Miele S8 or Sebo D4 or K3?

[shrink1982]

My Opinion

I just purchased the Sebo D4 Premium with ET-1 motor head and LOVE IT. Yes, it does get tangled in the cord and it did topple over a couple of times. Also, the button to turn the brush roll off is a small round button on the top of the power head and is very hard to press (could break a toe). I would like to see this feature added to the handle as well as the on/off function. Additionally, a light would be nice and a foot peddle to raise/lower the power head would be good. However, with all that said, the suction is FANTASTIC and the motor head does an amazing job. I love the cleaner. It is big and bulky but that doesn't bother me. I have a 3100 square foot home so there is plenty of room for the machine. I cannot compare this to a Miele but I have owned a Kirby Diamond Edition and Rainbow and prefer the Sebo. The bag is large and filtration is excellent. I am VERY allergic to dust and can smell it when no one else can. The Kirby was HORRIBLE with this which is the main reason I wanted a new cleaner. I had no problems with dust in the air. It really does filter well. I have no complaints. While the changes listed above would be nice, they really at not a big deal. I want a good vacuum that doesn't cause my nose to run and that doesn't give me a headache. This is the vacuum for me.

 

[countryguy]

Just goes to prove that everyone has their own requirements in a vacuum and it sounds like the Sebo works wells for you.

Gary

 

[sebo_fan]

Good points. Good to see another fan of the SEBO brand.

The D4 is of course a large canister vac. The reason that SEBO don’t add any other additional controls to the handle is to make all other major components location in the same area incase anything goes wrong. This is a design element that they have continued with their newer Evolution 300 range of commercial uprights.

The ET-1 power nozzle supplied with the D4 is the same one used for the SEBO Felix upright and a number of central vac systems available in the U.S as well as the Sauger vacuums that also use the ET-1 power nozzle and a few other brands.

In all the eight years I have had the Felix and also usage with my K3 Premium canister vac, I have never broken a toe accessing the soft push button for turning off the brush roll.

Due to its European origin, SEBO don’t fit any lights on their vacuums. It just isn’t needed in Europe (fair enough Miele do fit some to their PN's but that would be for sole markets like the U.S and Canada) and the height adjustment dial is more robust than having a pedal at the back that could simply break off in years to come. This is why the only pedal on the vac is double strengthened with a steel bolt to unlock when using the ET-1 with either the canisters or the Felix/Dart commercial upright.

 

[n0oxy]

Sebo or Miele

Since I have all hard wood floors, I purchased a Miele and a Sebo vacuum that don't use power nozzles, I have the Miele C1 Olympus, and the Sebo D1. They are both great vacuums, and I'm assuming the power nozzle models would be similar to these. I would have no problem recommending either brand. If possible, find a store that sells the vacuums you are interested in and see which one works the best for you. If I had to choose one or the other though, I think I would lean towards the Sebo. It just feels like it's made slightly better and has a longer cord, around 40 feet or so. But again, if you can, try each one and see what works best for you.

 

[sebo_fan]

The hose on the D1 is substantially more flexible and lighter though because it doesn't have the power cable running through it. Whenever I have cleaned hard floors with a canister, I didn't like using my K3 Premium because of the inflexible hose. Much prefer suction only without the PN added and just a floor head instead.

 

[n0oxy]

power head connector on Sebo and Miele canisters

When cleaning bare floors, I don't think I would ever use the power head with the brush turned off, that would be quite heavy, much better to use a nozzle designed for this, I think the best one is the Wessel Werk rd-285. On Sebo canisters that use power nozzles, is the connector on the hose the standard two prong female connector or do they use something else? I've actually heard the connector on the Miele canisters is something different.

 

[shrink1982]

Reply

Sebo Fan, thanks for explaining. I find the button to be quite hard to push on the power nozzle but perhaps that lessens over time. I do love the vacuum. I cannot believe how well it does on my carpets. I thought the Kirby did very well on carpets but it has renewed the pile so nicely. Love it

 

[sebo_fan]

No worries, happy to help

The beauty of the ET-1 PN is that you can also use a delicate brush roll instead of the standard white or blue filaments brush roller too. I have the green delicate brush roll in my Felix for my wool carpets. Makes pushing a little heavier but then there's the manual adjuster dial that can be adjusted to make gliding a little easier.

The 2 prong connector is indeed on the bottom of the electrified suction tube of the SEBO vacuums that use the ET-1.

 

[shrink1982]

SEBO vs. Miele

One of the things that frustrates me about Miele is there are so many models to choose from. I like that SEBO keeps things streamlined and simple. Is it really necessary to have all those canisters to choose from? I can't keep it straight in my head and I imagine many consumers end up purchasing the wrong model simply because they don't understand the differences between models. SEBO keeps things simple, which I like.

 

[sebo_fan]

Miele are just out to make money though. SEBO are different I think. Their core market has always been the commercial market, where in some countries all of the SEBO uprights are viewable on their websites. Their German site for example lists practically every variation of commercial SEBO upright going, which I personally find confusing.

For the domestic consumer, SEBO's market share is actually smaller despite how well their vacuums work.

The most surprising brand though that outsells both Miele and SEBO is that of Bosch. Their vacuums aren't as well built in my opinion but they are cheaper to buy. Availability is their main problem, worldwide.

 

[n0oxy]

availability of Bosch and miele models

I will try to combine two things in this message. First, regarding Bosch vacuums, yes, those are hard to find, I'm not sure if they are even available in the United States.
Ok, regarding models of Miele canisters, yes, there are a lot of them, but there are ways to make it less confusing. First, there are 3 different models of canister, other than that, the difference is what is included with them. The c1 is a full sized canister, and it comes with the micro filtration, though I think you can purchase the Hepa filter if you want to. For speed control, it uses a dial rather than push buttons. The C2 is the compact model, it's smaller than the C1 and C3. Finally, the C3 is full sized, and has the bells and whistles such as automatic suction control, and uses push buttons to control the speed rather than a dial, I think a couple of them have these controls on the hose itself. So, if you are interested in a Miele canister, first decide which base model you want, and if you are willing to pay extra for the extra features. Once you have decided on the C1, C2, or C3, you can then find the model in that series that includes the accessories you want. As far as I know, all of these use the same motor so there is no difference in over all cleaning power.

 

[sebo_fan]

That may be but in some countries, Miele also limit the amount of power cord length you get per model, different handles and sometimes limited stretch hoses from base level 1.5 to 1.8 metres. Also the telescopic height adjust tubes aren't common on all models per country - Miele also supply fixed height suction tubes with locks on them but I find them to be rather short compared to the duo-scopic tubes whilst the Tri-Scopic height adjust tubes are too heavy for me, even if they are slightly longer to the duo-ones.

 

[eurekaprince]

I initially purchased an S2 (now called C1) Miele but was so impressed that I eventually also bought an S8 (now call C3). Both are suction only.

In doing a direct comparison of the C3 to the more basic C1, indeed the cord is longer by about 5 feet, the hose (the flexible silver part excluding the handle) is longer by about 1 foot and the telescopic wand is longer by about 10 inches.

Miele really should sell an optional 9-foot hose for suction only canisters. Can't figure out why they can't add that to their selection of optional accessories.

 

[sebo_fan]

From memory, the S2 in the UK had 5.5 metre cables and 1.5 metre hoses. The S6 had 6 metres or 6.5 metres and 1.8 metre hoses whilst the S8 has 10/11 metres of cable and 1.8 metre hoses. Now that Miele keep changing the model numbers for C1, C2, C3 etc I've lost touch with whatever they produce now.