Best new upright for hardwood floors

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eluxca

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We will be moving into a beautiful new home in April that has hardwood and tile flooring throughout. We have always had a home that is fully carpeted and I've purchased vacuums that were best suited for carpeting. I love the Dyson DC17 I bought four months ago. It has totally changed my view on bagless machines and Dyson as a brand. While it is a phenomenal carpet cleaner, I don't think it is suited for hard floors.
So I am looking for an upright that is best for floors and and occasional area rug. I have a memory of Jack mentioning the DC25 for this kind of use, and it is in the running, but I would like to hear about other brands and machines, too. Additionally, if someone has a nice machine that could be traded for a nice DC17, I would be open to it.
Happy Valentine's Day to all,

John
 
John...you'll be happier with a canister for bare floors

Uprights can pick up surface litter and large dust balls, but nothing beats a good, manoeverable bare floor brush with soft bristles connected to a quiet canister. You might even consider the Dyson canister without the Motorhead - the one where the hose can be disconnected from the bulky wands for dusting furniture.
 
I'm sure others will be able to recommend other brands -

Remember that great slogan from the Hoover 700 ad - 'It pays to know the difference between The Hoover and a vacuum cleaner'?

It would be equally true now to say - 'It pays to know the difference between The Dyson and a bagless'!

The DC25 is a nice choice if you have big areas of hardwood flooring, but like most uprights, the size of the head will restrict it from going into some tight spots, which wouldn't be an issue for a canister-style parquet head. You can get one to fit the DC25, but you may find the wand a little short for extensive vacuuming. Maybe just use the parquet head for the hard-to-reach areas, and the cleaner in upright mode for the rest?

Are you totally set on an upright? It sounds like a canister like a powernozzle might be a better bet? Even as dedicated an upright-user as I am, I'd switch to using my DC23 Motorhead if I was living in a situation with mostly wood flooring.

As a side-note, many thanks for taking the time to share your opinion of the DC17 - it's really encouraging to have some independent feedback from someone who's genuinely appreciated the product!
 
According to Consumer Reports, here are your best bets for b

In order of cheapest to more expensive:

1. Miele S2120 Delphi (Good on carpet, excellent on bare floors, very good tool airflow and noise level, and excellent emission control) $500
2. Kenmore Intuition 28014 (Excellent on bare floors, excellent airflow for tool use, excellent emissions, very good on carpet and very good noise level)
3. Miele S514 Direct Connect (excellent on bare floors, excellent emissions control, very good airflow for tools, very good noise control, only a "good" on carpets) $730
4. Miele Calisto S5280 (same ratings as the S514 but more expensive $880)

You might also try the Electrolux Oxygen 6988 (my friends love this for their floors and throw rugs): it's only got a "good" rating on noise control, but it is excellent on floors and carpets, and is cheaper than all of the above ($430)

You might also look at the Miele Olympus which is the same as the Delphi, but cheaper because it does not have a motorized carpet nozzle - you can probably buy a Miele turbo nozzle for your throw rugs to go with this.

Miele probably has the best bare floor brush now with a very flexible head to move it into all types of floor terrain. So it might be best to try for a Miele for this reason alone!
 
Sorry forgot the CR price on the Kenmore Intuition....

they list it as $600, but knowing Sears, it's often discounted from that price. It actually has a very neat power nozzle which incorporates a Bare Floor Brush inside of it. All you do is step on a pedal and remove the bare floor brush (while its connected to the wand) from the carpet nozzle, and voila...you're set to do floors!
 
My two cents worth ...

I too have always been an upright fan, with Kirby as my favorite. I had always lived in homes with wall to wall carpet. Since I had back surgery two years ago, I as forced to move to a downstairs apartment about a year ago. This new apartment has all wood floors throughout except for the small bedroom which is carpeted. Needless to say, the Kirby was no longer suitable for the bare floors. I bought a used Filter Queen recently and now use it as my primary vacuum. It has a PN for the bedroom, and a great bare floor brush for the rest of the house. I realize that brand new Filter Queens are expensive, but a reconditioned one from a reputable vac shop is usually pretty reasonable. They are well made, and with reasonable care will last a lifetime. Just my two cents worth.

