The evolution of quiet lawn mowers and their impact on community noise and hearing conservation

Noise measurements of more than 600 lawn mowers were made at 25 feet and at the operator's ear between 2004 and 2021. These data are presented and compared with the measurement of more than 60 mowers in 1973 by the US EPA. With the exception of electric lawn mowers, very little progress has been made quieting lawn mowers. Electric lawn mowers are significantly quieter than gas mowers. Recently, with improvements in battery technology, the performance of electric mowers has improved significantly. There are currently electric push, self-propelled, and ride-on mowers with comparable performance to gas powered mowers. Finally, the impacts of lawn mower noise on community noise and hearing conservation are discussed.