electric coil stove in her apartment that we cook on when we are there. I can't stand it. The pots and pans slide around on it.

I don't know what grease or yellow film people are talking about. I cook Sunday sauce for 4-5 hours, make Bolognese sauce for about the same amount of time, fry eggplant, chicken cutlets, meatballs, hot peppers, steaks, etc., and keep everything clean.

I can see if nothing is being cleaned, and when you constantly cook without cleaning, you might have a mess on your hands. Other than that, I need fire when I cook :-).

"Gas was sold to the public as cleaner and more efficient many years ago in a concerted PR campaign - it worked. " And anti-gas only electric was mandated/forced on us during the previous administration sighting faulty studies to cram their ideology down our throats. Gas is most often preferred by professional chefs, professional bakers choose electric. They make their choices on their experience, letting function influence them. Options are a marvelous thing!

The rest of the world is importing LNG from the US and other sources.

I've been all eletric for 26 years now except for the propane I use for my grill.

" The rest of the world is importing LNG from the US and other sources. "

Oh, the world still uses fossil fuels - but they're also increasingly embracing non-fossil fuel sources in order to save money, pollution, and reliance on imports, including using electricity from solar, wind, hydro, etc.

It's frustrating, isn't it? I also live in a neighborhoods where blowers and mowers seem to be non-stop. Most people here don't do their own yard work so services use large and loud zero turn mowers and there are some services who have three guys all running blowers in the same yard at once. I work at home and am on the phone a lot and can't have my windows open while I'm working due to the noise. And in the evenings and weekends, the people who don't have services are doing their own yard work. The guy in the house behind us must mow at least three times a week - we are constantly saying "he's mowing AGAIN?!" The noise does make it difficult to enjoy being outside in own yard or even having our windows open. Spring and summer are so precious where I live, given how short they are, it would be nice not to have to deal with that, but it is what it is. (We do our own yard and use a battery operated mower for the grass and blower to get the clippings off the driveway/sidewalk. We rake our leaves.)

I live outside of town. One neighbor has a service that sometimes uses leaf blowers to get out from under the pool deck or between the bushes and fence. Otherwise, many folks use lawn mowers with catchers. Or are like me and let mother nature do the job for the most part with a little raking here or there. For me, the leaves are a crucial part of the eco-system of my property, so I don't remove them. They are also a crucial part of insulating some of the kitchen garden through winter so I can keep growing there- I move some leaves around to pack them in.

Bluebell, compadre!

I should think any country would want as many energy options as possible, from oil and gas to solar and wind and water.

Bluebell, you must live on the street behind me, and be talking about my next-door neighbor who mows at least 3 times a week.

Jennifer - I remember the OPEC oil embargo 1973-74 and the lines at the filling stations. My allowance would only buy one gallon to put into my mini-bike instead of two. I guess there was another surge in gas prices during the Iran revolution in 1979-80 but I had a real job then so it didn't affect me much.

Actually, many professional chefs are switching to induction for cooking. It heats up faster, offers much more temperature precision and consistency, and there is less heat waste with induction.

I've had gas, electric, and induction. My current cooktop is electric - glass, flat top.

I won't have gas as it's being phased out in our planned retirement area.

I prefer plain old electric. The induction cookers I've used produce a squeal/hum that is more irritating that gas leaf blowers.

How about we ban lawns? No lawns means no need for lawn mowers and less need for leaf blowers. No noise pollution from lawn equipment, no wasting large amounts of water, no fertilizers poisoning our waterways.

We could grow weed instead then everyone would be happy!

" How about we ban lawns? No lawns means no need for lawn mowers and less need for leaf blowers. No noise pollution from lawn equipment, no wasting large amounts of water, no fertilizers poisoning our waterways. "

As much as I dislike lawns, it's not true to say that water, fertilizers, and lawn equipment isn't/wouldn't be used or necessary. It depends on what you replace the lawn with......

I would love to ban lawns, Clyde! I am not a lawn fan and agree they have been so detrimental to our planet. One of these days, we will build on a long-gone farm field that has reverted to prairie style grass and flowering weeds that we own "up north" and there won't be a lawn in sight.

I'm not too sure removing grass from yards would result in no one using leaf blowers anymore. Trees would still exist, and the folks that don't want leaves around their yard. People would still use water and chemicals, synthetic and organic- because they would still have plants in their yards.

Personally, I would be bummed not to have a yard. I get massive amounts of fireflies, and most of the species here like a four inch or so grass field if they can get it. On the boo, we also have ticks, so some short grass in the yard helps make it more enjoyable from a less ticks perspective. I have a wide array of wildlife, and so I like to have a wide array of environments that they like. I like to grow out swaths of yard to almost seed to mow down and rake up for green mulch in the garden. Out back, the meadow has to be cut down once or twice a year, else the trees and bushes will take over- same goes for the trails and open areas the critters like to congregate in for spring growths. I try to steward the land and work with it.

Back to the OP...

Nothing beats a gas-powered blower, no matter how you swing it... Maybe it's nice to have for a homeowner to blow dust off their shoes or garage floor, etc., because on a single charge, you will get 15-30 minutes if you use it for light debris. After that, the power will go down.

