Robot Lawn Mowers Could Cost More Than Hiring a Lawn Maintenance Service
It’s an exciting prospect for homeowners who do seemingly constant battle with an unruly lawn: a robot lawn mower to conquer the grass while they sit on their, well, bums. However, homeowners who want brand-name, wire-free units will pay handsomely to get a Star Wars-esque droid to do their mowing. Interestingly enough, buying one of the more popular mid-tier robot lawn mowers could cost more than hiring a lawn maintenance service to care for your lawn for an entire year.
Hiring a professional lawn maintenance could be comparable to or even cheaper than buying and installing a decent robot lawn mower
It might seem expensive to compare hiring a professional crew to tend to your lawn to mowing it yourself. However, if your idea of cutting your grass involves a robot lawn mower, you might spend less hiring professionals for a year than what you would spend on an average auto mower.
According to Tom’s Guide, an entry-level unit will cost around $1,500 for the mower and its supporting hardware. That’s not a lot more than the starting price of the Sunseeker L22 Plus wire-boundary robot lawn mower. You can read more about the Sunseeker and other popular mowers for 2024 here.
However, Tom’s Guide suggests that, at an average of $40 per professional visit over 26 weeks, lawn care will cost you around $1,040. Of course, those figures will vary based on factors like your location, the professional lawn service, and the size of your lawn. Either way, a brand-name, middle-or-higher tier mower from Husqvarna, Ambrogio, or Worx will cost you.
Of course, these figures reflect the price of a year of lawn maintenance services. Many brand-name robot lawn mowers will (hopefully) last many multiples longer than one year. Moreover, units like the Husqvarna Automower 430X and the Mammotion LUBA AWD 5000 have warranties covering components like hardware and batteries.
Beyond the longevity of a robot lawn mower, hiring a lawn service means a team with a large truck and/or trailer will drive to your home to mow, trim, and maintain your lawn. Unfortunately, doing so creates harmful tailpipe emissions. Furthermore, a commercial-grade zero-turn lawn mower with an ICE powerplant will also pollute, whereas a battery-powered auto mower’s carbon footprint is only as much as it draws from the grid.
