Leaf Blower vs Rake Calories Burned Calculator
The amount of calories you burn by using a leaf blower is around 181 calories per hour. That’s the extra energy burned by a typical adult weighing about 75 kg (≈165 lb) above normal resting metabolism.
How many calories would you burn by using a rake instead? Much depends on how hard you go. Gently raking the lawn is estimated to burn about 236 extra calories per hour, which is roughly 55 calories more than using a leaf blower.
Leaf blowing and raking are, respectively, a little below and above “regular gardening” in intensity. The activity ratings used in the calculator come from the Compendium of Physical Activities, where leaf blowing is about 3.3 MET, general gardening is rated a 3.8 MET activity, and steady hand raking is rated 4.0 MET. Light yard work is therefore easier than raking but more demanding than using a blower.
By the way, 75 kg is basically the same as about 165 pounds. If you’re lighter, say 100 pounds, you burn about 110 calories per hour blowing leaves. At 200 pounds, the energy expenditure rises to roughly 234 calories an hour.
Quick reality check: calorie estimates swing a lot with body size and effort. The numbers here assume a roughly 75 kg person and “steady” work. If you rake harder, carry bags, or work on uneven ground, the burn jumps. If you move slowly or take frequent breaks, it drops.
Noise Comparison
Do yourself a favour. Grab a rake or a broom and blow off your blower. Leaf blowers are loud enough to ruin your hearing — and jangle your neighbour’s nerves. Plus they pollute the air. And they cheat you out of beneficial and pleasant exercise.
The racket made by a typical petrol-powered leaf blower can approach 100 decibels, compared with about 30 decibels for rustling leaves and around 65 decibels for normal conversation. Around 85 dBA over an 8-hour day is considered enough to cause hearing damage over time according to NIOSH guidance on noise exposure, so loud tools are a “use hearing protection” situation, not a “tough it out” situation.
Leaf Blower Pollution
The two-cycle petrol engines that run blowers burn fuel in an inefficient manner. Small two-stroke engines can emit relatively high levels of pollutants for their size, especially if they’re poorly tuned or used for long periods, which is one reason many people prefer quieter manual tools where practical.
Fitness Benefits of Raking
Wielding a blower may be hot and noisy work, but it doesn’t compare with the gentle, whole-body stretch you get when raking the lawn or hand-powering a push broom down the sidewalk. In both raking and sweeping, you are stretching your upper body, lower back and legs. People often use work gloves to avoid blisters, and vary gardening activities so they don’t become stiff.
If you work long enough at a brisk pace, you not only will burn calories but also may raise your heart rate and gain the benefits of a mini-aerobic workout. People with medical conditions or long periods of inactivity often check with a health professional before strenuous exercise.
For a familiar reference, compare yard work with walking. A 165 lb adult burns about 276 total calories per hour walking at roughly a 3 mph pace, but about 75 of those calories would be used anyway at rest. That leaves roughly 200 activity calories per hour from the walking itself. A leaf blower is slightly below that level, while steady hand raking is somewhat higher because it involves continuous pulling effort in addition to walking around the yard.
And Find Inner Peace
A quiet hour spent tidying the lawn on a crisp day can become a meditative moment. You can lose yourself in the work and the sights of the turning leaves, the birds and animals, and the clouds skittering across in the sky.
The best part is right before you bag the leaves for recycling, when you jump into a towering heap of crunchy leaves. What the heck, no one’s looking. Do it a couple of times.
How the Calculator Works
We constructed this calculator using metabolic equivalent (MET) values from the 2024 Adult Compendium of Physical Activities. The Compendium assigns an energy cost to common activities so different movements can be compared on the same scale. The calculator reports activity calories — the additional energy used above resting metabolism rather than total daily energy use.
We selected the listed activities for leaf blowing and hand raking and built a calculation that scales the energy cost to body weight and time spent performing the activity. The result estimates the extra energy used above normal resting metabolism.
The figures are averages rather than exact personal measurements. Actual calorie use varies with effort, terrain, temperature, work pace, and individual fitness.
There was a study done on farmers weight gain after the addition of power steering to their tractors. The initial gain after a year was nearly 30 lbs. Secretaries going from an old manual, non-electric typewriter to an electric typewriter (no one under 60 years old has likely ever used one} gained roughly 10 lbs after a year. Where I live, there are many homes with lawns smaller than mine, mowed with a riding lawn mower. I only use my walk behind electric mower without the wheel drive engaged. Walk behind mowing and leaf raking are activities I count as part of my weekly exercise routine. Modern updates to manufacturing and other tasks are great for output but typically drop human activity by measurable amounts. When you have a choice go for increasing your activity.
I found myself needing exercise for my health issues and I was going to start walking up and down the driveway which is about a thousand ft long. but as I was going up and seeing it covered with leaves I said why not rake the driveway. I donned my gloves and grabbed the rake out of the tool shed. It took me about 40 minutes but what a workout. I went at a moderate pace. not fast, not slow and I got a excellent cardio workout. I was careful though because I’m new to working out like that so I made sure I didn’t overdo it. And worked out fine. You sure still falling so within a day or two I’ll have it to do again LOL. It was then when I was resting on the front porch that I googled and found this article in
Hahaha, I love this discussion! I’ve talked about the beauty of just using a rake with my grandchildren. That technology is just too advanced and everyone wants it one and done these days. A rake will let you enjoy the slower pace of life and will definitely give you a workout! Let’s face it we all need the workout anyway.
Okay, so this is something that I have been arguing with my brother over for months. THANK YOU for writing about this. I can’t wait to show him. He tried telling me that I was doing it the easier way. I told him that shoveling and using a rake are a lot more intense workouts than simply using a blower!
I have a 1/2 acre lot in a neighborhood full of beautiful large oaks, hickories, maples, dogwoods, etc. Raking is not feasible. My corded electric leaf blower/vac makes it manageable. And the vacuum feature shreds the leaves into a perfect organic mulch and compost for my flower beds and veggie garden. Contrary to the previous commenter, this is no job for a lazy person. I am always sore and tired after a few hours clearing the leaves. But it’s a good kind of tired!
I’ve never understood why people get leaf blowers. It really is the epitome of laziness. If you don’t like raking leaves, hire someone to do it. On an unrelated note, I was unaware that gardening burns so many calories. No wonder I rarely see any chubby gardeners! LOL. I’ll have to take up gardening next season.