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If I do something like the Riccar Supralight or Simplicity Freedom, am I worrying too much about sucking up a small toy or coin and destroying the vacuum?

I am looking at the Oreck XL Gold on Amazon, that looks like a good possibility. Maybe I will see if I can find a local Oreck dealer.

The Miele Quikstep looks like it has too small of a cleaning path (I am not sure if that makes sense). The wider the better as far as the bottom of the vacuum, because we have such a large amount of area to clean. It also doesn't look like it will be much easier to use than my MIele canister.

My carpet is not high pile.

Which Panasonic would I look at or consider specifically?
 
Be glad you are doing the research

Dysons (in my opinion) are not impressive vacuums their greatest selling point (cyclonic set up) is also their greatest weakness as it makes it hard for air to flow through resulting in terrible airflow.

I see that you are worried about picking up hard objects with the Riccar/Simplicity it's going to be just as big a deal with the Oreck. The Oreck gold has the same set up as my Oreck XL-21 which i put through my lightweight vacuum test it placed 2nd only to the Simplicity
 
If you're interested in Oreck, check out Big Lots. I got my Oreck Pilot there for $129 and it was one of the best purchases I've made. It gets used daily in my house. It's great at deep cleaning, and even pulls itself on my very deep pile carpeting. Also, Oreck does a fantastic job refurbishing their vacuums. This was my second factory reconditioned one and it is like getting a brand new one from the Oreck store. Good luck in your search!

Chase
 


With the Miele, you can use any Miele power nozzle, including the full size and full power ones from the cannisters. Like I said, spend 299 on the quickstep and another 100 bucks on the power nozzle and you will have one light, super quiet, mean upright vacuum. Only problem, small bags... But mieles are know for absolutely packing their bags full before they need to be replaced, thats just how much suction they have. Take a serious look at one of those. Ultimately, go to a good vac shop or two and try a couple of these out.
 
Miele

Quick step and tiny bags plus 6000 sqft .= not a vacuum for Misty you guys must not be reading what Misty wrote . Tiny vacuum bags in the glorified electric broom is a very wrong type of vacuum to recommend .

Orecks have Kevlar fans same stuff bullet proof vests are made of . Best oreck is the Paltinum Pilot . You could order one online try it free for 30 days and return it for free if you dont like it .

Dan
 
Wide cleaning path... The sebo ET-2 has a 15inch cleaning head and is available on the Felix.

If you do make it to your miele dealer be sure to ask them to sample the SEB236 power nozzle for your canister (the same nozzle is also an option for the S194 Quickstep). You will still have your current issue of the cleaning radius unless you used an appropriately rated 50ft extension cord.

The Royal 8300 all metal upright would be a good choice.. No need to worry about toys or marble either.

If you did get the Hoover etc and had funds left over I would still consider the SEB 236 nozzle for the canister. Then you can leave one unit downstairs for the bedrooms and have the upright... Maybe miele cat and dog available on the main floor.

Please let us know whatever it is you finalize on. :)
 
 
I googled your zip code and found this for an Aerus dealer near you:

Aerus #10833
OMAHA, NE 68137
Phone: (402) 596-0846
This location is 42.4 miles away.

That's a bit of a hike. I would try your local vacuum shop and they may have some refurbished units available for Aerus, Electrolux, TriStar, or other.

Tired after using a canister means your power head is hard to push. Weight with a vacuum is an interesting topic. When you carry a vacuum room to room is when you when you feel most of the weight. As far as usage if you have a decent, powerful vacuum the wheel design, height adjustment, suction control and power of agitator are the factors too be considered in pushing. A Kirby or Hoover Windtunnel Self Propelled excluded as they have a self propelled transmission for forward and reverse. Orecks are the original lightweight vacuum, however they are cheaply designed with agitation not being very powerful and wheels are very low profile and many of their models had wheels that didn't stick out the back. So despite only weighing about 9 pounds, it was like pushing a brick across the carpet on some models due to design.

Your Miele Solaris probably has an electric current carrying hose with the Miele SEB217 power head. This power head is meant more for lightweight rugs and not designed for plush carpet. It is not very powerful and agitator is very soft bristled it's not going to offer much help in gliding across the carpet. In contrast using a Miele SEB236 or SEB228 would be a COMPLETELY different vacuuming experience as far as performance, pushing ability and maneuverability.

I have used a Simplicity Symmetry which is similar to the Riccar Vibrance. It cleaned well. It wasn't the easiest to manuever and if you look at the brushroll design, there is no edge cleaning on the one side as the belt is on the end of the agitator. There are numerous vacuum designs on the market. No cleaning takes place where the belt is on any. I always look at the bottom of the units to see if there is agitator bristles on both edges although this helps along baseboards, you will find that with any vacuum you'll have to use a crevice tool every once in a while for a complete cleaning along edges. The Riccar Brilliane, Miele S7 series, Royal Everlast are 3 uprights with extremely powerful agitation for grabbing deep down dirt along and better cleaning along edges. See attached link for an example of agitation.

I recommend taking a trip to your local vacuum dealer. See what they recommend and have on the floor. Ask about what refurbished units they have. Try out any vacs of interest canister and upright. At least if you can try a few products of a brand, it will give you an idea of ease of use, features, attachments and either find one in their showroom that you like or order a different unit through them or elsewhere. Trying before you buy is crucial. You can see the differences in weight between lifting units and pushing them.

