I have noticed over the past few years that it is popular to now be "green" because people are now making money by selling "green" products and hoping on the band wagon. This is not an attempt to do that but to educate you on concepts of green vacuums. I have always felt strongly about conserving our natural limited resources and being wise about such things and I really hope this guide will make a difference.
OK first lets talk concepts. I promise you that most of these concepts you have not even considered. I bet if you were to ask the question "Which is the best Green Vacuum" 9 out of 10 people would think a bagless vacuum and consider the use of paper bags a killer of that. The use of paper bags is down the list quite a ways and not one of the most important things. Most of the information in this article is IMHO and I will list the concepts of a Green Vacuum in order of importance IMHO.
#1 - Longevity of a Vacuum Cleaner. How many resources does it take to make a vacuum cleaner? What energy is consumed in making and molding plastic? How about melting and molding metal? How about the man hours in creating a new vacuum? Most vacuums you find at your local super store are made in China and shipped to the US for use. How much fuel was used in transporting millions of vacuums a year to the US? A lot. This is the #1 thing to consider and it kind of puts the use of paper bags in its place.
Here is where we need to show you two type of vacuums. Disposable vacuums and High End Vacuums. The makers of these vacuums sold in the super stores have learned that it is much more profitable to sell you a new vacuum every 2 to 3 years but only charge you say 150 to 200 dollars on average. People buy vacuums based on looks and like to have the newest thing anyway and so so think about it how long have these vacuums lasted on average ? 2 , 3, 4 years maybe? So think about it say you spend 200 dollars every 3 years. In a 30 year period you would go through 10 vacuums at an average cost of 200 dollars is 2000 dollars. However you are not considering inflation. At a low rate of 4% inflation in 30 years that 200 dollar vacuum would now sell for 907.29 for just one of them. So I don't know the exact number but once you consider inflation in that 30 year period I would bet you would pay over 5000 dollars in vacuum cleaners. Then another thing is models are always changing on the disposable vacuums and over time you would have to buy new styles of bags and filters. Don't believe me on the disposable vacuums? Check out the pictures below. Ebay does not let me upload the full size but if you would like the full sized pictures send me a email and I will email them to you. The picture below is your disposable vacuums that end up in a repair shop and they all get thrown away. They are un-sellable. Several years ago I took the step of contacting the makers of these vacuums to see if we could recycle them. Most of the motors were still good. The plastic could be remelted. The answers I got back from the ones who responded were they were not interested. So now these disposable super store vacuums fill up our landfills by the millions.
Now lets talk high end vacuums. This is what we sell. We dont sell disposable vacuums because we don't believe in them. Not only do the disposable ones break easy but they don't vacuum as well compared to high end vacuums. A high end vacuum you can expect to cost more upfront but you can expect to get a good return on your money. Once you get a high end vacuum you can never go back. In fact the average person who buys a high end vacuum from us has owned on average 4 disposable vacuums and they realize they are throwing their money away and upgrade to a high end one. Now off the top of my head I can think of 5 different brands of high end vacuums that last on average 30 years or more if taken care of. So think about that, most of these vacuums you can buy new for around 1500 dollars and for less online. Think about the thousands of dollars you would be saving and the good you would be doing the planet to have 1 vacuum over the next 30 years vs. 10 vacuums over the next 30 years. I have seen tons (literally) of high end vacuums that are 50 years old and still working great.
#2 - Electricity Consumption - This is very important. We are at such a low level of Electricity now that I am hearing talk of building nuclear reactors to produce electricity. 10 years ago we would never have considered this but people start changing there minds when you have scheduled outages and you are sitting in your living room on a Saturday night in the dark. I think the key is to build appliances that use low levels of electricity. If you want to see good use of electricity check out a RV. They are designed to last a couple days with appliances and lighting on one battery. So how does this affect vacuum cleaners? There is a marketing trick that makers of vacuum cleaners have been doing for years that I even fell for when I bought my first vacuum. Myth #1 - THE MORE AMPS A VACUUM HAS THE MORE POWERFUL A CLEANER IT IS. It is the standard that a vacuum has a 12 amp motor or it does not clean as well. The most powerful deep cleaning vacuum I have ever seen is the Kirby Vacuum. It has a 7 amp motor and blows away all those 12 amp motor vacuums. Why? Because it has a smaller motor but HUGE vacuum fans and tubing (almost twice as big as other vacuums). The other vacuums have HUGE motors and smaller fans and hoses (costs less to produce). Most high end vacuums that vacuum better have smaller motors than the disposable vacuums. So send a message to makers of vacuum cleaners that you want a vacuum that is powerful with low energy consumption.
#3 - Bags and Filters. Here we go (finally). This is what most people think about. Most people think a bagless vacuum would be better. However not true. A lot of bagless vacuums have to have their filters changed out every year. Most people go through 3 to 5 bags in that year but it cost more resources to make the filter than it does those bags. So I suggest if your are going to buy a bagless vacuum buy one with a washable filter and not a disposable filter.
