Battery-powered machines are being promoted as the greenest burnishing alternative, but propane-powered burnishers are more productive, less expensive and less environmentally hazardous, say reports from Aztec Products. In commercial cleaning today, everybody wants the job done both quicker and "greener." Custodial workers may even be told that if they can't do both, the manager will find someone who can.

The sole purpose of a floor burnisher is to shine floor finish. The main two kinds of burnishers used are battery powered and propane powered. The question is, which should you use? Here, Aztec Products does a comparison of the two options:
 
Battery Burnishers:
 • Cost twice the price of Propane Burnishers
 • Work at half the speed of Propane Burnishers (ISSA 540 Cleaning Times)
 • Are twice as heavy to move around as Propane Burnishers
 • Have very limited run time, then need to be charged overnight
 • Are virtually impossible to move if the battery dies so the transaxle won’t function
 • Have half the head pressure
 • Have large batteries that fill landfills with lead and other heavy metals
 • Use grid electricity generated 90 percent from burning coal

Propane Burnishers:
 • Cost half as much as Battery Burnishers
 • Work at twice the speed of Battery Burnishers (ISSA 540 Cleaning Times)
 • Weigh half as much as Battery Burnishers
 • Have unlimited run time with quick-change tanks
 • Can be easily moved with or without power to system
 • Have twice the head pressure of battery burnishers
 • Use clean-burning Liquid Propane Gas (LPG)
 • Have Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) approval as clean
 • Have EPA approval as a “Green” power source
 • Can increase a facility’s LEED score by adding credits when using IAQ dust control system