Needing a new every day vacuum - Advice

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elliot

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Joined
Jan 5, 2014
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Hi everyone,

I'm new on here and I would like some advice for a new contemporary vacuum, I'm looking for a bagged one that is capable of allergy removal, my partner has moved in and isn't happy with the Henry I currently use every day, so I thought I would come here for some advice, I have been looking at uprights as apparently beater bars and brush roll will agitate the carpet, so have been thinking of Sebo, Hoover, Miele can anyone shine a light on one of these makes or even throw in a name I've not thought of?

I saw a demo of a Sebo in John Lewis Liverpool and was really impressed with it and the bags, filters and brushes appear to be cheap to replace, also there was a Panasonic one too but it didn't seem to do a good job so ruled that one out.

Have seen some videos on Youtube but really can't make up my mind.

Thanks,
Elliot.
 
Hi Elliot and welcome to the forum!

Neither the Aerus or Sanitaire are available in the UK.

I'd highly recomend Sebo cleaners. I've been using them for years now - I have an Automatic X1.1, my mother has a Felix and my brother has a K1. All their range come with Hospital Grade S Class filtration. They also have bags which have a plastic cap that fits over the opening, so no dust escapes when you change it. Depending on your floor type and personal perference, there are many models available. The Felix is probably the most versatile upright on the market, as it comes with interchangable heads for different floortypes and can be used as a handheld cleaner.

Miele are also an excellent choice, with a sealed HEPA system. The Miele dustbags are self-sealing, so again, no dust escapes. Miele consumables (bags, filters etc)are quite expensive compared with Sebo, so the running costs may be higher.

I would avoid Hoover like the plague. They haven't been any good in years and are well known of being excessively loud with cheap, chinese motors and not very reliable.

If you've any questions on any machines you particularly like, feel free to ask and I'm sure one of us will be able help. Below is a link to a thread with lots of Sebo info on it, although please excuse how "gay" the thread got.

All the best,
Chris

http://www.vacuumland.org/cgi-bin/TD/TD-VIEWTHREAD.cgi?22722
 
Hi Elliott,

I think you will get better advice if you can provide us with more details about your cleaning needs: what kinds of surfaces need cleaning? What kind of home do you live in? Do you have lots of stairs? Are your carpets low pile or deeper plush pile? Is your home mostly carpeted from wall-to-wall, or do you mostly have bare floors with a few large Persian rugs? Do you have any cats or dogs? Do you use your vacuum to dust your furniture and bookshelves? What price range are you considering for your purchase?

All of this can help us choose which vacs might be better for your situation...:-)
 
Hi Elliot - welcome to the Forum - Good to see another UK member too!

The American posts are handy but sadly we're not so lucky to get the models they mention. The Sanitaire upright is available in the UK but very rare to find and some commercial cleaning companies charge an earth to buy it.

As my name suggests I'm a SEBO fanatic but I do like other brands too. I own:

1) X4 Extra upright.
2) X1 Automatic upright (the predecessor).
3) Felix upright.
4) K1 Pet
5) K3 Premium
6) D2 Total

However, I must offer a different opinion to what Chris has delivered here and a bit more info from you would be good to know, here, Elliot.

What is the main issue with Henry that you are facing, for example? Is it the weight, or is the fact that it only has a suction only floor head? Rather than go head first into offering advice about what you could buy as a brand new vacuum cleaner from a different company, Henry vacuums are by far the best, durable and long life vacuum cleaner in a home - and if I were you I would keep Henry because he's pretty unique and offers a pretty big dust bag capacity as well as cheap running costs.

Dependent on your carpet type, you can cut costs and just buy an air driven turbo brush for general carpet pick up. Numatic sell one in the form of their "Airo Brush," floor head but I also use an old Hoover turbo brush for all of my 32mm sized-tube vacuums. You can also buy a HEPA equivalent filter from Numatic to match the "Hospital Grade" allergy filters that both SEBO and Miele provide.

Going from a cylinder vacuum to an upright isn't always a seamless process. Though the X series is great for carpets in general, the Felix has a more modern swivel floor head that goes around corners, but it is saddled with a small dust bag capacity fit for a small to medium home compared to the X series that has a much bigger bag and a traditional "fixed" position floor head. To match the hose length of the Henry, the extended hose that SEBO sell is much recommended should you require a longer hose.


 


Though the Felix can convert to a hand held vacuum, it's about the size of a sports bag which isn't that compact to carry around with. Some members will offer a different opinion, but I thought I would just ask what you feel are the downsides to the Henry and what you like about it, rather than just jump at the chance of buying a new vacuum. 


