Much faster than the leaves that accumulate in the gutters. And when they do, they cause more. They still clog, much faster than the leaves that accumulate in the gutters. And when they do, they cause more damage because now water accumulates on top and goes under the drip edge, behind the liner and everywhere where water shouldn't go.
As the title says, I wonder if it's worth buying sewer protectors or if it's a waste of money. The Internet seems divided about it. Most of the time, when it rains, a small but noticeable amount of water runs through the protectors to the edge of my gutters, and then creates a small waterfall along the edge of my gutters. When they ask me if gutter protectors are worth it, I always inform my customers that it depends on what they expect from them.
Most of the hull style cannot be properly installed on existing gutters unless the entire gutter system is disassembled and reinstalled lower (since the hulls have to be above the gutters due to the curve in the nose) and can direct water backwards under the shingles and cause massive water damage. But all this is easy to remedy just by eliminating the guards, and for most people, these comparatively small inconveniences are more than compensated by the benefits. Some may be worth it, but the kind I have (pretty standard metal mesh) just has a bunch of pine needles and other garbage on top, eventually blocking the water from dripping into the gutter. I manually installed the 3' ones from the local store, with clip, and they work beautifully to prevent the hundred-year-old sugar maple steering wheels from getting stuck in the gutters many times a year.
I have the gutter protectors where it is aluminum and then holes are drilled (like the kind of holes you would get from a 3-hole paper punch). Keep in mind that with these you will want to cover the ends with wire mesh or similar, or the birds will want to make nests in the gutters. We got them during a roof remodel and the need to clean the pine gutters stacked on top decreased, but the gutters worked functionally. Pine needles and other rubbish will make their way through your guards and you'll still have to clean them.
One option for you is to buy a PVC pipe, add a U-shaped return at one end and connect it to a leaf blower so you can clean the gutters off the ground and not have to climb a ladder. The only drawback: due to the design, about 10% of the water from the roof does NOT enter the gutters and instead flows along the edge of the edge of the gutter edge. I have to clean the gutter every few years, but this is much less frequent than not having any gutter protectors.
