Performance of gas without the noise, fuss, and fumes – An Ego Power+ 24in Snow Blower Review

Back in March of 2021, I bought my first house here in enjoyable-summer, yet cold-winter Wisconsin. After I got settled in, around August, I knew it was only a few months until the aforementioned cold-winter Wisconsin was about to begin.

On average, my town in Southeastern Wisconsin receives about 45 inches of snow each year. Granted not all of this snow sticks or accumulates on the ground, but there are often a few days when 2 – 5 inches are expected to land.

My new house has a 6-car driveway and has a fairly steep decline towards the road itself. Shoveling the driveway would be an option, but nobody enjoys a hot, sweaty, and long activity whilst also throwing your back out, so a new snowblower was a must.

With new technologies opening up, I decided to take a peek into the world of electric yard equipment. Earlier in 2021, I purchased an Ego Electric Lawn Mower and fell in love with it. Review to follow on that towards spring, so stay tuned.

After the Ego Lawn Mower purchase, I decided to buy Ego’s Weed Wacker and Blower as all of the batteries are interchangeable amongst their products. Seeing that they also made a Snow Blower and I had already invested in their ecosystem, it was a no-brainer to try out.

Ego makes multiple models of snowblowers, but I opted for their top-tier 2-stage 24 inch unit with two 7.5amp batteries.

As winter is in full midst here in Wisconsin, I’ve gotten to use my snowblower on a few occasions and it’s time to share my thoughts on it all.

Welcome to my review of the Ego Power+ 24in Two-Stage Snow Blower.

Design

Tesla, the manufacturer, got it right when they designed their all-electric cars. You see, whenever a car manufacturer attempts to make their latest edition of an all-electric car, they often go out of their way to redesign the whole body along with it.

In my opinion, these designs look weird, out of place, and not something desirable. Why redesign what works now? Telsa understands that and their electric cars often look just like the rest of the cars around them.

Ego didn’t redesign their snowblower to look any different from their gasoline counterparts because it already works.

The Power+ 24, or as I’ll refer to it, SNT2405, takes a traditional gas-designed snowblower and electrifies it with two Ego-designed batteries that are inserted into the center console of the snowblower.

I purchased the SNT2405 from Lowes and, to my surprise, they shipped it to me. Right to my front door!

When it arrived on the pallet, I tore open the box to find a nearly fully assembled snowblower. There are four hand-twisted bolts that connect the center control stack to a height adjustable frame.

Mostly all black, the SNT2405 has plenty of “eco-friendly” green accent pieces that also help identify which parts are user-replaceable or touchable.

The SNT2405 is made from a mixture of materials with the auger being metal, the auger housing and snowblower frame being aluminum, then the central control dashboard and battery housing being plastic.

The mixture of materials means the SNT2405 is rather light with most of the weight being placed in the auger section. A reasonably fit and strong male could lift the entire snowblower up to move it if needed. Not something easily done on a gas-powered snow blower.

At the top, you have your control dashboard. Here, you’ll find everything you need to control the snowblower’s operation.

From left to right, you have your drive handle, drive speed lever, LED lights button, chute direction, auger power/safety button, auger speed lever, chute pitch adjustment, and your auger drive handle.

I must say that the ease of accessing each individual control makes for a pleasant operation. With one hand free, you can control everything about the snowblower in seconds. On some inexpensive snowblowers, the chute changes direction by twisting a knob whereas on the Ego, the ease to slide a lever is far more ergonomic.

When in operation the SNT2405 can have the auger enabled by pressing the power/safety button, followed by holding down the auger handle. As long as this handle is held down, the auger will never turn off.

When you engage the drive handle, the auger handle is then locked to the ON position until the drive handle is disengaged. This is helpful as it gives you one hand free to use other controls or help better position the snowblower when walking.

The disadvantage is that if the auger is stopped for any reason, the power/safety button must be pressed again for the auger to reengage.

