What is the Standard Lawn Mower Decibel Level?
Every spring and summer, the sound level of neighborhoods across America rev up as homeowners start their annual lawn care routine. While the sounds of a lawn mower are irritating and can disrupt important meetings or your relaxation, you may not have known they can also lead to hearing loss over time. The average gas-powered lawn mower decibel level is 90 dB, which is above the 85 dB threshold for hearing damage.
If you don't have an electric lawn mower like Mowrator's S1 Remote Control Lawn Mower 4WD, you’ll need to protect your hearing. We've put together this article to help you understand the importance of lawn mower decibels, how they affect your hearing, and what you can do to reduce your noise levels.
Key Takeaways
- Most lawn mowers emit a noise level of 85 to 100 decibels (dB), except electric lawn mowers, which only emit around 56 to 80 dB.
- The sound your lawn mower makes is impacted by the RPM, blade design, sound insulation, and deck size.
- Listening to 88 dB for at least 4 hours within a week can cause hearing damage.
- Installing sound insulation, wearing ear protection, and switching to an electric mower can reduce your chances of hearing loss in the long term.
What is the Decibel Level of Different Lawn Mowers?
| Lawn Mower | Noise Level | Ear Protection Required? |
|---|---|---|
| Gas-Powered Lawn Mowers | 85 to 100 dB | Yes |
| Push Mowers | 86 to 92 dB | Yes |
| Riding Lawn Mowers | 88 to 96 dB | Yes |
| Electric Lawn Mowers | 56 to 80 dB | No |
What Affects Lawn Mower Decibel Levels?
The sound intensity of your lawn mower can be affected by several factors, including:
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Revolutions Per Minute (RPM): The higher the RPM, the louder the noise your lawn mower produces. This is caused by your engine and your mower blades operating at higher speeds, which increases the noise pollution you hear. Your lawn mower will likely be optimized at around 3,600 RPM which balances performance with decibel level, but any minor deviations from this RPM can lead to noise-induced hearing loss if heard over an extensive period of time.
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Blade Design: The sound of your lawn mower's blades cutting through air and grass is one of the primary sources of noise pollution while you mow. While the RPM drives the blades and influences how loud they can be, the design of your lawn mower blades can also impact how many decibels you are able to hear. Modern blade designs are trending towards flatter and thinner blades to reduce their dB sound levels.
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Sound Insulation: You can purchase sound-insulating materials that can make your lawn mower quieter and easier on the ears. These are applied to the engine housing or mower deck and can reduce noise pollution by 6 to 8 dB. While using sound insulation is an effective way to reduce noise, your lawn mower's functionality may be affected as well.
- Deck Size: Scientific literature has shown that a larger deck size will amplify the mechanical vibrations that your lawn mower makes, often ranging between 86.4 and 96.4 dBA. This means that choosing a lawn mower that has a smaller deck size can spare your ears at the cost of reducing the width at which you can cut the grass.
How does the Noise Level of a Lawn Mower Affect Your Hearing?
Prolonged exposure to at least 85 dB or higher will cause noise-induced hearing loss (NI HL). Decibels work on an exponential scale, so while listening to sounds at 85 dB for 8 hours will cause hearing loss, you only need to be exposed to 4 hours of sounds at 88dB to damage your hearing. Any noises above 120 dB will cause immediate damage to your inner ear, potentially leading to tinnitus and permanent hearing loss.
While mowing your lawn will likely take less than 4 hours, certain lawn mowers like riding mowers and gas-powered lawn mowers can reach the 95 dB range. At this decibel range, you may experience hearing damage after only an hour if you are not wearing ear equipment. However, high decibels aren't the only issue you have to worry about if you want to protect your hearing — low-range frequencies may also be disrupting your day.
How do Low Frequencies Affect You?
Lawn mowers also produce a large amount of low-frequencies while you use them, which can impact your cognitive performance and health issues. Low-frequency noises travel further than high frequencies, which means they can be heard further away and even felt through buildings and other structures. These low frequencies can disrupt your entire community, increase stress, and disturb sleep.
If your entire neighborhood is using gas-powered lawn mowers, the ambient noise level will not only make it more likely that you will have exposure to loud decibels, but you will also feel it. These low-frequency noises are present up to around 500 Hz, which falls into the range that most lawn mowers and blades emit (500 to 2,000 Hz).
What can you do to Lower Your Lawn Mower Decibel Levels?
There are three easy ways to lower your exposure to loud lawn mower decibel levels: alter your lawn mower to be quieter, wear ear protection, or switch to an electric lawn mower. No matter what choice you make, it's still recommended you use a sound level meter to monitor the decibels you are experiencing during lawn care. You can opt to invest in a device to tell you sound pressure levels, or just use an app on your phone.
Alter Your Lawn Equipment to Reduce Noise
As we've mentioned, one solution to lowering your exposure to high noise pollution is to use a quieter lawn mower. Here are some ways you can limit the noise your lawn mower makes:
- Regular maintenance
- Using a high-quality muffler
- Soundproofing your mower deck
- Silencing the exhaust
- Using a quieter blade design
Altering your lawn mower can often be a costly procedure, but with multiple modifications, there is a chance you'll be able to get your lawn mower to run at around 75 decibels.
Wear Ear Protection
The easiest way to lower your exposure to lawn mower noise pollution is to wear hearing protection. Wearing earplugs will decrease your exposure by around 10 to 18 dB. This is measured using the noise reduction rating, although improper fitting and usage will make this reduction far less than normal. Nevertheless, a high performance model earplug will significantly lower noise exposure and can help reduce the likelihood of hearing damage (especially if you work with lawn mowers commercially).
Switch to an Electric Lawn Mower
Switching to an electric mower doesn't only offer you a less noisy mowing experience, but also several other benefits including lower maintenance costs, lower environmental impact, and improved quality of life features. If you want to reduce your exposure to decibels even further, you can invest in innovative remote controlled lawn mowers like the S1 Remote Control Lawn Mower 4WD. Mowrator's premier remote control model means you won't have to worry about gas, oil, or emissions. You’ll be able to precisely control your lawn care from your back porch.
FAQs What is the Decibel Level of a Lawn Mower?
Does weather affect your lawn mower's decibels?
Yes, the weather does affect how loud or quiet your lawn mower is. At a fixed temperature of 60℉ with relative humidity between 20 and 80%, your lawn mower will sound 3 decibels quieter if you are 900 yards away. The colder the weather, the louder garden equipment like a lawn mower or leaf blower will sound.
What is noise-induced hearing loss?
Noise-induced hearing loss occurs when the hairs in your inner ear become too damaged to transmit sound to your brain. If you are exposed to lawn and garden equipment that exceeds 85 decibels for a long period of time without ear protection, you will experience some degree of noise-induced hearing loss.
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