|
Vacuum cleaners - comparison upright with canister
QUESTION: It is time to get a new vacuum cleaner - with 6 cats and a chronically
shedding golden retriever in the house, my old 5 amp Hoover upright
just isn't cutting it anymore.
I seem to recall reading some stuff a couple of years ago on the merits
of canister vacuums over uprights - something along the lines of how
canister vacuums are much more efficient than uprights. Can anyone
give me a comparison ?
ANSWER: that's a subject where your mileage may vary a lot, that's for
sure... In general, canisters have better suction and uprights are
believed to clean carpeting better because they have a power
brush/beater bar that helps to remove dirt from high carpets. Some
canisters have a powerhead that makes them as effective or more than
uprights -- these same machines cost much more than the
top-of-the-line uprights, unfortunately...
I was brought up in a household with an Electrolux canister -- rather
light, powerful and quiet in comparison to Hoover uprights. If I could
afford them, I'd get a Miele, Siemens or Bosch like the ones my
neighbors (German people) had: extremely powerful and quiet,
just the sound of (a lot of) air gushing thru the attachments so fast
and strongly that it cleans better without a powerbrush than uprights
I've seen... German people buy the powerheads (brush/beater bar)
mostly for Spring cleaning only, they say that excessive use of
powerheads destroys the carpeting, which is basically true. Anyway, the
basic selling point of those machines here is that they filter the air
better. Also, canisters are better to clean ceilings, curtains,
furniture and upholstery etc.
We have a rather old "5HP" Eureka canister. In very small type,
beneath the huge bold 5HP it says "peak performance". Indeed. :-( The
powerhead isn't very effective to remove the cat hair from our carpets
-- and I'm allergic to cat hair. Not to mention that if you touch the
metal tubes between the attachments and the hose, your body collects a
*huge* amount of static electricity which makes it very unpleasant
when you inadvertently touch a radiator etc...
So off we go trying to find another machine -- we got an Eureka
upright, Powerline something. Let me tell you, they didn't lie: I
cleaned the staircase, an act that makes you touch the machine's dirt
bag; alas, not only that made all my hair stand on end, but I got
zapped from a few millimeters *thru* my jeans when I passed _by_ the
radiator. It made me wonder why in hell these machines don't have a
grounding plug! :-( Our time in purgatory didn't last long though --
the light stopped working in a month or so, and when we called the
people who are supposed to fix them under warranty they told us that
it was a common problem that makes the wires to the light break.
This time I returned the electrostatic generator to the store, and
took a better look at the uprights they had. The Panasonics and Sharps
looked nice and are rather quiet. Excuse me, what was the price again?
Gosh, you should let me sit down before you say four hundred dollars
like that! Then there were the expensive Hoovers, lots of suction and
a neat system that makes them self propelled -- they came up with
something called "effectiveness per amp", and these machines were
around 21. But still too expensive. Then there was the Dirt Devil 11
Amps and the Hoover Legacy (7 Amps, with an effectiveness per amp of 17
or so). Both seemed much better than the 5 Amp uprights: the brush is
raised from the floor when you are using the other attachments, the
hose is connected "permanently" and they are better finished. We
almost got the Dirt Devil because the bags are easier to change and
the dirt gets trapped in the bag before the air goes thru the fan. But
the Hoover Legacy was slightly lighter and has a "stair cleaning
handle" and we got plenty of carpeted stairs.
So far, the major complaint about the Hoover Legacy that we got is
that it is noisy. But it works very well -- we use microfiltration
bags which seem to trap dirt much better than the common bags -- it
cleans easily and it doesn't generate any static electricity, for
which I'm grateful.
To finish this long story: I think that on one hand, the uprights are
easier to use because everything is in just one package and you don't
have to drag another thing after you, but that supposes your house is
ample and furniture has rather high clearances underneath and is far
apart from each other, 'cuz these machines are rather big. On the
other hand, canisters are easier to use when you move in tight
quarters, 'cuz the attachments are smaller and can fit better between
the sofa and the armchair to clean under the table in the corner, and
under the sofa -- also you have to move only the light tube and
attachment, which don't make you dream about the self-propelled
upright you didn't buy. Anyway, most of the time, for routine cleaning
we use the upright; we use the canister every month or so to clean
under heavy furniture, walls, ceilings, curtains etc. And I'm saving
money to buy one of those German canister vacuum cleaners.
|
|
|
|
