Which vacuum cleaner for home use?

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sutekj

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I want to buy my first vacuum cleaner. What do I go for for home use?
 
I recently bought a new one, and ther seem to be 2 distinct "types" to consider [i can't really talk about "Brands", but i'm sure all major brands have both types], the one are the regular ones which just suck everything into a bag/filter and you clean this bag/filter afterwards. The 2nd type [which i bought now also] uses a water container , so it sucks everything into the water instead of a bag/filter. The biggest difference is much less dust with the hydro type unit, but the cleanup is a bit more messy . Overall my hydro unit seem to have alot more suction power or at least seem to grab onto dust much better , i think because the dust/particles really get stuck in the water where the normal units can be -extremely- dusty.

Price wise, i've seen some of these water units for R700 at Makro, so i don't think there's much of a cost difference.

Oh another advantage of these water type units is you can vacuum wet floors/carpets too.

Anyway i got the Bennet-Read Hydro Compact unit [R1400 at makro] , great little unit and i was totally surprised at the amount of gunk/goo/hair/crap it managed to suck in compared to my older normal air-filter unit (both my units are 1400W, which is relatively small) . Good part , lots of dirt picked up , Bad part it's a bit gross to clean since the clean water which you started with literally turn to some sort of hairy-mud mixture [if your place is as dirty as mine :) ].

Edit: I got this one to be exact : http://www.tevo.co.za/product.aspx?pid=29 . I had a look at those Genesis type unit, but they're just too expensive [R5000] .

Anyway you get similar type of units for the main brands, saw an LG for cheaper, but not sure what it can do and not do.
 
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That hydro unit sounds great. I get allergic reactions to dust, so it would be great for me to get rid of as much as possible of it.
 
sutekj said:
That hydro unit sounds great. I get allergic reactions to dust, so it would be great for me to get rid of as much as possible of it.
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Yea aparantly that is a selling point. I saw in the booklet you can literally let it stand in a room, throw in some fragrance in the water container, turn it on and let it suck in dust in the air and deodorise (without plugging in the nozzle/pipe).....haven't tried it though.
 
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diabolus said:
I recently bought a new one, and ther seem to be 2 distinct "types" to consider [i can't really talk about "Brands", but i'm sure all major brands have both types], the one are the regular ones which just suck everything into a bag/filter and you clean this bag/filter afterwards. The 2nd type [which i bought now also] uses a water container , so it sucks everything into the water instead of a bag/filter. The biggest difference is much less dust with the hydro type unit, but the cleanup is a bit more messy . Overall my hydro unit seem to have alot more suction power or at least seem to grab onto dust much better , i think because the dust/particles really get stuck in the water where the normal units can be -extremely- dusty.
Click to expand...

Having just recently bought a vacuum cleaner myself I will add a little here... I think again price makes all the difference when comparing units, not just the type they are. I saw some terrible water units at a low cost and likewise some terrible bag units in the same price range. The more expensive bag units usually have more than one filtration system so the chance of dust spewing out is minimal. There is usually the bag itself which filters the dirt out of the air, then that air passes through another two finer filters before exiting the exhaust pipe back into the air.

The problem with the water units is that you really need to pay a decent price to get a decent unit. I looked at some cheaply priced Electrolux water units and they were shockingly made. Size is another negative on the side of the water units. We wanted something that could easily be whipped out to suck up the odd little mess and some those bagged units are fairly compact (the three wheel easily manoeuvrable ones). Of course you also get the upright bagged units but again size is a negative in my eyes here.

There are effectively 4 types of units.
Bagless - where the dirt just goes into a holder which can be removed and cleaned.
Bagged - which have the bag which needs to be emptied. A plus is that the bag acts as a filter.
Upright units - the traditional ones where you push the handle to move the entire vacuum cleaner.
Water units - they use water as the filter.

Also OP test the suction power. The wattage is usually a decrent indicator but in my search I realised not all the wattage translates into sucking power.
 
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LancelotSA said:
Having just recently bought a vacuum cleaner myself I will add a little here... I think again price makes all the difference when comparing units, not just the type they are. I saw some terrible water units at a low cost and likewise some terrible bag units in the same price range. The more expensive bag units usually have more than one filtration system so the chance of dust spewing out is minimal. There is usually the bag itself which filters the dirt out of the air, then that air passes through another two finer filters before exiting the exhaust pipe back into the air.

The problem with the water units is that you really need to pay a decent price to get a decent unit. I looked at some cheaply priced Electrolux water units and they were shockingly made. Size is another negative on the side of the water units. We wanted something that could easily be whipped out to suck up the odd little mess and some those bagged units are fairly compact (the three wheel easily manoeuvrable ones). Of course you also get the upright bagged units but again size is a negative in my eyes here.

There are effectively 4 types of units.
Bagless - where the dirt just goes into a holder which can be removed and cleaned.
Bagged - which have the bag which needs to be emptied. A plus is that the bag acts as a filter.
Upright units - the traditional ones where you push the handle to move the entire vacuum cleaner.
Water units - they use water as the filter.

Also OP test the suction power. The wattage is usually a decrent indicator but in my search I realised not all the wattage translates into sucking power.
Click to expand...

Yea i'm sure the price makes a big diff. I must admit i did not do alot of research when i bought my latest one, i literally walked into makro and saw some LG water unit for R700 and saw the Tevo unit for R1400 and the Genesis unit for R5000 ...so i went for the mid price. If i lived in a 5 bedroom mansion i guess R5000 for a unit isn't bad, but for a 2 bedroom townhouse, it's overkill. So i'm certain that R700 unit must have some vital flaws.

So what unit did you end up with though?
 
I've a Big Green Clean Machine (or whatever it's called) for the last few years.

But I also have a smaller "cheapie" Hoover for the quick jobs as it takes a while to get everything connected...
 
diabolus said:
So what unit did you end up with though?
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As stated size and ease of manoeuvrability was the critical criteria for us as well as the fact that I was not willing to pay a fortune for a vacuum cleaner. We ended up going for a Samsung that was on special at Game.

Aspirator-Samsung-SC4190_0.jpg
 
LancelotSA said:
As stated size and ease of manoeuvrability was the critical criteria for us as well as the fact that I was not willing to pay a fortune for a vacuum cleaner. We ended up going for a Samsung that was on special at Game.
Click to expand...

If you don't need a heavy duty machine (a.l.a. Green Machine) then these are perfect. And if if goes bang, then it is cheap to replace!
 
I bought a new Electrolux Wet 'n Dry for R900 from GAME a month back. I suffer from asthma and looked out for a powerful motor - the only difference between your normal models and pet & allergy ones are the motors. (I use to be in furniture sales).

But most important, who is going to be using it.

That is why I went for a R900 one as its the maid. She did not know how to maintain the previous one but at least had used the Electrolux in her previous job at a hotel for 5yrs. Because no matter how much you pay, if its not kept clean and bags emptied, its not going to work.
 
For vacuum cleaners ... I have yet to find one that our cleaner cannot break ....

Hence I buy the cheapest one from Makro (Samsung brand) becasue I know I will have to replace it in 2 years time again ...
 
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