 


 


 
 
Hi and thank you all :-)

Well the other half has moved out of parents and they had some all singing all dancing Kirby of all things, well I'm not buying one of them, whilst I have the greatest respect for Kirby and the power it offers, I can not be doing with fiddling to attach a hose and detach the beater bar ect, ect, and the running costs it's ridiculous also half the accessories I'd never use.

Anyway the other half is prone to suffering with allergies and has had red eyes since moving in and I do partly think it is due to Henry being a suction only and I am not sure how well it actually filters, so thought I'd ask you guys for advice, also if I'm honest I had new carpets last year and Henry isn't grooming it and the pile is becoming flattened, I got a henry because I was doing some building work so I thought he's perfect for the job, so I thought I would get an upright now the house is all sorted, I have carpets all upstairs and on the stairs and hall, wooden floor in the livingroom and linoleum in the kitchen, I'm not looking to do the dusting stuff with it.

Thanks,
Elliot :-)
 
Hi Elliot,

I would recomend any of the Sebo range. The brushroll is one of the best you'll find on a modern upright and really grooms the carpet pile well.

The Felix would probably be better for you as it has the function to switch off the brushroll and/or change the floorhead completely, so you can vacuum all your different floortypes without changing cleaner and it won't scratch the floors. It also has the same S class filtration as the Automatic X machines.

The one downside to the Felix is that the bags are smaller than on the X series, but if you've no pets, it shouldn't fill up too quickly. My Mum changes the bag on her Felix once every 3 months or so. See link.

I know exactly how your other half feels. I'm very allergic to dust, so much so that emptying any bagless cleaner will trigger streaming eyes and a sneezing fit. One thing you can do to help (if you don't already) is to vacuum the mattress and flip it over once a fortnight. It keeps dust particals and dust mites away, and it's dust mite allergens that usually trigger allergic reactions.

Hope that helps,
Chris

http://www.go-electrical.co.uk/sebo...e-white.html?gclid=CLu5ytrX6bsCFWvpwgodwDUAZg
 
Aha. Now we have a little more info to work with.

First of all, if your partner has allergies, I would stay away from bagless vacs like Dyson. Emptying the bin and keeping the filters clean can be a messy process. With bags, you often get a seal to keep dust from spewing out when disposing of the bag.

Living in North America, I can't really know the details of what is on the market in the UK...but it sounds like a high-filtration Miele canister with a power nozzle might be your best bet. Carrying a heavy upright up and down the stairs can be tiring. Miele's new S8 canisters are very lightweight and you can add a variety of tools to match your needs, such as a mini-turbo nozzle for your carpeted stairs.

Not sure if you can get a Miele with an electric power nozzle in the UK, but if these are available, that would be your best option since Miele electric carpet brushes are very good at lifting the nap and removing ground in dirt and embedded dust.

In North America, the Miele power nozzle canisters have often rated better for deep carpet cleaning than the Sebo canisters. Even the Miele uprights deep clean carpets better than our Sebo uprights....according to Consumer Reports tests.

Good luck!
 
Not sure if you can get a Miele with an electric power nozzl

Sadly, Miele discontinued the powernozzle models in the UK in 2009. The nearest you can get to one is the Miele Cat & Dog, which comes with the air driven turbo brush.

The Miele S7 uprights are fantastic cleaners, but they're very heavy and very large to use. They're great if you have a big house, but not so great for your average UK semi or terraced house. I certainly found it awkward to use in my house. They've also had a number of reliability issues, such as the handle release mechanism failing and annoyingly, the whole machine needs dismantling just to replace this. I've also found that Miele consumables are a lot more expensive to buy than Sebo's, so running costs may be more.
 
Chris,

Have read your link further up, how delightfully off topic that thread went, but glad to know I'm in good company ;-) :-)

I am going to download the user guides for the Sebo's and have a good read up on them I'd never heard of Sebo till I was in John Lewis the other week.

Eureka Prince, have had a look at the canister power head's but I'm not too sure on them have seen the Miele S6220 which has a power head also I have seen a youtube video on the S7580 but it looked very plastic and not very ridged also the reviewer did comment on this when he opened the compartment door, which gave me concerns over the longevity of the device and the on-going costs.

Thank you guys :-)
 
glad to know I'm in good company

Put the flowers out, boys, we've got another one ;).

