Panasonic Performance Plus Platinum upright
NYCWriter, that would be my first suggestion to you for an upright. These vacuums are VERY light to push, have stretch hose & onboard tools, & a barefloor shifter to shut brushroll off & clean barefloor. Cloth HEPA bags can be purchased in bulk online for inexpensive prices, so there would hardly be any dust emissions. And it's also nice that they have a metal bottom plate & brushroll for durability. And Panasonic is known for reliability...it's very common to see a Panasonic upright come in for repair from the early 1990's where I live. However, having said those things....DO NOT buy a retail-grade Panasonic!! They are NOT built as well as the Performance Plus Platinum line found at dealers, & you will find many complaints about retail models on sites like Amazon. I would also suggest you steer far away from the Panasonic copycats, like the Riccar Vibrance & Fuller Brush uprights. My dealer, when he was still in business, got the Carpet Pro, Fuller Brush & Riccar Vibrance uprights to sell (as they are all made by Tacony) & had motor problems with all 3 lines! In particular, he had I think 3 or 4 of the Riccar Vibrance models come in needing new motors at 2 years old....unimpressive considering they came with a 4 year motor warranty. Panasonic's Performance Plus Platinum line truly is the best over all the "wannabe's" on the market, & best of all, they cost the same too!
The Oreck, Simplicity, Riccar & Hoover lightweight uprights....I would IMMEDIATELY rule them out. I have an Oreck XL2000RHB Commercial, same as the household Oreck XL's without the headlight, & hate it. Cleaning power is pathetic....hardly any airflow....and brushroll bristles are way too soft! And I have tried the others, too, with similar opinions of them too. Bottom line- they are what a lot of people call them, oversized broom vac's. Considering they want $300 & $400 for these uprights, why spend that kind of money when other full-size uprights clean better for far less money?!
Hoover Windtunnel Anniversary Edition & Royal Lexon S20 canisters.....Again, rule them right out! The Hoover Windtunnel Anniversary Edition has a BIG PROBLEM with the circuit board failing prematurely & requiring replacement under warranty. The 2 wires that are permanently connected to the board that supply power to the PN receptacle on the canister fail prematurely, & since those wires can't be removed & replaced, that requires replacement of the entire board. Some people claim TTI/Hoover has resolved the issue, but I don't buy it for a minute! Royal Lexon S20 canisters are the same canister with different cosmetics, different hose/wand/PN, so I would also rule it out too since it would use the same faulty circuit board.
Kenmore & Panasonic canisters....Rule them out! First off, the older models, including present-model Panasonic canisters, have problems with the PN receptacle in the hose handle, wand PN receptacle, & quick-release PN plug, burning out over time. Those can be replaced easily at home, & can also be avoided with careful usage. However, the major problem with these vacuums of recent has been their motors! Panasonic switched I believe around 2005 to a new motor design that has been VERY unreliable....it's very common to see a Panasonic or Kenmore canister come into the repair shop between 4-6 years old with a burnt-up motor, requiring a replacement, & a $200 repair bill later. Also, for the allergy sufferer....yes it's nice you can use Cloth HEPA bags, but the HEPA filter is an unsealed system, & LOTS of air escapes around the filter unfiltered, defeating it's purpose to begin with. And not impressive considering to get a entry-level Kenmore with decent features, you're gonna spend $300; about $300-$400 for the Panasonic MCG 902 with equivalent features as the Kenmore. Why spend that when for $100-$200 more, you can buy a S2 Miele with their legendary filtration?!
Riccar/Simplicity canisters....Here's my take on them. Yes, they are a good product. BUT when you start comparing them to Miele & Sebo, they don't look so good. Why? Well, they sell in the same price range, have comparable features, Cloth HEPA bags, Sealed HEPA filtration, etc....BUT what they will not be so quick to tell you is only the Riccar Impeccable, Riccar Immaculate, Simplicity Gusto & Simplicity Moxie are the ONLY MODELS that are actually made in America. And even then, ONLY THE BODY IS MADE IN AMERICA & IT'S MOLDED & THE VACUUM IS ASSEMBLED THERE! The fact is, ALL THEIR COMPONENTS are outsourced to Kingclean in China....suction motor, circuit boards, ALL OF IT are sourced from China. And the rest of their canisters, such as the Riccar Pristine & Simplicity Verve, are made by Kingclean in China. The ONLY component that is NOT Chinese-made is the electric hoses....those are outsourced to Hanmi in South Korea. My local dealer, before he went out of business, carried the Riccar Pristine & 1500P for his customers, & he had HUGE problems with the Pristine! He was literally getting brand new vacuums, & took them out & turned them on...fine. 2nd time he goes to turn it on in front of a customer....failed circuit boards!! Needless to say, he was NOT impressed...and this happened with I think 5 or 6 vacuums he received, that he had to ship back to them & have new canisters sent to replace them. Considering they are asking the same as Miele wants for their products, & prices for bags & filters are comparable to Miele bags & filters, I don't know where your loyalties lie, but I would personally choose German engineering & components over American engineering & Chinese components.
