Recommend a vacuum

[ocscott3085]

Hi Everyone,
I'm looking for a vacuum recommendation for my specific needs. I have a fairly large house (~5,000 sq. ft) with mainly hardwood floors and wool area rugs on the main level and a frieze wall to wall in my family room. The bedrooms also all have wall to wall carpeting of avg. depth. I have a cleaning lady who comes every other week to do a thorough vacuuming so we mainly just do touch up cleaning throughout the week and then a whole house clean on the Saturdays she doesn't come. Here's my current set up:

*main vacuum - MD central vacuum with both hide a hose and standard electric outlets. This is the machine that my partner and cleaning lady use most often. We use the Volt on the HAH outlet but we're not big fans of that powerhead. While I know the mechanics behind the Volt and know it's doing it's job, my partner prefers the deep grooming lines from the Wessel Werk Edge powerhead on the electric hose. Besides, he basically says using the Volt is like pushing an upright around with a hose sticking out the top. True!

*secondary cleaners - we have a Dyson V8 and a Neato D7 that we use to keep the dog hair under control throughout the week.

*stand alone cleaner - we have always had a stand alone cleaner for when we don't want to drag the central vac hose around the house. Currently we have an 11 month old Sebo Felix that has probably been used about 10 times in the last year. It's built really well but I'm just not a fan. It's always had an unusual odor, the attachment hose is super short and I just don't think the cleaning performance trumps what I accomplished with my old Shark uprights.

I'm thinking about selling the Sebo Felix for something I'd be apt to use a little more often. The Felix has been sitting in a closet for months now but I know with Christmas coming I'll be doing a lot of vacuuming up pine needles. I'm not sure if it's true or not but I was raised with a central vac and my mom was a lunatic about not using it to clean up after the Christmas tree. Last year I still had the Shark and it did an awesome job sweeping up the needles with the duoclean brushroll.

I'm wavering between selling the Sebo Felix and either getting a Shark Duoclean Speed upright for quick cleanings of the family room carpeting and sectional sofa or one of the lower tier Miele canisters to pair with the Volt or Centec Lux-style battery powerhead. I know the Shark would probably only last a couple of years and I'm okay with that as I'm sure I'll probably want something new anyway. I've had the Apex but even being an athletic guy, I found the Apex hurt my wrist after cleaning too long. That's why I'm leaning more towards the smaller Speed version.
I have a Miele Homecare canister at my beach house and it does a great job on the hardwood floors there. I'm sure it would gulp up all those Christmas Tree needles with no issue. I figure I could get the C1 Pure Suction model that is the "white" twin of my red Homecare model at the beach. It's only $299 at Bed, Bath and Beyond and then I could pair it with the Volt when I need to do rugs using an adaptor.

Any machine I'm not considering?

 

[completenutt]

I've heard these Riccar vacs are well designed and well built. 



https://www.riccar.com

 

[honestjoe68]

Hello Scott,

I can personally vouch for the excellent quality and performance of Bill’s recommendation of Riccar.

I own 6 Riccar, 4 Simplicity and all 4 Maytag as well as some Fuller Brush vacuums and I highly recommend anything Tacony sells.

I specifically would recommend the Riccar Radiance Premium and it is my absolute favorite of them all. It’s performance always impresses me and the quality is so obvious when using it. I know $1,600 is a lot of money, but you might be able to find a dealer like I did and get a sale price. Regardless, they are spectacular machines and I could go on and on about the quality and performance.

My apologies for not making the recommendation myself, as after reading all of your post I actually was not sure “what” vacuum to recommend, especially since it appears you are leaning more toward “Central Vaccuums” which I have absolutely No experience with and have never used a central vacuum cleaner. BUT, I also noticed you like Canister/Cylinder Vacuums and I also know little about those as 95% of my 250 plus Vacuum Collection consists of Upright Vacuums.

Best of Luck and maybe TWO great vacuums, an Upright and a Canister, might be your best bet. I say a Riccar Upright and either a Sebo or Miele canister.

Now on the subject of battery powered cordless models for quick clean up, I can definitely help you there. I have the new Shark Ion P50 Powered Lift-Away Cordless Upright and I reallly like it and it’s a pleasure to use. From the dirt I see in the bin, it cleans very well too. With your 5,000 square foot home I would highly recommend you buy an extra Battery as they claim 50 minutes, but that’s on it’s lowest. With your home I would say a minimum of Two total for the P50 Lift Away and if you get the F80 Stick, a minimum 3 batteries total, Trust me as my home is about half your size so I’m doubling the performance times I am seeing for you. I also like the Shark Ion F80 MultiFlex Stick vacuum, as these two are Brilliant for cleaning hardwood floors to a clean and shiny surface. Now I will say I like the convenience of the Sharks having the soft brushroll up front so moving from carpet to hardwood or tile and back is easy.. But I still enjoy my Dyson V10 and V8 for carpeting. They give you better carpet lines and I just feel they make the nap look nice after your done. I also like the easy pull up to eject emptying of the Dysons, but the Shark have been ok to empty.

I hope this helps and please keep us posted as to what you choose.

Patrick

 

[n0oxy]

avoid the shark

I would avoid anything made by Shark. As you said, the quality is not very good and parts are not easily available for them if they need repair.
Based on what you said, you have some excellent cleaners. That central vacuum is going to be your best cleaner by far. There should not be any problems vacuuming up Christmas tree needles with that. The Sebo Felix is a great machine although I'm not a fan of uprights, I'm a canister only person.
That Miele idea you have would work, you had mentioned the Centec battery powered nozzle, I have it and it works very well. The Miele hose end is 35 MM in size so you would need an adapter for it to work but it's a great nozzle. Unlike the Volt which is also a great nozzle I think, the Centec nozzle has no handle on it so you will need to connect a wand to it the way you do with other nozzles.
Mike

 

[kenkart]

I just bought

A Numatic James, I have never been as sold on anything as I am this vacuum, I usually hate anything new, but this I LOVE!

 

[ocscott3085]

Great ideas everyone! I actually had a Riccar TOL Supralite for about a year before I gifted it to my mom. Definitely a quality machine. I think we had a Simplicity 5200 upright back when I was in middle school and it moved out with my older brother when he went to college. I remember in a house full of boys we were tough on that upright and it never failed us.

 

[vacuumdevil]

I would avoid shark low quality. I would avoid Riccar models the maintenance will be too high for your square footage.

Have you considered getting a second electric hose kit? to a EBK360 or a SEBO ET1?
I guarantee you this will be the best option.

I would recommend a SEBO D4 or a Miele c3 canister .

You should go to a local vacuum store and get a few vacuums a test drive. It seems you're looking for a specific wait and feel?

 

[eurekaprince]

Why not “test-drive” a Miele Dynamic upright? With the size of your house, it seems like it would be easier to just wheel out this great upright, plug it in and go to work. The white Miele Cat & Dog upright is top rated by Consumer Reports. It has a nice long 35 foot cord, on-board tools and the brush roll can be shut off for safe bare-floor cleaning. The only caveat is that it is a bit heavy to carry up and down a flight of stairs.

You could even attach a Miele Parquet floor brush to the wand for easier cleaning of bare floors - the brush roll automatically shuts off when it’s in the upright position.