While I understand that this is a safety feature, I wish there was a small grace period in which you could press down the auger’s handle to reengage it. Not everyone in the world needs California-level safety checks.

In the center of the unit, there is a housing that takes two Ego 7.5 (or 10.5) amp batteries. While the SNT2405 is designed for two batteries, it can be run on one for a short period.

The only device accessory provided is a strong plastic auger snow removal tool. It’s never a good idea to ever put your hand or arms into the auger shroud, so this plastic tool lets you unclog the snowblower as it packs up inside.

Lastly, the SNT2405 has four sets of LED headlights. Two at the base of the auger and two at the top of the control dashboard. While I was snow blowing during the day, I didn’t get to fully use them, but they’re plenty bright and would offer a decent view for most people.

Functionality

Let me start by saying that I didn’t buy the SNT2405 because I wanted its “polar-bear friendly” mindset. I was looking for an alternative to making sure I have gas on-hand and the chore of going to get it.

Electric-powered tools sounded like a great alternative that I could easily store, use, and spin up without the need of ever getting gas to transport and store.

The first major run-through I had with the SNT2405 was with 4 inches of uncompacted snow on my driveway. I threw on my winter gear, went outside and I loaded up the SNT2405 with the two included 7.5amp batteries.

I used a simple pattern on my driveway of up and down lengthwise and only engaged the drive motors when walking up towards the house and often throwing the snow towards the right to keep it from blowing back at me as the wind blew.

Ego’s claim that their SNT2405 has the power and performance of gas couldn’t be truer here.

In just 15 minutes, the snowblower and I cleared the entire driveway of snow and it threw every piece it picked up well into the yard as if it weighed nothing.

The big, grippy tires were strong and never slipped either walking it down or engaged when driving back up. It almost felt like the unit was unstoppable through all of the snow on the ground.

When running, the SNT2405 is basically silent. You can tell it’s running, but anyone more than 20 feet away may not hear a single thing. If you’re like me and listen to music while snow blowing, you won’t hear the snowblower whatsoever.

At the bottom of the driveway, the SNT2405 did struggle on the heavily compacted road snow. You can see in the picture above how I wasn’t able to clear the super thick icy bits as the auger just would not easily break up the road ice. As that was on the road itself and it would melt, it didn’t bother me as much.

That said, if you have a section of strong ice or heavily compacted snow, you may want to use salt or a snow melt to help break up the contents for the snowblower ahead of time.

At the end of it all, the two 7.5amp batteries reported 40% battery life remaining. Ego claims this setup could clear an 18-car driveway but depending on the amount of snow that could be quite a stretch. Your actual battery usage may vary.

In case you do run low on power, the SNT2405 comes with a dual battery charger which fills the batteries to maximum in about an hour when fully discharged.

Minus the previously mentioned annoyance with the auger safety, I have absolutely no other complaints with the Ego snowblower.

It works incredibly well, is super quiet, and the best part is you don’t need to make a trip to the gas station and you no longer finish with all of your clothes smelling like gasoline!

My Final Thoughts

I personally love my Ego Snow Blower and more importantly how all of the Ego batteries are interchangeable with my other Ego equipment.

Unlike a traditional gas snow blower, the SNT2405 comes with a 5-year warranty on the unit itself and 3-years on the included batteries. That alone is a huge benefit and major selling point over most 1-year warrantied gas-powered units.

The power it outputs is well on par with its gas counterparts and it does the job surprisingly well. I wouldn’t have it any other way and the convenience of not having to run out to get gas all of the time is a huge plus in my eyes.

What isn’t a huge selling point is the price tag. At $1300, Ego charges a lot of money for what could be done for a lot less. While I did buy this, the gas-powered alternative will do the same job for a lot less and the Ego shines in new technology and quietness.

In the end, I think Ego is making a strong ecosystem that I would recommend anyone look into for replacing or buying new yard equipment. They’re backed by strong warranties, strong battery research and technology, and a company that is continuing to grow as we speak.

© 2022 Justin Vendette