Are Robot Lawn Mowers Cheaper Than Manual Mowers?

Whilst a robotic lawn mower is not what many will consider a cheap piece of equipment, and are still more expensive than many conventional lawn mowers, there are a number of ways that you can ensure that you get the best value from a robotic lawn mower purchase.

Pick A Robotic Lawn Mower That Is Appropriate For Your Lawn Size

There are a lot of different robot lawn mowers models that are suitable for gardens of any size. Whilst some models that are designed to cut large lawns can be very expensive, those designed for lawns of under 600 m² can be surprisingly affordable.

By choosing a model at the more affordable end of the spectrum, you may be pleasantly surprised when you compare this to the cost of a comparable conventional lawn mower.

Consider The Lifetime Cost Of The Mower, Not Just The Upfront Cost

When you’re thinking about whether a robotic lawn mower is a cheap option, it’s very easy just to focus on the upfront cost of the purchase. When you compare the purchase cost of a robot lawn mower compared to conventional lawn mower, more often than not the robot lawn mower will be more expensive.

However, robot lawn mowers are very simple and have low maintenance and repair costs. They do not need to be professionally serviced every year, unlike conventional lawn mowers, where there is greater need to have it professionally serviced, unless you have the technical knowledge to do it yourself.

The fuel for conventional lawn mowers, whether they are electric or petrol, is almost always more expensive than than running costs of a robotic lawn mower. When you compare the cost of petrol used in a conventional lawn mower, to the cost of electricity used by a robot lawn mower, the electricity will be cheaper.

Even when you compare a traditional electric lawn mower to a robot lawn mower, you will find that the electricity costs will be higher with the traditional one. This is due to the fact that a manual electric lawn mower uses cutting technology which requires far more power than the mulching mechanism of robotic lawn mowers.

A manual electric lawn mower has to cut the entire lawn quickly and most people only cut their lawns once every 1 to 2 weeks. As a result, the lawn mower must have sufficient power to cut through dense, long grass to get the job done effectively. Robotic lawn mowers can take their time and can use much lower powered cutting systems to have much greater power efficiency.

The SIFROBOT-ML1, for example, uses only 75 watts of electricity in operation and will use an average of only 14 kilowatts of electricity per month.

You Will Use Less Fertilizer and Weed Killer

With an automatic robot lawn mower all of the clippings are returned to the grass, where the nutrients are released back into the soil, the grass plants that are still growing in the ground can use these nutrients to help them to grow and remain healthy. Due to the fact that no nutrients are being removed from the ground, your grass will just continue to recycle nutrients and remain green and healthy.

A robotic mower also saves the costs of buying weed killer. Since getting a robot lawn mower keeps the lawn relatively short, weeds cannot infiltrate it, and the healthy grass is only too willing to spread to fill in any gaps.