Joe
 
Best new upright for hardwod floors

John,
There are several factors that you would need to consider with the hardwood floors. I found this to be a whole new ball game when picking out a vacuum.I had all wall-to-wall carpeting in the last house but this house changed the playing field because I have hardwood floors,tile,different types of area rugs and some carpeting. I would much prefer a tank type over any upright for the hardwood floors. I can give you some points that I found when using the different machines on my hardwood floors:
(1) good design of the floor brush
(2) easy to use hose and hose handle
(3) machine that rolls over door sills,different carpets edges and area rugs and STILL does not roll into everything on the smooth floor surface.
(4) Think noise level! They sound much louder on the hardwood floors
Of my machines the ones that DID NOT do very good job on the flooring:
(1) Rainbow was just too heavy and it caught on every differnet surface height.
(2) Hoover Connie blew dust EVERYWHERE and it caught on the different surfaces from an area rug to hardwood floor surface
(3) Hoover Anniverary Canister had very small wheels and it tended to pull sideways. Also the handle is at the floor level so it was not handy to pick up the machine. The hose was also stiff and short.
(4) Filter Queen(your machine in fact!) worked beautifully with the felt pad but it is heavy and it also catches on different surfaces
The machines that worked the best and were by far easier to use :
(1) Dyson canister will not tip over or catch on different surfaces and it has very good suction. It is somewhat loud and you do have to empty the container
(2) Electrolux Oxygen3-It glides over the different surfaces. It is easy to pull but at the same time did not bang into the furniture and walls. It is the quietist vacuum I have ever used and the bag holds a lot of dirt before it loses suction. It has very good air distribution for the exhaust.
(3) Miele-I do not have one but did try one out several times. It was quiet and had a very good floor brush. I am told the bags are expensive and I wasn't too crazy about how it moved on the floor.
(4) Still like the old Electrolux 2100. Easy to pull because of the shape,easy to change the bag but somewhat loud.
Let us know what you get for the new house.
All the machines I spoke of were very good cleaners but some were just easier to use on the hardwood and moving from one surface to another. When you have the hardwood floors the noise level and air distribution will be a more important factor that with the carpeting and your wife has to like the machine too!
Rob
 
Emer Donatello

I had this same situation a few months ago. While I know that tanks and canisters have their place, I really like to use an upright. I had an Oreck that had been used on my hardwoods for several years. It finally died, and I needed a replacement. I checked out stick vacuums and decided that might be my best option. I found an Emer Donatello on ebay for 150. It has a great floor brush and an optional power nozzle. It is quiet, powerful, and very user friendly. The only drawbacks I have found is that the bag is not very large and cord is pretty short. I am going to take mine to vac shop and have them replace the cord with a 35' to eliminate that problem. The bags are pretty cheap, but you can even buy a shake out bag for them. Check out this You Tube Link. This is what convinced me.
Tim

 
If you are looking for a great stick-vac for floors only....

I highly recommend the cordless Swiffer SweeperVac. This lightweight rechargeable vac is extremely convenient to use and really does a great job. It's also quite inexpensive (I think $30 bucks at Wally Mart), even when you take into account the cost of the disposable Swiffer Pads. It's basically a Swiffer floor wiper combined with a Dustbuster on a stick! The suction channel at the front end picks up all the large debris - even out of corners - and the disposable cloth pad picks up all the electrostatic dust that suction alone can't remove. It's also very gentle on all floors as it does not use any harsh bristles. The swivel neck is a breeze to use and allows the unit to easily clean under low tables and around chair legs.

My 82-year old mom loves this thing! She uses it twice a day. It's light and easy for her to use on all the bare floors of her apartment, including marble, hardwood laminate and kitchen and bathroom tile. And the cloths are available in any grocery store.

See the link below....

http://www.swiffer.com/en_US/sweepervac.do
 
Best new upright for hardwood floors

Ok John,you made me do it! I got both my Dyson canister and my Electrolux Oxygen 3 out today and brought them upstairs for a side by side test.

The Electrolux strong points:
(1) quiet,quiet,quiet
(2) very good exhaust air design
(3) for me the Electrolux has a superior cleaning power nozzle
(4) self sealing bag and no dust container to empty

The Dyson strong points:
(1) slightly more suction
(2) very good design of dusting tools
(3) never has ANY oder or dusty smell
(4) no bags to buy

They are both very good machines. If I just HAD to buy only one, I think the Electrolux would win out just because I don't like to dump the dirt container of the bagless machine and I like a power nozzle that has adjustment and not just a "floating" nozzle. Both machines are pleasing to use and user friendly.
Rob
 
OK, sounds like a canister or a stick vac is the way to go. Or a Regina model 59 - wish I still had one, drat!

Rob, if I knew we would be buying a house with no carpet I would have bought a Dyson DC23 like yours instead of the DC17. We have had wall to wall carpeting for the last 19 years, but we're excited about not having it any more. It just so 90's.... lol.

John
 
My dad used to live in a Chicago Style loft downtown, and it was ALL hardwood floors. Very old. I bought a new Oreck 4120? Upright Two Speed. It is the black one, with LED lights, and the "intella shield". It was EXCELLENT for the floors there. First speed for hard floors, and second speed for rugs. I am not a fan of Orecks for daily use, but I will favor them for hard floors. Any 2 speed Oreck would be great for it. Hope this helps,
-Chase :)
 
My favorite upright for my hardwood floors would prolly be..

My Sebo Felix! It comes with a bare floor brush that attaches easily, and be swapped out for a really nice power head. It does an incredible job on all the hard flooring in my house. It gets a ton of use! The floor nozzle has a swivel neck, and so its very maneuverable. It can easily get under, between, and around furniture. This is one of my favorite new vacuums available, and I would highly recommend it!

2-17-2010-01-37-58--HenryDreyfuss.jpg
 

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