Hose length

[DesertTortoise]

Why are modern vacuum hoses so darn short? My old Kenmores with straight hose ends have eight foot long hoses. You can reach the top of blinds or the upper surface of book cases with the vacuum sitting on the floor. But all of my newer 1990's and later vacs have hoses that are no more than six feet long and demand that you hold the vacuum off the floor to reach the top of blinds or the upper surfaces of a big book case. I would put longer hoses on the newer vacs but the blank hose stock is cut too short now. What is driving this?

 

[suckolux]

Very frustrating! My Miele often sits parked due to this.

 

[gsheen]

I am not a cylinder Fan but all my favorites all have short hoses, I recently fitted a 3.5 meter hose to my Nilfisk gmp . Only trouble is I use it such alot it stands out and about and now everyone trips over the extra long hose because its impossible to store 

 

[sebo_fan]

European homes vs those elsewhere..

DT, in the nicest way possible I do wish you'd stop banging on about your Kenmore.

In my experience, not ALL modern cylinder vacs have short hoses, but rather are designed to be as compact as possible, or where the design allows as light as possible. Unless you are vacuuming stairs, there should be no need to ever having to lift a cylinder vac off a floor and European homes aren't as big or tall as homes elsewhere.

The Numatic Henry round tub has had a 2.5 metre hose, which is 0.1 metres longer than your Kenmore. Numatic also make a shorter hose for the James vacuum, which is a more basic version of Henry. I find both however are difficult to store on the Numatics since they are round tubs and commercially based means even a park storage on the back of the vacs make it difficult to store the hose unless the suction tubes and floor head is attached.

As gsheen notes, having such a long hose can be cumbersome as well as dangerous and heavier. I also find a longer hose (dependent on brands as not all hoses are the same) often bounces off walls removing paint in the process when cleaning in general.

To my knowledge several German brands and models have the following standard hose size:

Miele S2 - 1.5 metre hose
Miele S4 - 1.8 metre hose
Miele S6 - 1.8 metre hose
Miele S5 & S8: 1.8 metre hose

All Bosch cylinder vacs have 1.5 metre hoses.

SEBO K1 Airbelt basic red model: 1.8 metres, all other models have 2.1 metres including PN models.

SEBO D series - all models in the U.S and UK markets have 2.1 metre hoses.

Miele do offer an extra extension hose, the SFS Extender and it adds a further 1.5 metres onto any Miele hose on current models - however it is more trouble than its worth in my experience.

 

[DesertTortoise]

Sebo_fan, take a deep breath, hold it..............no exhale. I was complaining about my more modern Kenmore hoses being too short.

 

[kloveland]

My guess would be that it cost less to manufacture a shorter hose. Same logic as why they made short cords on some of the Hoover Convertible ‘special’ models. Short cords and hoses are annoying![this post was last edited: 7/28/2014-14:47]

 

[suckolux]

That last sentence could have used an exclamation mark!! Very annoying !

 

[dysonman1]

Not all modern canister vacuums have short hoses. The deluxe Simplicity and Riccar "Made in USA" canisters have ten foot hoses. The Kenmore Elite and the Kenmore Intuition canisters both have very long hoses. The new 75th Anniversary Edition Rainbow has a ten foot hose. The new Filter Queen has a very long hose. Aerus Electrolux's Platinum Edition model has a very nice, long hose.

I think the short hoses for the 'entry' and 'mid' line models is done so the 'upsell' on a model with more features (and longer hoses) could be made.
The damn Kenmore hoses that don't swivel at the handle end are more annoying (to me) than a shorter hose.

 

[niclonnic]

That's frustrating, even in the case of uprights

Although I've never used a canister vacuum, I've always used uprights, because my home has mostly wall-to-wall carpeting.

My 2013 Hoover Windtunnel 2 Rewind Pet has an 8-foot hose, along with one 12-inch extension wand. Combined with a 12-inch crevice tool, I can barely reach the top of my ceilings whenever I go hunting for cobwebs. I have to pick up the vacuum in order to reach the ceilings. I don't have super high ceilings in most of the house, except in the living and dining rooms. I have standard height ceilings in most rooms. I'm about 5'8" and the hose reach is a major flaw of this vacuum.

It's also painful to use my Hoover on stairs. I have a 180 degree staircase, which goes up 5 steps, then turns around 180 degrees with 2 large steps, then 8 more steps takes me to the second floor of my house. I vacuum the stairs using the hose and turbo brush. I can barely reach the final steps when using the hose. Trying to reach the final steps results in the vacuum tipping forward (because you can't turn the brush roll off). I have to set the machine on the stairs (which Hoover doesn't recommend) to reach the final steps. What a waste of time!

There is also a "Stair Cleaning Handle" by the head of the vacuum. I could also recline the vacuum, grab said handle and clean the stairs one by one, but that method works only if you're quite strong. The vacuum is heavy at 16 pounds. I'd rather use the hose and turbo brush for the stairs.

In addition, the Windtunnel has a rather short 25-foot retractable cord. The lever to retract the cord feels cheap. But the cord reel hasn't broken yet.

My Dyson, DC07, on the other hand, has a MUCH longer hose, wand and cord, giving me a "true" 17-foot reach. It's too bad I gave that vacuum away to my mom, unfortunately.

Very frustrating indeed! I wish that my mom could buy a much cheaper vacuum for her small one bedroom apartment with no pets!!

I have attached some pics to show the hose reach.

 

[georgect]

Riccar

One of the many reasons why I love my Riccar Immaculate.
LONG hose, LONG cord, FULL sized tools.