Gas blowers that landscapers use go full power for most of the day...

Gas-powered concrete saws can be used for hours doing steady block cutting, etc., in comparison to battery-operated saws that will give you 10-15 minutes of power on a single charge if you're lucky.

Certain things are meant to run on gas for efficiency and power, and they cannot be replaced, and that will never change; they will always be around like it or not.

@Toronto Veterinarian, If you dislike grass, take the grass out and use Green outdoor carpet, no mowing, no watering... Just don't give your Canadian government any ideas, because you never know what to expect from them; you might end up with a green rug. lol

If I had no lawn, I'd have a slimy, muddy mess. The leaves would kill the grass and smother anything else that wanted to grow. My yard would be a wasteland that no one would want to look at or spend time in.

@GN Builders L.L.C. Are you saying that we are able to fly a man to the moon, but no one can figure out how to build a leaf blower that can effectively blow leaves off the lawn without using a two stroke, gas powered engine?

Ha ha. I said ban lawns tongue-in-cheek. I think it is pretty funny how people will complain about gas powered this and that, noise pollution, water usage, fertilizers, air pollution, saving the environment, landscapers blowing and mowing all day etc but then mention not having lawns and it becomes "That won't solve anything." But banning gas leaf blowers will?

There are solutions for yards out there that are low maintenance and don't require gobs of water and chemicals but no one wants to do them. People could select plants adapted to local soil and climate conditions that survive on natural rainfall once established. Native gardens reduce erosion and require no chemical fertilizers. But again people want their meticulously manicured lawns and yards.

Will banning lawns solve everything...of course not but it would cut down on a lot of mowing, blowing and water usage. Just saying.

Reducing lawns could be good for some. It might be difficult for some as well. But even without grass.. people would still want to blow the leaves off their mulch, driveway, patio, pool area, off bushes and ground covers. And so on. Some folks like to use gas blowers, some electric- some folks like to rake and still others choose to not mess with the leaves at all.

FWIW, my former yard had no lawn per se. The front yard was mostly a thick layer of live oak leaves. We used our blower for leaves and other debris in the gutters and sidewalks/driveway - and so do many other folks I've seen . Hubby used it to blow out leaves and debris from the car as well.

My lawn uses now chemicals and relatively little water --- only in a drought. And, it's a lot easier to mow than to weed all the Norway maple seedlings, Black Locust and other noxious weeds.

@Jennifer Hogan, let's see. To fly to the moon, a space shuttle uses liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen, so maybe someone one day will figure out how to incorporate that into a leaf-blower, and we don't have to wait for the leaves to fall, we can blow them right off the tree and send them to the moon... but I doubt you or me will ever see that :-)

No lawn certainly doesn’t mean no blowers. When we would visit AZ, in an area with few deciduous trees and few lawns, leaf blowers are still used to clean the plant debris from graveled landscaping. Raises dust.

Ouch, yeah... looks good and kept up properly are subjective. Looks good to people that prefer lawns, people that prefer not that- and also sometimes yards are kept to look good to the animal eye more than the human one. Some people like to garden grass, some people like to garden other things. Some people like to have both. There are some places where grass is a bad thing and it's banned.

Just like leaf blowers. Some folks like to use them, some don't. Some like to use gas, some don't. It's subjective. At least until a municipality decides to ban something like gas small engines.

I didn’t say lawn bans would eliminate the use of blowers—just that they would reduce it.

It's not only HOA's requirement... most places, when a new home is being sold, the general CO requirement is to have the lot graded and seeded to ensure proper drainage and a healthy lawn, so the property meets neighborhood standards.

What homeowners do after that is up to them.

Aww man, can we not drag that KT politics junk around please? That kind of stuff seems to get ugly and flagged/snipped, or shut down.

"we don't have to wait for the leaves to fall, we can blow them right off the tree and send them to the moon."

I actually watched a guy place at 4' ladder at the top of his roof peak trying to leaf blow them off the tree, totally hilarious watching nature trying to weed out the stupid. Oh, and he had a Hilary 2016 sign in his yard.

" kempt vs. unkempt. "

I thought it was about grass vs something other than grass.

Now there are 2 different arguments. I'm in favour of keeping a lawn well maintained if you choose to have a lawn, but I'm generally anti-lawn and prefer options other than grass. I am perfectly happy when other people choose not to have an expanse of grass in front of their house.

Some folks seem to always assume that their own personal experience is the same for everybody everywhere. Here in coastal FL, the grasses that will survive our climate in a lawn are considered weeds by many up north - and require heavy maintenance, water and chemicals to look good. In a place surrounded by waterways, this is bad for the health of those waters. Our local ag extension agencies recommend and encourage alternatives to turf grasses for a healthy yard.

We are also in a drought here, and watering is restricted to one day per week and only at night. Dead grass looks a lot worse than a landscaped yard.

@lily316 Sounds lovely.

I'm guessing the gas vs electric leaf blower topic is long gone at this point.

@lily316 - I love the idea of the "Secret Garden". I bought a home with a large grass lawn, but keep expanding the width of the garden areas around the home and using native plants. My goal is to replace 50% of the lawn with native plants.