Looking for a canister vacuum

[vacuumman206]

My "expert" opinion on vacuums has been requested for a doctor's office that wants a new vacuum. I figured this would be a piece of cake for me, but I realized that I know nothing of what's on the market right now and they want something new. What they currently have is an old Sanitaire widepath with a dump-out bag. Thing works great but needs new brush strips. I recomended they tune it up because that style of machine is way less maintenence prone than new junk, and buy a cheap canister for above floor and hard floor/hard-to-reach cleaning, which is what they wanted. Thing is, I don't see anything besides the Eureka mighty mite that I'd deem reliable, and they'd like bagless if possible. If it is in their budget, I am considering recomending the Eureka Complete clean canister, because I know those pn's are pretty good. Or Kenmore's cheapest power nozzle canister, but then again that's bagged. I'm also not a fan of kenmore canisters, but I know a couple people that had whispertones and beat the crap out of them and got a good 15 years from them. What's out there for $50-$100 looks like a waste of money when they could spend $50 more for a machine that eliminates the need for their other one

 

[vacuumman206]

additional info

F.Y.I... They are not the typical vacuum neglecters that suck up everything and anything that is in the vacuum's path, and never maintain a thing on it. The lady that typically does the cleaning says she knows when it needs a belt and she changes it. In fact they vacuum so much they had to replace the belt twice in the 1st week I was working there. (Either it's heavy useage or picking up staples and occasional missed paper clips that caused it). And they know the bag needs to be emptied and if it was bagless filters would need to be cleaned, etc. And to my surprise there was not a single string wraped in the brush and the bearings spun better than some on my own machines!

 

[durango159]

Actually a Eureka Mighty Mite/ Sanitaire Commercial Mighty Mite is a good way to go, assuming they are just looking for straight suction, quick picker upper of hard to reach areas. Another direction I would look to would be Riccar/Simplicity.

Kenmore canisters and Panasonic canisters do great cleaning wise. However their motors are becoming questionable for long term durability according to a few. If they used it on occasion, say once a week and it wasn't the full time vac for them, then I'd say they'd be fine and the $200 Kenmore/ Panasonic would last about 4 years, which in commercial environments is about what a lot of vacs last anyways as normally they're abused or the company buys something completely not meant for environment. Theoretically too spending $200 and having it last 4/ 5 years isn't bad. I've seen the Lime green Kenmore as low as $99, the red Panasonic MC-CG902 I've seen at $160.

I really would recommend against bagless in any situation. I don't see the Eureka Complete Clean as being good for that environment. The power head on it does a good job. I'm worried about suction unit on it and general construction. A bagless canister vacuum, of good construction and features, has me drawing a blank for the current market selection. Bagless units work well for pet owners because pet hair fills bags very very quickly. For other environments, especially that of low pile commercial grade carpet with no carpet fibers getting vacuumed up, you need something that captures the dust well. On a bagless vacuum it just doesn't work as well. All of that fine dust clogs filters easily. You're truly so much better off with bagged in any professional office environment. Riccar, Simplicity, Aerus, Miele would offer excellent filtration as well, which is something to definitely consider for a medical office.

If they're seeking power head equipped heavy use canister I'd be in the direction for probably a Simplicity Verve or similar to that. The Royal Lexon SR30020 may be decent as well. It is very powerful with good warranty and good construction. I would highly recommend taking a trip to local vac shops, and see what refurb units they have. Many times you get lucky finding an Electrolux/ Riccar, Miele refurbished unit by that store with warranty and it can be a great deal.