Compare Vacuum Cleaners – Vacuum Cleaner Types
So it is time for you to buy a new vacuum cleaner. At first this may seem like a very simple task but as soon as you take a closer look at all the vacuum cleaners that are available out there, your head starts spinning. You see that there are so many vacuum cleaner types that are spread over such a wide price range that this simple task has suddenly become much more complicated. What you need is some basic information to make it easier for you to compare vacuum cleaners.
Vacuum cleaner types
The different vacuum cleaner manufacturers now make many different kinds of vacuum cleaners to serve different needs. Different types of vacuum cleaners also hit different price markets for the consumers. Some vacuums are good for a multitude of different purposes and some are only optimal in certain conditions. Still other vacuum cleaner types are more gimmick than utility. Listed below are some broad catagories of vacuum cleaners along with what they are optimized for and what their weaknesses are.
Vacuum cleaners can be categorized as follows:
1. Canister vacuums
2. Upright vacuums
3. Central vacuum systems
4. Hand-held vacuums
5. Robot vacuums
6. Stick vacuums
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Canister vacuums
Canister vacuums consist of a vacuum cleaner body, known as the canister, that you can then fix various attachments for your cleaning needs. Standard canister vacuum cleaner attachments may include a bare-floor brush, motorized brush for carpets, dusting brush, and crevice tool.
Pros: Canister vacuum cleaners are best for homes with a variety of cleaning surfaces, such as homes with a combination of hardwood, carpets, tile surfaces, and rugs. For cleaning the movement is lighter since you only need to move the attachment head rather than the entire vacuum. Many canister vacuum cleaners are also quieter than upright vacuum cleaners.
Cons: As a whole, a canister vacuum cleaner is bulkier and heavier than an upright vacuum cleaner and may be harder to store.
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Upright vacuums
The upright vacuum cleaner design is the most popular type of vacuum. In general they are also less expensive than canister vacuums. The upright vacuum cleaner consists of a unified body and motorized brush. This vacuum cleaner is optimal if your home consists primarily of carpet.
Pros: Upright vacuum cleaners generally have a wider motorized head than canister vacuum cleaners and cut a wider swath across the carpet. Because of the upright unified body, upright vacuums are easier to store than canister vacuums.
Cons: Upright vacuums are less versatile than canister vacuums. Upright vacuum cleaners also tend to be a little noisier than canister vacuums. When vacuuming, you must push the entire vacuum around which is more laborious.
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Central vacuum systems
A central vacuum system is installed in your home and provides vacuum power through vacuum sockets, or inlets, in each room. You just need to bring the vacuum hose into the room you need vacuumed and attach the hose into the vacuum inlet or socket to run vacuum in that room.
Pros: A central vacuum system is as versatile as a canister vacuum and easier to use since you do not need to lug the canister body of the vacuum. You only need to bring the hose and attachment heads into each room to vacuum.
Cons: Central vacuum systems tend to be more expensive and also need to be professionally installed. To run a central vacuum, you need to have lengthy vacuum hoses since you cannot move the vacuum body around. Longer lengths of vacuum hose can be unwieldy and also hard to store.
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Hand-held vacuums
Hand-held vacuums are small vacuum cleaners that are very light and easy to move around. Hand-held vacuum cleaners come in corded and cordless varieties.
Pros: Hand-held vacuum cleaners are ideal for cleaning cars, stairs, drapes and upholstered furniture because of their light weight. They are also ideal for cleaning small isolated messes because they are light and convenient to use.
Cons: Because of the small compact size and light weight, hand-held vacuum cleaners tend to be less powerful than upright, canister, or central vacuums. Also because of their smaller size, hand-held vacuum cleaners need to be emptied more often.
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Robot vacuums
Robot vacuums are small vacuums that contain self-propelled motors. The idea is to unleash the robot vacuum in a room and you can walk away and return to find the room mostly vacuumed.
Pros: the idea behind the robot vacuum is that you can walk away and let the robot vacuum do all the work for you. In an open and uncluttered room, this may work out fine, however in a room with multiple pieces of furniture, the robot vacuum will most likely miss a lot of surface area.
Cons: Robot vacuums will often miss corners and edges of a room as it travels and bounces around a room vacuuming. Robot vacuums can also take some time to set up and program.
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Stick vacuums
Stick vacuums are smaller and lighter versions of upright vacuums. Models of stick vacuum cleaners can be corded or cordless. They are generally light and easy to use and are ideal for small and light cleaning.
Pros:
Stick vacuums are very handy in quickly cleaning up messes. They are light and can often be stored by hanging them from a hook in a broom closet or cabinet. Many models are cordless which makes them very convenient to carry around.
Cons: Because stick vacuums are designed to be light, they generally do not have very powerful motors and therefore are not powerful enough for large thorough cleaning jobs. Its primary purpose is for quick clean-up of messes but for heavy duty cleaning you should use a more powerful vacuum.