There are a number of different types of vacuum cleaner.  We have made every effort on this site to categorise the vacuum cleaners we cover, so that you can easily find what you are looking for.

The following are a list of types we cover:

• Bagless Vacuum Cleaners – Save money on vacuums that don’t use bags to collect the dirt.
• Ball Vacuum Cleaners – Easier to maneuver, Ball vacuums are mainly the domain of Dyson.
• Canister Vacuum Cleaners – Canister vacuums are popular particularly in homes with hard floors.
• Handheld Vacuum Cleaners – For portability, hand held vacuum cleaners can do a job in tight spaces, like your car and other hard to reach places.
• HEPA Vacuum Cleaners -  HEPA filters are fantastic for removing tiny particles from the exhaust air of your vacuum cleaner, often producing much cleaner air than you normally breathe in your house.
• Upright Vacuum Cleaners – traditional and often the choice of carpeted homes.
• Cordless vacuum cleaners – handy for cleaning the car and other areas away from electrical sockets, these vacuums are generally lower powered.
• Steam Cleaners – Not actually vacuum cleaners, Steam cleaners use hot water and/or steam to deep clean your carpets.
• Stick Cleaners – Small, lightweight vacuum cleaners that are easy to store, and wont tire you out as you clean your house.
• Central Vacuum Systems – Vacuum systems built directly into the house structure with central dirt canister.

Central vacuum cleaner systems turn your house into one large vacuum cleaner and the good news is, they have become a lot more affordable in recent years.

These systems have a central collection point where dirt and grim is deposited, with outlets distributed throughout the house.  To use the vacuum, you simply plug the hose into an outlet and vacuum.  The dirt that is sucked up is transported down the tube you are holding, through the tubes in the wal and down to the receptacle in a remote area.

There are two main types of central vacuum system – cyclonic and filtered systems.  The cyclonic systems use centrifugal force to separate the dirt from the air, whereas the filtered system uses filters.  The downside of the filtered systems include the need to replace of clean the filters on a regular basis.

There are a number of advantages to these central systems.

1. Air quality in the home can be improved, and the fact that the single large dirt canister only needs to be emptied about once every 3 months, the dirt you have just picked up does not end up back in the air when you empty the canister as often happens with traditional vacuum cleaners.
2. The central vacuum cleaners can have a lot more suction than traditional vacuum cleaners, although with vacuums like Dyson with their cyclonic suction technology, and Hoover’s Windtunnel technology, traditional vacuums have become very powerful indeed.
3. These systems offer ease of use since you don’t have to carry the vacuum cleaner around the house.  The only thing you need to carry is the lightweight hose and attachments. The power switch for the vacuum is typically on the handle of the hose.  The wall outlets are usually located in the skirting boards around the room, with usually one outlet per 600 square feet of room.
4. House value can increase with a central vacuum system installed.
5. These systems are quieter than traditional vacuum cleaners.
6. Automatic dustpans are available, so that dirt can be swept into the vents using a standard broom, making sweeping the floor an easier task as well, without having to bend over.

One of the downsides of this type of system is that they have been quite expensive, but as technology has advanced, the prices of these systems has fallen.  The one thing you need to bear in mind is that you will need a professional installer, though this is something that the retailer will help you with.

There are a number of manufacturers that have central vacuum systems in their portfolio of products including: Beam, Electrolux, Bissell, Dirt Devil, Eureka, Hoover, Honeywell, Air King & Astrovac.

HEPA is a filter that removes up to 99.9% of allergens from the air that passes through it.  Because of this, a growing range of top vacuum manufacturers now include HEPA filters in their vacuum cleaners.  When air is sucked into the vacuum cleaner, it passes through the filter on the way out of the machine, so that the air being expelled from the vacuum is allergen free.  HEPA vacuums are ideal for those who suffer from allergy and/or asthma, as well as any health conscious individual who doesn’t like the idea of breathing in dust mite debris on a daily basis.  Below we have listed the HEPA vacuums covered on our site.

