8 Best Leaf Vacuums, Tested by Experts
The fall clean-up will really suck (in a good way!) with one of these top-tested picks.
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A leaf vacuum is the perfectionist’s outdoor power tool, great for sucking up every last leaf from under bushes and around foundation walls. It’s also helpful for homeowners who have to bag their leaves, rather than blow them to the curb, since most leaf vacuums feature mulching capabilities that let you hoover up many more leaves into a single bag.
Can’t decide between a leaf blower and a leaf vacuum? You don’t have to! That’s because most of the top picks from Good Housekeeping Institute’s latest tests are multi-purpose machines that perform both tasks.
Our top picks:
- Best Overall: Worx Electric Trivac
- Best Value: Sun Joe Electric Handheld Blower/Vacuum/Mulcher
- Best Variable-Speed: Toro Electric Ultra Blower Vacuum
- Best Large-Capacity: Ryobi 40-volt Handheld Blower/Vacuum/Mulcher
- Best Lightweight Gas: Husqvarna Gas Blower Vacuum
As with other outdoor power equipment that passes through the Home Improvement & Outdoor Lab, from cordless leaf blowers and pressure washers to snow blowers and shop vacs, our experts considered performance, ease of use, durability, noise and more in their assessment of more than 20 leaf vacuums.
After checking out our picks, read on for more details on how our testers choose the best leaf vacuums, plus everything you need to know to find the right model for your home. You can also pick up other expert advice on yard care, including tips for mulching and our latest round-ups of top-rated lawn mowers, wood chippers and electric snow blowers.
How we test the best leaf vacuums
Our product experts in the Home Improvement & Outdoor Lab start by surveying the marketplace to identify top-selling leaf vacuums that you’re most likely to find at stores and online. We also attend trade shows and industry events like Equip Exposition to stay on top of the latest in lawn and yard care. Next, we identify brands that have performed the best and proved the most reliable through years of testing at the Good Housekeeping Institute. We also consider newer brands with unique features or innovations.
Based on an extensive review of technical data, our experts selected various models for hands-on testing, which started in our Lab where we assessed ease of assembly, quality of construction, convenience features and more. A few of our product experts also took leaf vacuums home to evaluate them in the real-world conditions of their yards. Performance tests focused on how quickly and cleanly models sucked up small piles of leaves around the yard, as well as from gutters when that feature was offered. We also evaluated usability — for example, how easily the bag goes on and off, intuitiveness of the controls, the runtime of battery-powered vacuums and the noise level of the motor.
What to look for when choosing the best leaf vacuum
There are several general factors to consider when deciding which leaf vacuum is best for you. Regardless of whether the vacuum can convert into a blower or mulcher, you'll want to pay attention to a vacuum's power type, the size and form of its collection bag, as well as its weight and durability.
✔️ Power type: Leaf vacuum engines can be battery-powered, gas-powered or corded electric. The power type that is best for you depends largely on the size of the project.
- Battery-powered leaf vacuums offer cordless operation and they're also the quietest. Thanks to improvements in battery technology, they're also nearly as powerful as gas machines.
- Gas-powered leaf vacuums still tend to be the most powerful but they are also louder, more difficult to start and require extra care maintenance, including mixing the oil and gas.
- Electric leaf vacuums have a cord that restricts mobility but ensures an unlimited runtime.
✔️ Collection bag form and size: Some collection bags can be worn on the user's back while others are attached directly below the engine. Backpack collection bags often have a greater volume than those that hang directly below a handheld engine. If your vacuum has mulching capabilities, you'll want to make note of its reduction ratio in order to determine how many shredded leaves can fit inside of the collection bag (for example, a mulcher with a 10:1 ratio can fit 100 gallons of dry leaves in a 10-gallon collection bag). Many collection bags are reusable while others are disposable.
✔️ Convertibility: If you’re looking to purchase an all-in-one tool that’ll help you combat fallen leaves and debris, you may want to consider one of the many engines that can convert between leaf blowing, vacuuming and mulching. It’s important to consider the ease of converting between different capabilities when purchasing a convertible tool. Some convertible vacuums/blowers/mulchers are equipped with a switch that allows them to alternate from function to function. Other machines come with different tubes or nozzles that you have to attach and detach in order to convert. That's more of a hassle, but our tests have found that these devices tend to perform better at both vacuuming and blowing.
✔️ Weight: Most leaf vacuums are handheld and relatively lightweight. If you're looking for something more heavy-duty, like a more powerful leaf blower that also has strong vacuum capabilities, you'll have to consider that more powerful engines tend to be heavier and possibly more difficult to operate. "Lightweight leaf vacuums that weigh as little as 5 pounds are fine for minor clean-ups, but you should be prepared to lug around at least a 10-pound machine if you plan on sucking up a lot of yard debris," says Rothman. Heavier vacuums also tend to be more durable.
How is leaf vacuum power measured?
There are a few factors involved. If the equipment has a mulching mode, you'll also want to pay attention to its claimed capacity.
- Cubic feet per minute (CFM): The power of a leaf vacuum is partly determined by the air flow, or how much air it is able to take in, which is measured in cubic feet per minute. The higher the CFM, the more air it can take in. The most powerful vacuums have 400 CFMs and up.
- Miles per hour (MPH): Then there's air speed, i.e. how quickly a lead vacuum takes in air, which is measured in miles per hour (mph). Above 200 mph is ideal.
- Mulcher reduction ratio: This is the ratio between the number of bags of leaves that the vacuum encountered and the number of bags that the leaves were reduced to through mulching. Most mulchers have a reduction ratio of either 10:1 or 16:1.
Why trust Good Housekeeping?
The Good Housekeeping Institute Home Improvement & Outdoor Lab provides expert reviews and advice on all things home-related, including leaf vacuums. In his role as Director of the Home Improvement & Outdoor Lab, Dan DiClerico brings more than 20 years of experience to the Institute, having reviewed thousands of products, including all kinds of outdoor power equipment for Good Housekeeping, as well as brands like Consumer Reports and This Old House. He has vast hands-on experience with every brand included in this report, as well as many others that didn't make the cut.
For this report, Dan worked closely with Rachel Rothman, former Chief Technologist & Director of Engineering at the Institute. For more than 15 years, Rachel has put her training in mechanical engineering and applied mathematics to work by researching, testing and writing about products across the home improvement space. She also routinely tests leaf vacuums and other kinds of outdoor power equipment at her home on Long Island, NY.
Having written thousands of product reviews and how-to articles on all aspects of home ownership, from routine maintenance to major renovations, Dan (he/him) brings more than 20 years of industry experience to his role as the director of the Home Improvement & Outdoor Lab at the Good Housekeeping Institute. A one-time roofer and a serial remodeler, Dan can often be found keeping house at his restored Brooklyn brownstone, where he lives with his wife and kids.
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