I did EXTRA homework before buying my Riccar after owning the Miele Capricorn (with it's short hose, short cord, tiny tools.)

I don't know why manufacutres think a shorter cord or hose benefits the users at all because it doens't.

How much can it save them? A few bucks?

 

[DesertTortoise]

Kloveland and Dysonman1's explanations make sense. Marketing psychology, put the longer hose on the premium model to make it feel that much more deluxe, and two less feet of hose per vac on the cheaper models adds up over volume. Sigh.

I did see that the upscale Kenmore elites and Mieles feature 8 ft long hoses. I have never even seen a Riccar or Simplicity canister yet. The nearest Riccar dealer doesn't have them on the floor to look at, preferring uprights to canisters of all the brands he sells. There was one suction only Miele canister total from all his brands and a bunch of uprights, to which he very much tried to direct my attention. Of course with the controls on the handle now you can't swap hoses across models any more, the little processor in the handle won't talk to the processor in the vacuum.

I guess I just have to buy some bare hose stock and make a hose the length I need. Just something that annoys me, with a capital A.

 

[eurekaprince]

Buyer beware......

Some vacmakers are quite deceptive in their measurements for hose length (and cord length). They often include the length of the hose handle in their calculations! Which to me is deceptive since you want to know how long the flexible part is, not the unbendible parts.

Those of you needing longer hoses for your Miele canisters should contact Metro Vacuum in San Diego (I have no business connection to them whatsoever). They advertise a custom-made 15foot stretch hose for Miele canisters!

Indeed, for the past few decades, Sears' has always had at least one deluxe canister featuring an 8-foot hose.

 

[fan-of-fans]

Check the Specs

With Kenmore, typically the higher up models have longer hoses. My TOL red Progressive for example has an 8 foot hose, while other models have 7 foot. I do believe some of the older Sears Best models in the 70s and 80s had up to a 9 foot hose. I love the long hose on my Kenmore, as I don't have to pull it behind me as often and it can stay out of the way. Vacuums I have with shorter hoses such as my Let's Clean canister can be a little annoying, but most of them are compact vacuums taht I sometimes carry around anyway.

 

[tolivac]

I LIKE the longer hoses and CORDS-both that are too short make the machine frustrating to use.ESP to folks that live in older homes that have FEWER power outlets.With my short cord vacs-just connect them to a heavy duty extension cord.That you can fix-but a too short hose?

 

[sebo_fan]

DT..

EM.. Well…if you read your opening paragraph it says your older Kenmore(s) have 8ft long hoses but then you state that newer vacs have no more than 6ft, therefore suggesting that you would have a longer hose to deal where you list a few downsides to a shorter hose.

If you were complaining that your newer Kenmore vacs have a short hose, I offered up my responses to why longer hoses can be a downside compared to shorter ones.

Eurekaprince - I would love to know how Miele can offer an 8ft hose. To my knowledge they have never made a longer hose than 1.8 metres. The extra extension hose that snaps back in use DOES add 1.5 metres out to make 3.3 metres which is effectively 10 metres.

HOWEVER, as I have mentioned before - I have that extension hose but it isn't as free in nature as the standard Miele hose, and when used it can often be too bulky and requires sometimes, dependent on the fill capacity of the bag, the highest suction used on the machine to sustain the suction airflow from the extra bit of hose when stretched out.

 

[sebo_fan]

Furthermore I would like to add some more thoughts concerning length of hose as the other additional piece that is used for general reach, must surely be the suction tubes length, stretched to their fullest - not all brands are the same regarding this too!

I just measured what I have in terms of my vacs and spares and are all approximate:

Miele Triscopic telescopic suction tube 116cm height, 669 grams weight.
Miele twin telescopic tube 103.5cm height, 538 grams weight.

SEBO K telescopic plastic & metal suction tube 94cm height, 495 grams weight
SEBO K/D electric embed plastic & metal suction tube 94cm height, 655 grams weight.
SEBO C telescopic metal suction tube 98cm height, 583 grams weight.
SEBO D twin telescopic suction tube 90cm height, 504 grams weight.

So, even buying a top of the range model may give you extra length hose, you may not get the same kind of tubes.

I haven't measured the actual handles from the end hose to the suction tubes - these wouldn't offer that much of a difference IMHO.

 

[sebo_fan]

Whoops I got mixed up with feet and metres.

It should read:

To my knowledge they have never made a longer hose than 1.8 metres. The extra extension hose that snaps back in use DOES add 1.5 metres out to make 3.3 metres which is effectively 10 FEET !

 

[jade_angel]

That's a big part of the reason why I love my Filter Queen. It's got an 8 foot hose, which is more than enough 95% of the time - and if it's not, there was an 11 foot hose for the Princess series, that'll work just fine on any other FQ out there. IIRC it was even electrified. My Simplicity upright and canister have longish hoses too, more than long enough for anything I use them for.

That said, the short hoses for my Kirby and Royal are quite annoying. Fortunately I don't use the tools on either one very often, but it's a pain when I do.

 

[DesertTortoise]

Yeah, fan-of-fans, I was spoiled by the nine footers that came with my parents old Kenmore vacs. But finding replacements for them is almost impossible, so I do most of my cleaning with the newer vacs. It is only very recently I have started using newer vacs. The shorter hoses on these bug the crap out of me.

I guess I can make longer hoses if I can find three wire hose stock that is nine feet long and attach my existing hose ends to these. I am also eyeing that tool Kenmore sells for dusting ceiling fan blades and upper shelves. Put that on the end of a wand to reach the places I now have to lift the vacuum to get at.