Vacuums are often divided into two groups – upright vacuums and canister vacuums.  The canister vacuums look a little like pods that slide along the floor.  They are often more popular in homes with hard wood or tile flooring, as their suction is not usually as great as the traditional upright vacuum.  The advantages of canister vacuums is that they take up less room, are often lighter, and usually less expensive.  You can see the canister vacuums we have looked at on this site below:

Dyson have a number of patents for their vacuum cleaner technologies, and the Dyson Ball is one of the latest.  The Ball is surely going to find itself of a plethora of other brand vacuums because of the way it adds effortless turning to heavy vacuum cleaners.   The idea came originally from a wheelbarrow design by Mr. Dyson, and its application to vacuums has been a revelation.  Below you can see the Ball vacuum cleaners we have covered on this site.

Old vacuum cleaners required bags, and these needed to be emptied and replaced, costing quite a bit over the lifetime of the vacuum cleaner.  More and more modern vacuums are bagless, meaning you don’t have paper bags to collect the dirt.  Instead, dirt and dust is sucked into a plastic bin that can be easily & hygienically emptied.  Below are the bagless vacuum cleaners that we have covered on this site.

Quite often you a large upright or canister vacuum cleaner is over-kill.  If you want to clean the car for example, a better solution is a smaller, handheld vacuum that perhaps doesn’t require an electrical outlet to operate.  This type of vacuum certainly has its advantages in terms of portability, but they also often suffer a few disadvantages, like:

• poor suction
• poor battery time

Below are a list of hand held vacuum cleaners that we have looked at on this site.

Upright vacuum cleaners are the traditional vacuum cleaners we all grew up with.  In recent times, canister vacuums have also become popular, but upright vacuum cleaners have a number of advantages over the canister vacuums.  Generally speakin upright vacuums have stronger suction and this is a major factor in choosing an upright over a canister model.  If you have mainly carpets throughout your home, an upright may be the best solution, though do check out some of the All Floor models by Dyson because they have fantastic suction, and are often suitable for most homes.

Below we have listed the upright vacuums covered on this site.

Miele have a reputation for building good quality vacuum cleaners.  This German companycreate a lot of canister vacuumsand the Miele S5281 Callisto canister vacuum cleaner is a really popular one.

Featuring an ergonomic handle and telescopic stainless steel wand, the Miele S5281 Callisto comes with sound insulation so that this vacuum cleaner is very quiet.

You also get a sealed system with the Miele’s active HEPA filter which will remove 99.9% airborne allergens passing throughthe vacuum cleaner, including dust mites and pet dander.

The 1200W Miele Vortex suction motor comes with a seven year warranty, and as with most Miele vacuum cleaners the motor is really good.

You get an electric power brush for the low medium and high pile carpeting so this one vacuumcan be used throughout your house on the different floor types.

The vacuum comes with 4.76 quart IntensiveClean Plus dustbag.

What Miele S5281 Callisto canister vacuum cleaner customers like:

• The 10.5 inch wide electric power brush.
• The brush duster which is small with durable bristles.
• Parquet floor brush ( wider brush duster ) .
• Cord rewind mechanism is excellent.
• Very quiet.
• Easy to manoeuvre around the house because it is small and lightweight .
• HEPA filtration (especially for those suffering from asthma or hayfever) .

.. and what they didn’t like:

• The price
• The attachment release buttons  are not very intuitive.
• Stiff no swivel hose.
• Bag full indicator actually appears to bean indication of how hard the vacuum is straining to suck.

The Miele S4582 Eclipse Canister Vacuum cleaner has a powerful 1200W motor using the innovative Miele Vortex Motor system to ensure maximum suction.

This cleaner comes with the SBD450-3 carpet/smooth floor combo tool and a deluxe handle assembly.

The HEPA filter in this vacuum will ensure more allergens are cleaned out of the carpet, and the air passing through the cleaner.  The vacuum uses Intensive Clean FJM bags, and comes with 2 supplied with the Miele S4582 Eclipse.

Accessory tools include:

• Upholstery tool
• crevice nozzle
• dusting brush

One complaint with many vacuum cleaners is the length of the cable.  The Miele S4582 Eclipse comes with a 29.5 feet operating radius.

What customers of the Miele S4582 Eclipse liked:

• Vacuum is very quiet thanks to silence-noise insulation.
• Very powerful motor
• Very light
• Easy to maneuver
• Excellent cord retractor
• No odour when vacuuming

.. and what they did not like:

• Cord could be longer.