Husker Vacuum &
SEWING
(402) 466 - 4550
1309 N. 48TH
LINCOLN, NE 68504
Distance: ~4 miles
Riccar Dealer
Lindhaus Dealer
Royal Dealer

RANDOLPH VAC
(402) 438 - 3163
2712 RANDOLPH
LINCOLN, NE 68510
Distance: ~2 miles
Directions To Here
Simplicity Dealer

 
The regular 4 row brushroll with stiff bristles is available for the Kirby G5/Gsix/Ultimate G/Diamond Edition/Sentria/Sentria II.
The Pet Owner's 4 row brushroll with stiff bristles is available for the Kirby Generation 3/G4/G5/Gsix/Ultimate G/Diamond Edition/Sentria/Sentria II.
The regular 4 row brushroll with soft bristles is available for the Kirby Generation 3/G4/G5/Gsix/Ultimate G/Diamond Edition/Sentria/Sentria II.
 
If you want to take a look at Panasonic uprights, I cant recommend a specific machine, I would however recommend a bagged unit.. You should just go to a vac shop that sells Panasonic, take a look at what's available, and try some vacuums out. Its hard to recommend a vacuum, because all of us have our preferences, and most are different. Some like Kirbys (I personally don't), some like Miele, some like, Hoover, Etc... It would be best to take our recommendations with a grain of salt, and while keeping it in mind, go to vac shops and try out the machines, The most important is that you are happy with your vacuum. That may be a $40 Bissell or a $2000 Kirby.
 
Wow overkill in options...must be up to your eyeballs in vacuum brands/styles. The problem is that there are too many options. Just go to your nearest vacuum store and speak to them, try out a few machines and buy one. KISS Keep It Simple & short
 
I took the borrowed Riccar Vibrance back to the store and am now borrowing the Supralight. It seems like it has a lot of power, but testing it at home I don't think the suction is as good as the suction on the Vibrance was. It is really light though. I may have it down to deciding between the Vibrance and the Supralight.
 
Durango159,

Wow! Ok, I am finally getting that I need a different power head for my current Miele. I put both of those you mentioned on my Amazon wishlist and will make buying one of those a priority.

My husband stopped at home and did a quick pass with the Riccar Supralight, and was REALLY impressed. He is going to spend some more time with it tonight before forming a final opinion, but it is so incredibly easy to push, and so light, and he made the point that that might be the most important thing in having a house this large. It might be hard to talk him out of the Supralight now, which might not be a bad thing :) It is the commercial version, with the 35 foot cord, which is also a plus. And the price is such that I should be able to buy it as well as a new power head for the Miele canister I have.

Husker Sew and Vac, my local store that has loaned me the machines, has been so kind and great to work with, I am really hoping I can buy something from them. They really only carry Riccar.

I am a little overwhelmed with choices, and thanks so much to everyone for your input! I hope this thread will eventually be helpful to someone else as obsessive as I am. :)
 
Misty, if you are going to go for a fan-first upright like the Supralight, you sre better off with the Hoover Platinum Lightweight upright. It is a much quieter vac and Hoover uprights are more reliable as far as needing repairs are concerned. Simplicity and Riccar as a brand are not as reliable as Hoover when it comes to uprights in recent years, so if you buy the Hoover Lightweight, you'll have less chance of having to bring it in for repair. Though it comes with a companion portable canister vac (which you don't need), you can also get the vac at a lower price without the little over the shoulder Portapower.

The Hoover Platinum Lightweight also costs far less than the Riccar or the Oreck. Vacuumland's Vacuumfreak just bought one of these Hoovers and he loves it!!!
 
Felix for me!

Personally Misty, if you have all the kinds of things to put up with like coins and marbles on carpets or hard floors, pets and on top of that, all that carpet, I have to say a Sebo upright rules the roost, be it the Felix or the X. They're both made to withstand the pick up of things like that. Certainly if you can test run a Windsor Sensor (this is the commercial upright and older model before the SEBO X4) in your home, you'll get a better idea of what the Sebo can offer you.

I notice there's a video featuring the Riccar on You Tube against an Oreck. Just by looking at the design, bear in mind you'll need a machine that doesn't clog up easily and is easy to dismantle if you do require pet hair to be cleaned out of it/clogs up. I don't think I could live with the noise though.

 
@mistyp11.... I agree with what Durango159 said. I would get the SEB236 Power Nozzle for the miele canister. Skip the 228 (remove it from your cart so you arent tempted). The 236 has some advantages over the 228

-- automatic brush roll shutoff when you "stand up" the handle
-- Led headlight
-- reset button if you suck something up you shouldn't
-- lower profile
-- quieter operation

You can check out the video that talks about the different power heads. The motorized brushes start at about 4:05 into the video.




 
I just talked to our local Miele dealer by phone. She said a new nozzle would help somewhat, but in her opinion she thinks I should get the Riccar upright. She said she feels the Miele uprights are not as good and are way too heavy.

There is no Sebo dealer local to me, unfortunately. I would have to drive an hour. I was really interested in Sebo based on research but I am really seeing now I need to try before I buy.
 
Just another point of comparison between the Riccar Supralight and the Hoover Platinum Bagged Lightweight: the Riccar comes with a 30 foot cord whereas the Hoover comes with a 35 foot cord. But the Riccar weighs only 9 lbs while the Hoover weighs 13 lbs. You should try out the Hoover if you can....it's a pleasure to use!
 

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