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Battery yard tools: how to spend less on batteries

Updated October 26, 2026 · 5 min read

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With battery mowers, snowblowers, trimmers and leaf blowers, the battery is often the most expensive part of what you buy. Get the batteries right with your first purchase and every tool after it costs much less.

Pick one battery line and stay with it

Batteries generally only fit tools from the same brand and the same battery line, and some brands have more than one line at different voltages. Every tool you buy in that line can share the batteries you already own.

So before your first purchase, check that the line includes the tools you'll want over the next few years: a mower, a snowblower, a string trimmer, a leaf blower, maybe a chainsaw. Bigger machines like mowers and snowblowers usually need a brand's higher-voltage line, so start there if you'll want one.

Kit or tool only?

Most battery tools are sold two ways: as a kit with batteries and a charger, or as the tool alone, often called "tool only" or "bare tool."

• Your first tool: buy a kit. Batteries usually cost the least when they come with a tool. A large battery bought on its own can cost nearly as much as a whole kit that includes it.
• Every tool after that: buy it alone. If your batteries fit, the tool-only version can cost far less than the kit.
• Need another battery anyway? Compare the price of a spare battery with a second kit. Sometimes the kit costs about the same and you get a tool as well.

It usually makes sense to make your first kit the biggest tool you need, like the mower or snowblower, since those kits come with the largest batteries. Those batteries then run your smaller tools too.

Watch for bundle promotions

Stores regularly run promotions like a free battery, or a free tool, when you buy a kit. Lawn tool promotions are common in spring, and snow tool deals in the fall and around Black Friday. A good bundle can be worth more than a percentage off a single tool.

These promotions don't change the listed price, so a price alert won't catch them. Check the store's promotions page before you buy, especially before a holiday weekend.

Which battery size?

A battery's amp-hours (Ah) tell you how much energy it holds. A higher number runs longer but weighs more and costs more. Put your largest batteries in the mower and snowblower, where runtime matters most, and use smaller, lighter ones in handheld tools like trimmers and blowers.

Batteries last longest when they're stored indoors, out of extreme heat and cold, and charged the way the maker recommends, so bring them in from the garage in winter.

How to watch for a deal

• For the tools you'll add later, set a sale alert on a store's page for your brand, filtered to tool-only if the store offers that filter.
• For your first kit, set a sale alert on the store's page for that kind of tool with batteries included. See when to buy a mower and when to buy a snowblower for the best months.
• For a specific tool or battery that's sold out, set a back-in-stock alert on its product page.

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