Bosch UNIVERSALLEAFBLOWER 18V-130 P4A 18v Cordless Garden Leaf Blower

Battery AH Explained

The best way to describe battery amp hour is that this is effectively the size of your fuel tank, the more amp hours your battery has then the longer the battery will last between charges. More amp hours does not increase the power of a given tool.

Battery Voltage Explained

A tool with a higher voltage than another is a bit like choosing an engine in a car, the higher voltage will generally mean higher power & performance. As with cars though a bigger engine does not always translate to better performance so it is important to compare the specifications of tools at different voltages between different manufacturers.

Bosch PowerForAll

The Bosch PowerForAll Tool range is a range of tools you can buy knowing that batteries are compatible with all tools in the range providing they are of the same voltage. eg 18v fits 18v, 12v (10.8v) fits 12v (10.8v) etc. Please also note that 10.8v is compatible with 12v & vice versa as it is just a name change. Indego Lawnmowers also use the PowerForAll 18v battery but require a cover plate to be removed if changing.

PowerForAll has many advantages not least the fact that once you have a tool with a few batteries then there is no need to buy the more expensive versions with battery & charger, you can just go ahead & buy the much cheaper no battery versions!

So remember PowerForAll signifies complete battery compatibility throughout the range. There is however, one caveat to this, some of the very first older chargers will not charge the very latest batteries & a battery charger upgrade will be required if you have a first generation charger. All batteries fit all tools however.

As of 2021 Bosch has licensed PowerForAll to other manufacturers whereby batteries between these manufacturers will be interchangeable.

Important
You cannot use Bosch Pro (Blue) batteries in either 12v or 18v DIY (Green) products.

There are three main types of leaf blowers – Petrol, corded electric and cordless electric. As a general rule, Petrol blowers offer the most power at the expense of being heavier and noisier and than their electric counterparts, and typically come at a higher price.

Electric blowers are much quieter and more suitable for residential areas, and are usually powered by either lithium ion battery packs, or mains electricity.

Corded variants are cheaper to manufacture as they don’t require batteries or chargers, though their obvious limitation is the length of cord they are attached to.

Cordless variants offer much more freedom, though the amount of time they can be used for is dependent on the charge in their batteries. Higher amp-hour (ah) batteries will offer the most runtime, while higher voltage machines will provide more power.

Leaf blowers can also be effective at clearing snow, dust and dirt; however please bear in mind they are not designed to shift piles of wet leaves and much better results can be obtained by waiting for these to dry out first.