Miele....Yes, they are a good product, & arguably one of the best choices you could buy right now in a canister. BUT they are VERY overpriced for what you get. And the cost of their bags & filters is absolutely ridiculous. $20 for one 4 pack of bags?!?! $50-$60 for a HEPA filter?!?! Madness! Way too expensive to use & maintain on a regular basis, at least for my liking. I actually have 2 Miele's that hardly see any use for that very reason, & have considered many times selling them. Also, about the Miele S8 uprights...sure they are nice, but again the high cost of the bags would deter me. Especially when the Panasonic Performance Plus Platinum uprights use Cloth HEPA bags, they clean just as well, & the Optiflow models do have a HEPA filter before the motor now, making them sealed. And generic Cloth HEPA bags can be found for the Panasonic for 1/2 the cost of Miele bags, that would work just as well at containing the dust.
Sebo....I would completely disagree with Rob Shore's comments above! I personally own a Sebo Airbelt C3.1 canister with the ET-C computerized powerhead, & I love it!! And I will one day justify upgrading to the D4 Airbelt model, probably when in 10 or 15 years from now my C3.1 motor finally dies. I personally like the hose on my Sebo better than my 2 Miele's....I find it more flexible, longer, & not as rigid. Plus it's also nice that the speed control is right at my fingertips. You can use the speed control to shut down the entire vacuum from the hose. Only disadvantage with Sebo is unless you have the ET-1 powerhead, there is no way to shut off the brushroll, as there is no on/off switch on the hose for the powerhead. Rob Shore has mentioned in the past he felt that Sebo's suction & airflow wasn't as strong as Miele....I haven't found that to be the case. The bags are bigger on Sebo D4 than Miele's G/N bags that the S8 Series uses, & Sebo's bag & filters are more reasonably priced, too. I will agree with Rob that the ET-1 powerhead isn't as good as the Miele SEB228 or SEB236, the brushes are softer on Sebo ET-1 & doesn't groom as aggressively. However, the Sebo ET-C L shaped computerized powerhead is still available, so you could always specify your new D4 come with the ET-C instead of the ET-1. If that isn't possible, then you could buy an ET-C powerhead separately & sell the ET-1 on Ebay. Tools are just as nice on the D4 as the Miele models too. And I personally feel that the Sebo canisters are better made & better quality than Miele. Due to this, & the bag & filter costs, I would choose Sebo over Miele.
Here are my reccomendations to you for a canister, NYCWriter. Sebo if you want a German-made canister with high-end filtration & features.
I would also suggest you look at a REFURBISHED older-model Aerus Electrolux canister on Ebay. One really good way to go would be to buy one from American Vacuum Supply on Ebay. They have the plastic-bodied Electrolux canisters, usually under $250, refurbished with brand new Electrolux motor installed. Then I would walk into your Aerus dealer, & buy a brand new hose, wand, & powerhead with the new-style brushroll, & new tools to complete it. This way, you are essentially getting a brand-new Electrolux BUT with the better-quality double stage motor Electrolux was known for, not their crappy single-stage Johnson Electric motors they use now. And you can also use the Perfect Cloth HEPA bags in them, which are very inexpensive, & the afterfilters, & get very good filtration....comparable to a Miele with the Super Air Clean filter installed & using the Cloth HEPA bags. Yes, they may not have fancy features such as speed control, but if you want reliability & a cleaner that cleans circles around the others, you can't beat a well-maintained Electrolux canister. I would imagine you could put everything together for a total cost of around $800-$1000.
If you don't mind buying a Chinese-made product: I would also suggest looking at the Perfect C101 metal canister, that is a copy of the Electrolux Diamond Jubilee but without the Automatic Control feature for bag changes. It has SUPERIOR suction to ANYTHING suggested above, or in any of the other member's posts....125" waterlift! That's 25% more than Miele, Riccar/Simplicity or Sebo even have!! Plus, they have a on/off switch on the hose handle for the powerhead, & they have perfected the L-shaped Electrolux powerhead & made it an excellent groomer & deep-cleaner with the new chevron brushroll. Tools are exactly the same as you would see on an Electrolux, except they offer a hand turbobrush instead of a Sidekick. But you could always buy a Sidekick for it at an Aerus dealer or on Ebay if you have to have one. You can use Electrolux 4-ply bags for economy, or for great filtration you can use the Perfect Cloth HEPA bags.
A refurbished TriStar CXL or DXL on Ebay would also be another great choice. Metal body, great suction, simple classic design that there's hardly anything to break down. Motor can always be replaced or have carbons changed when it's time. And the powerhead is OK, but if you desire something more powerful, a Sweep & Groom powerhead & new wands can always be purchased & used with the TriStar. As for filtration, you can purchase the Medik-Aire HEPA filter offered with the Patriot & Air-Storm TriStar copycat vacuums, & use that with your TriStar. Pricey at $200 a filter, BUT you should be able to get 5 years usage out of one too.
If I was in your shoes, I would be looking hard at the Perfect & a refurbished Electrolux myself. Perhaps the Panasonic uprights, but then again I am more a canister guy myself.
Best of luck to you, & hopefully I have been of some help....Rob