#4 - Batteries. Very bad. I am going to make some people mad here but I was talking to the sales reps of a popular battery operated robotic vacuum and he was trying to sell me some factory refurbs of them. I asked him how many he had in stock in his branch. He said he had over 10,000! Another vacuum maker (non robotic) was trying to sell me factory refurbs and I asked him how many he had. He said he had 100. The second vacuum rep sales a lot more too. The problem with the robotic vacuums is the batteries end up dying so much that people get sick of them and return them within the first year. So the factory has to put a new battery in to resell them. This uses a lot of resources and is not efficient at all. I have also seen vacuums come out with a battery powered head and it seems those need replaced about once a year. Not a suggestion. I think batteries have their place but they need to be more efficient than they are now.
OK so those are the concepts of the Green Vacuum. Now I am going to give you my top ten suggestions on the Green Vacuums and I will tell you why.
TOP 10 BEST GREEN VACUUMS-
#1- Rainbow Vacuum - This one wins for several reasons. First it uses water to filter with. Some of the newer models have a HEPA filter as well but most of them are washable. It does not use bags. They last a really long time. If well taken care of I would say 30 years on average. My Grandpa has a 1942 rainbow that runs perfect. Good use of electricity. If you have hardwood you don't have to use the power nozzle.
#2 - Kirby Vacuum - But it uses bags. Yes it does but this is why I ranked it second. First it is the most dependable vacuum made. Consumer Reports wrote a article this year on vacuum cleaners and surveyed thousands of consumers and the Kirby vacuum came back of all vacuums as the #1 most reliable vacuum. Even without that report I could have told you that. If taken care they will last 30 plus years on average and even last longer than the Rainbow. They only have a 7 amp motor in the vacuum (very good) but are a powerful cleaner. The outer bag acts as part of the HEPA filtration and those can be washed. It does use paper bags but they are larger now so you don't have to use as many.
#3 - Hyla Vacuum - Like a Rainbow this uses water to filter with (good). The reason I ranked it third is is has not been around for 20 or 30 years so we don't know how long they will last. From what I have seen they are lasting good so far. Really similar to the rainbow.
#4 Sanitaire Bagless Model - Sanitaire makes a model that is bagless. It has a outer cloth bag and then the bottom of that is a dirt cup that you dump out. It is a very powerful vacuum, does not use bags, has a low amp motor and can take a lot of abuse. Most people that buy Sanitaire vacuums buy them to abuse them but you still see them last around 10 years. For normal household cleaning I think you would see them lasting much longer.
#5 Tristar Vacuum - This used to be called Compact, and again lasts 30 plus years. Uses paper bags, but newer models are very lightweight and use a smaller motor.
#6 Filter Queen Vacuum - Again will last 30 plus years. Great usage of electricity. The only downside is it uses a lot of filters which are non washable.
#7 Electrolux Aerus Vacuums - Another long lasting vacuum (decades). Good use of electricity but uses bags and Filters that are disposable. These are not sold as Electrolux new now ( a few years ago they sold the Electrolux name to Eureka and changed their name to Aerus). So the new ones will be called Aerus but the ones a few years ago will be called Electrolux.
#8 Miele Vacuum - These don't last as long as the above vacuums but one thing I do like about them is they seem to last about 10 to 15 years and on most of them they have a switch to use more or less power and electricity. They use bags and filters that are disposable.
#9 Dyson Vacuum - The good part of this is SOME of the Filters are washable and it is bagless. The other Filters they call "lifetime" but when we were refurbing some of them we have seen some of those other "lifetime" filters that were pretty dirty that had to be replaced. The biggest mark against the Dyson vacuum is its use of cheap plastic. We have seen no problems with the motors so far but I would be surprised if you see your average Dyson last over 10 years. When we ship them we have to wrap them really really well. When you vacuum with them you can hear the plastic "creak". Another bad mark it got was its 12 amp motor.
#10 Delphin Vacuum - This would have actually been rated in the top 4 except they have 2 models of Delphin. One with a battey powered head (very common) and one with the electrical head (uncommon). The electrical head is rare but will be more common in future models. The good news is it uses water to filter with and it has not been around as long as the rainbow but so far is lasting good.
So that's my top 10. As far as my bottom 10 I would suggest to stay away from most disposable vacuums sold at the super stores. Some of them would be good but they just don't last. If you are unsure of the perfect vacuum for your needs feel free to drop me an email. Tell me whats important to you. Things like green vacuum, pets, stairs, if you have a bad back, allergies etc. Our advice is free.
Thank You,
Dustin Chaffin, Manager GreatVacs.com
SERVICE@GREATVACS.COM
TOP 10 GREEN VACUUMS
This guide will cover the best vacuum cleaners for our environment. It will talk about things that you have probably never considered and it will also include my top 10 vacuums for the environment and...
So in Today’s Guide we are going to cover 7 tips for picking the perfect vacuum for your apartment or condo.
