If your hose is going to snag, its going to snag whether you use a manual or an electric reel. I was dead set against electric reels because of the cost but im at that stage of my window cleaning journey where my body needs an easier ride. Ive been using mine for a couple of months now and love it. Im not going to make any extravagant claims about earning more, it is a bit quicker with good hose management but not earth shatteringly. Ive bought it to hopefully keep me on the glass in later years longer than if id continued with a manual reel.
No real way of measuring that as obviously i wont know when i would have had to pack in with a manual but the theory makes sense. I would strongly advise anyone thinking of buying one to look into government business grants as there may still be some out there. I had half of mine paid for with a successful grants4growth application. I only just got mine in time by the skin of teeth as funding for my local council had run out but someone who had, had an application approved for something couldn't make their purchase in time from the mandate they were given so their allocation came up for grabs and i was next in line.
There may be other schemes out there. (they also paid half toward a Gardiners extreme and one spare end section, i was well chuffed). I didn,t share this earlier as it was coming to an end but its worth a phone call to your local council to see if theres any help out there, councils may vary.