Sebo have been around since 1978 as a commercial upright. They were actually the first upright vacuum ever to feature an on-board hose and the first vacuum ever to feature an electronic clutch controlled brushroll, which shuts down the machine if the brushroll becomes jammed or the machine becomes blocked in order to protect the motor and the belt. They're the only vacuum manufacturer that guaruntee the belt for the life of the machine.

They branched into the domestic market with the X1 in 1991, which was the first upright to feature computer-controled automatic height adjustment. They've been a Which? best buy pretty much constantly since then. They're also recommended by Good Housekeeping.

They really are terrific machines and because Sebo come from a commercial background, they're real workhorses and have been known to last for years. The first Sebo I ever saw was in 1998 and belonged to a friend who's parents had a working farm. 15 years on, it's still going strong.

A lot of places have return policies if you're not happy with your purchase. I think John Lewis have a 10 day no questions asked return policy, so you could always buy one and return it if you're not completely happy with it.
 
Hi Elliot,  welcome to vacuumland!


 


I'd also recommend Sebo, as Chris pointed out. You can't really go wrong with them!


 


Joe 
smiley-laughing.gif
 
Flowers for me how nice Chris ;-) :-)

Thanks Joe that's another vote for Sebo :-) what model do you have?
 
… is their lack of a headlight.

Well, that's a matter of opinion. I personally don't see the point of a headlight on a modern cleaner - it's not like we need to be vacuuming in the dark in 2014. Headlights have never been an overly popular feature in the UK and the only vacuum in the UK with a headlight is the TOL Miele S7 which is rather expensive.
 
I don't currently own a Sebo, but I'm after one, I've used them before 
smiley-smile.gif



 


Oh no, that's awful! Being associated with such an awful vacuum, the DC07!


 


As much as I like a headlight, I don't really mind if a machine doesn't have one, it's not needed
 
Well it wasnt by choice lol...

I've read up on Sebo and now can't decided on which one, oh dear I think I might have to get both at this rate!
 
It depends what you're priorities are, Elliot. The benefit of the Felix is that it's very versatlie, has the swivel action and the manual guided height adjustment but has smaller bags. The benefit of the Automatic X is that it has a larger capacity and the automatic, computer controlled height adjustment but doesn't have brushroll on/off controls. What would your preference be?
 
Well Turbo, judging by what your saying the felix is the good all rounder, we don't have pets so the bag won't fill up too quickly with it being smaller, and it sounds like it would work well on the carpets and in the living room too.

Seems like I need to order :-)
 
The Felix is great if you have different floor types. It's a bit like a cylinder stood on it's head. The Felix Premium in my link above comes with 2 floorheads - the powernozzle for carpets (which can also be switched off for bare floors) and the deluxe parquet nozzle for bare floors. You have the option with it of either just turning the brushroll in the PN off or switching heads completely.

All the Sebo tools and accessories fit the Felix, so if you wanted to buy additional tools like the extension hose etc, then that option is there too.

If you're still undecided, maybe you should try them both out in John Lewis or Currys before you buy, then you can see which you prefer using?[this post was last edited: 1/6/2014-11:26]
 
I think you answered well the first time, Chris. 


 


Since Elliot has given more info, the Felix is probably going to be the pick of the bunch. 


 


However Elliot, the Henry will not be the cause of any allergy unless the filter basket hasn't been cleaned in quite a while. Henry vacuums don't tend to leak dust like bagless vacuums and the cause of red eyes could be something else in the air or bedding/mattress.


 


The only downside to the Felix that is inherent/same as the X series is that the hoses on board are short - they are also located at the top which means when they are taken out, they can pull the vacuum over. Luckily SEBO do recognise this fact and the rears of the uprights are well protected.


 


Have a look at my video review on You Tube: 
 
In The Dark

@nycwriter

Good point about the missing headlights. I really thought there was one on that Sanitaire, but that's moot now anyway.

Coincidently, I just picked up an LED flashlight from Harbor Freight ($4.99)to mount on the front of my Royal 1030z. Yeah, it will be a ghetto setup, but I can't figure out a better way to do it. The blower housing has a different shape, so you can't easily mount the proper hood and lamp.

http://www.harborfreight.com/five-led-magnetic-head-lamp-93549.html
 
I agree with Turbo500 and Sebo_fan regarding looking at a Sebo machine or Miele S7.

However as Sebo_fan has pointed out, Henry is unlikely to be the cause of the allergic reactions as they have pretty good filtration.

I'd probably go for the Sebo if I was you as they are cheaper to run and are initially designed as a commercial machine - I have the X4 Pet and it is very efficient.

I've had a Miele S7 before and although I found no issues with the size of the machine the bags and filters did work out quite expensive.
 

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