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Turbo mode and the runtime claim: two numbers from two different settings
Updated
The top CFM on a battery blower listing is turbo mode. The runtime is usually the lowest setting, or an average, or nothing you can pin down. EGO's page for the LB7654 is the clearest example we found: up to 90 minutes average, 15 minutes on turbo, 150 minutes on low, all with the same 5.0Ah battery.
What that gap means in watts
EGO lists that 5.0Ah battery at 280 Wh. Drain 280 Wh in 15 minutes and the blower is pulling about 1,120 watts. Drain it in 150 minutes and it is pulling about 112 watts. Same tool, same battery, a 10 to 1 spread. The speed dial on that blower runs from 260 to 580 CFM, and turbo is 765. So the long runtime belongs to roughly a third of the airflow in the title.
How each maker words it
| Blower | What the maker says | What it leaves out |
|---|---|---|
| EGO LB7654 | 90 minutes average, 15 on turbo, 150 on low | Nothing. This is how every listing should read |
| Greenworks 40V 550 | Up to 20 minutes on high with the 4.0Ah battery | Low-speed runtime, which matters less |
| EGO LB6151 | Up to 75 minutes of average runtime with the 2.5Ah battery | The setting, and the turbo time |
| Greenworks 80V 700 | Runtime 60 minutes on the maker page | The setting. The Amazon listing we read gives no runtime at all |
| WORX WG547, BLACK+DECKER LSW221 | No runtime figure on the listings we read | Everything |
Runtime claimMinutes at full power
- EGO LB7654 low vs turbo per maker150 min15 min
- EGO LB6151 claim vs our estimate75 min15 min
- Greenworks 80V claim vs our estimate60 min19 min
- Greenworks 40V on high per makernone stated20 min
"Our estimate" means this: the two full-power runtimes the makers publish work out to 0.87 watts per CFM (Greenworks 40V) and 1.46 watts per CFM (EGO LB7654). We round that to a band of 0.9 to 1.5 watts per CFM and apply it to each blower's top CFM. It is a rough planning figure, not a measurement.
How to shop around it
- Treat turbo as a burst. It is for the wet patch by the downspout and the last stubborn pile. EGO's own listing describes turbo as the mode for wet leaves and heavy debris.
- Look at the dial range, not the top number. The EGO LB6151 works at 200 to 480 CFM on the dial. That is the blower you will use most of the time.
- Buy watt-hours. A bigger pack is the only thing that buys more minutes at the same power. The calculator shows how many you need.
Plan your own yard with the battery calculator, or compare all seven picks on the roundup page.