Floor Care Buying Guide

Guide to Buying Floor Care Equipment

Maintaining a clean floor is essential for a healthy home environment, and choosing the right vacuum cleaner can make this task much easier. Vacuum cleaners come in different shapes and sizes, and it's important to consider various factors before making a purchase.

Types of Vacuum Cleaners

• Robotic: These vacuum cleaners use sensors to navigate around your home and clean under low objects such as tables and sofas. They are small, powerful, and efficient in removing dust and debris from floors.
• Upright: This is the most popular type of vacuum cleaner, and it's designed to clean carpets effectively. They have brush combs that sweep objects up from carpet fibers and then suck them into the bin.
• Cylinder: These vacuum cleaners are compact and easy to carry, making them ideal for use on stairs and furniture. They have a smaller capacity than uprights, but they can still perform well due to their higher wattage.
• Portable/Cordless: These vacuum cleaners are lightweight and cordless, making them easy to move around and use all over the house. They require charging after each use, but they can compete against cylinders in terms of suction power.

Weight

The weight of a vacuum cleaner is an important consideration, especially if you need to carry it up and down stairs. Upright vacuum cleaners can weigh up to 9kg, making them heavy and difficult to carry. In such cases, a portable vacuum cleaner weighing up to 4kg may be more suitable.

Bagged vs Bagless

Bagged vacuum cleaners have larger capacities as all the dirt and dust are collected into a bag, which can be thrown away once full. However, this is not environmentally friendly, as new bags are required regularly. Bagless vacuum cleaners suck dust and dirt directly into a chamber, which can be emptied directly into your bin once full.

Dust Capacity

Vacuum cleaners come with a range of capacities, with portables and robotic vacuum cleaners generally having the smallest capacity due to their size, and uprights and cylinders having larger capacities. Vacuum cleaner capacity is measured in litres, and a larger capacity allows you to vacuum for longer before needing to empty your container.

Accessories

Vacuum cleaners come with various add-ons to make your cleaning more efficient. Most vacuum cleaners come with three standard attachments:

• Crevice tool: A long, narrow tube used to reach tricky-to-get-to places.
• Upholstery tool: A hard brush used to vacuum chairs and sofas.
• Dusting brush: A soft brush used to vacuum delicate surfaces.

Energy Rating

All new vacuum cleaners must have an energy label showing their energy rating in line with EU legislation. These ratings range from C (low efficiency) to A+++ (high efficiency). You can work out an appliance's annual running costs by multiplying kWh used by 0.1427, although this figure may vary according to how much you pay for your local electricity supply.

For more information or help, please don't hesitate to contact us.