5 Tips for the perfect vacuum for your apartment –
1. DEEP CLEANER
When I lived in an apartment my wife and I had a Bissell vacuum that was a gift when we were married. It cleaned the dirt off the top of the carpet but not much more. Here I was dealing a high end vacuum’s every day and my frugal wife would not get rid of that Bissell until “it no longer runs”. So one day I had a customer who lived near me and had ordered a E2 Eseries Rainbow vacuum. I agreed I would take it home from work and they could pick it up from me. While I was waiting for them I decided to test it one more time. So I let the canister run but the power nozzle was not running so just straight suction. I left the room for a few minutes and came back to turn it off. I was shocked to see a ½ inch of sand and dirt in the bottom of the Rainbow. I could not believe it, it had not even moved and the brushroll was not spinning. Two things came to me at that moment. One that Rainbow vacuum was a great deep cleaner and Two that was other people’s dirt. So first thing I suggest is a good deep cleaner. This will also help with allergies as well.
2. WORKS GOOD ON CARPET AND HARD FLOOR SURFACES
There is a very good chance you will use it to vacuum carpet, hardwood, tile, throw rugs and more. So make sure that it can clean all those surfaces and well. Many vacuums claim to be able to vacuum hardwood surfaces but fail miserably. The key to that is they must have good suction in the middle of the head and I also like to see a good floor tool. For example Dyson advertises their model works good on hard floor surfaces but we have had lots of customers have issues with that because the suction tube is on one side of the head so the other side of the head did not clean very well. However if your Dyson vacuum has a good floor tool then it would work fine.
3. HEPA FILTRATION
HEPA filtration is basically the best filtration there is for a vacuum. Make sure its real HEPA filtration. To qualify for HEPA filtration you have to be able to filter down to .3 microns (very very small). I wrote another article on this but make sure it’s a high end vacuum so the dirt doesn’t hit the HEPA filter backtrack through the tubing and blow out through non sealed areas (disposable vacuums at the big box store are famous for this) but almost all high end vacuums with HEPA contain the dirt and allow clean air to come out the other side. The reason I think you should have HEPA fliltration besides Allergy reduction is because apartments are small and when you vacuum your not going to want to blow dirt around in the air.
4. DURABLE
Think ahead. The day will probably come where you will be in your own house (think bigger) and that same great vacuum could work in both homes. Usually when you move into a house you don’t have money to drop on a nice vacuum so this vacuum might have to last for both. So most disposable vacuums sold at the big box stores last 2 to 5 years on average. I would say the average lifespan on a well taken care of Kirby vacuum, Rainbow vacuum, Tristar Vacuum, or Filter Queen vacuum can be 25 plus years. We see 30 to 40 year old models of those running perfect all the time. A leading consumer magazine ranked Kirby vacuums the most durable upright and Rainbow vacuums the most durable canister (see March 2009 Consumer Reports Magazine).
5. LIGHTWEIGHT, ON BOARD TOOLS AND EASY STORAGE
OK this is actually 3 tips in one but they all relate. In a apartment or condo storage space is very important so make sure it stores well and is easy to use. For example under most bed’s a Kirby, Proteam, Electrolux/Aerus, or Oreck would fold down and store. A Dyson (except for the Dyson Slim) or canister vacuum probably would not fit. If the vacuum comes with lots of tools and parts that must be stored off the vacuum consider where you would put them. The Kirby vacuum falls into this category. However the Kirby also has a tool caddy with screw holes where it could mount on the wall in a closet up and out of the way.
I hope that helps and steers you in the right direction on the perfect vacuum for you. At GreatVacs.com we have sold over 20,000 vacuums and know a lot about them so if you have any further questions please email us at service@greatvacs.com If you tell us about your situation we would be glad to make some recommendations as well.
Thanks,
Dustin, Chaffin
GreatVacs.com, Manager
SERVICE@GREATVACS.COM
7 TIPS TO HELP YOU PICK THE PERFECT VACUUM FOR YOUR APARTMENT OR CONDO
At Great Vacs we have received thousands of emails from people asking our advice to help them pick the perfect vacuum. Last week I got an email from an old friends daughter. She lived in...
DO YOU OWN A $6000 DOLLAR VACUUM CLEANER?
Do you own a 6000 dollar cleaner?
Ever wonder where all those disposable vacuums your buying from the big box stores end up? The land fill.....along with your hard earned cash. So lets talk about...
One of the main issues with any type of vacuum that can reduce cleaning and suction power is when the roller becomes full of debris. Hair and carpet strands can get stuck in a roller and cause the roller to stop moving at the appropriate speed. This can also get in the way of suction. Many times you will notice an odd noise when you turn your cleaner on.
If you have noticed a loud noise, if your Kirby is difficult to push or it is not cleaning well, troubleshoot for a roller problem. Turn your vacuum off and unplug the cord. Push down the adjustment lever and take off the hood. Now you will be able to get to the area that holds the belt. Check the belt for any wear or extreme tear. A stretched out belt can cause these issues as well and they are easy to replace.
The roller may need to be taken completely out of the hood to be checked. Look for any cracks and remove any hair or upholstery strands that are wrapped around it. If the roller is not inserted correctly back into the hood, the vacuum will not function properly. Be sure to look at your manual if you do not know how to put it back in.
Lastly, you should check the bag of the vacuum. A small leak or tear can drastically reduce overall cleaning power. Changing a vacuum bag is simple. A bag that is caked with dirt will also need to be replaced for full function cleaning.
SERVICE@GREATVACS.COM
