Very interesting reading through these comments on peoples interpretations on power and what is and isn't "deep cleaning". I am glad these new legislations have come in and what they are forcing manufacturers to do, and its interesting to see how different companies are responding. Vax/TTI are responding well, having already got a range of "eco" labelled products out which are as powerful, or more effective at cleaning as some of their models with 3 times the wattage motors. I can vouch for that as my vax eco air I made a thread of last week is the only vacuum that sticks itself to the carpet as you pull back, the rear wheels lift off the ground. I put that down to good seal of the head, and the machine is very light, it isn't hard to push or pull, just very nice knowing that it is deep cleaning, and the dirt which bounces around before it gets sucked up, adds to that sense, and it is 820 watts combined. Probably 700 watts for the suction motor, 120 for floor head maybe ?
With any type of motor, the wattage or capacity says nothing about it efficiency. In the same way my Audi TDI is quicker and has more pulling power than my dads Lexus he had 10 years ago, yet I get 60 MPG out of mine, in the same way, numatic can say their 580w motor has more airflow than their 1200 motor, but obviously uses less power.
If manufacturers can suddenly do all this now without scratching their heads thinking how they can produce low wattage powerful motors, why haven't they done it before? We all know they used to, up until he 90's, 500, 700 and 900 watt motors were popular. I guess we all know its about making something as cheap as possible, profit making. The new EU reg's are a good idea, I like the A to G rating of pick up performance on carpets and hard floors, and exhaust emissions. People will be able to make a ore accurate decision about purchasing their cleaners and should spur more competition.
I still stand by what I first said when we heard about these regulations. I hope the EU are doing this to simply spur innovation and make manufacturers actually work on the products they are producing, I hope it's none of this environmental rubbish, even though it helps, if they are really worried about that, focus on making kettles more energy efficient, people use them a lot more than vacuums!
Also, someone here mentioned about twin fan motors. Could someone explain what that is ? Is it a clean air motor with two fans?