Vacuum Cleaners Discussions

I've been coveting a Miele C3 Kona or Marin now for about a year. I discovered them through the Wirecutter reviews. I have a vacuum today that... gets the job done... but it's a budget upright. I would love to have a quality canister vac instead. My question revolves around the electrobrush models. My gut tells me that, if I am to invest in a Miele, I really ought to just get a powered hose model, and a SEB 228 or 236 at that. Otherwise, it would just be an uncomfortably expensive vacuum cleaner with none of the high-power performance. Is the electric beater bar really "make-or-break" in that way, as far as Mieles are concerned? The jump to even the cheapest model to include the 228 is a good couple hundred dollars. And my beloved C3 Marin is over $1,000... I received a $500 Amazon gift card, and am considering putting it all towards this. I would love to be OK with an entry-level C1 model with a non-electric brush, but something is telling me that's a bad idea. Can anyone who has experience with both comment on how vital it is? Thanks!

Btw, I have dogs, two adorable and friendly huskies that test a vacuum cleaner hard. Without an electric powered floor brush you can't really clean carpet. Turbo brushes rely on the vacuums airflow to power the brush, but you need that airflow to pull dirt up and out of the carpet. With an electric powered floor brush you are not wasting airflow powering the brush, all of it can be used to move the dirt out of the carpet. On soft materials a turbo brush will seal too much and simply stop for lack of airflow. Aside from an electric powered floor brush many Kenmore canister vacuums come with an electric powered "Pet Powermate" hand held brush. These do an outstanding job of cleaning sofas, chairs, beds and stairs, far better than any hand held turbo brush can do.

You want a power nozzle to clean carpet. Suction only is a waste of time on carpet. Don't waste your hard earned on a Miele canister. Keep in mind that all appliances sold in the US can draw a maximum of 12 amps at the wall socket. This means that most canister vacuums have about the same cleaning power. I measure vacuums for suction using a guage marked in inches of water lift. This is the standard measure of vacuum suction. To measure airflow I use a BAIRD meter, the little thing the Kirby sales person uses to compare the airflow of your vacuum with that of a Kirby. It measures from zero to ten. Zero on a BAIRD meter is about 40 cubic feet per minute or "cfm". Ten is about 110 cfm. A Miele C-3 pulls 82 inches of sealed suction before a suction release on the lid opens (to save the motor from overheating due to a lack of airflow). It pulls 6 on my BAIRD meter, both measured at the end of the hose. For comparison sake, a now out of date but still available on clearance Kenmore Orange canister, list price $209,95 but on sale for $149.95 pulls the same 82 inches of suction and 6 1/2 on my BAIRD meter. A new Kenmore 600 series canister pulls 77 inches of suction but airflow is 7 1/2 on my BAIRD meter. Airflow is what moves dirt and the new Kenny has more than a Miele. It also has a very good power nozzle who's design flows from the old Whirlpool designed geared belt Powermate of 1980, slowly updated over the years to what it is today. The top of the line Kenmore Elite pulls 92 inches of suction and pegged my BAIRD meter past 10, more than 110 cfm. Both numbers are higher than a new Kirby can manage. There are two versions of the Elite, differing in color and the type of power nozzle. My recommendation is the 700 series because the Super Plush nozzle is quiet and effortless to push on the new deep pile carpets. It is much better than a Miele power nozzle. I own an 800 Series Elite with its oddball CrossOver Brush and like it a lot, but many don't like the detachable hard floor brush and the power nozzle is harder to push on deep pile carpet than the new Super Plush Nozzle with its air bypass feature.

Time has passed with my Miele C3 Alize. I've continued to research vacuums and the technology behind them. Both airflow and suction are important... airflow more important for vacuuming carpets and suction more important if using 'above ground' tools or vacuuming a lot of hard floors. Over the last 7 months I've been using my Airteq suction head and air powered Turbo brush. While I think my house has been kept clean I was just itching out of curiosity more than anything else to upgrade my until to a powered head... so sprung for the powered hose/wand and SEB 236 head with LED lights. So now I have A LOT invested in my cleaning system, but it is pretty darn complete for most any situation in my house. I use the non-powered components for my hard floors and also have the larger adjustable dusting brush that can connect directly to the hose. Dusting with that brush is awesome... all dust is collected vs. stirred up and I swear when dusted with the vacuum items stay dust-free longer. Because it is being used with the non-powered hose without the wand it is also very light and manageable... but put on the wand, adjust the brush and I can vacuum the tops of my ceiling fans. I recently had a situation where I sawed my very old beat up very large sofa in the basement in half to get it out. After sweeping by hand the larger wood chunks and insulation off the carpet I took the powerhead to the carpet. It absolutely made quick work of what looked like a cleaning disaster. In summary, I think the Marin with SEB 236 would be awesome, but the Alize combined with powered hose/wand and floor head as well as all the light non-powered pieces truly is the ultimate combo. There is a lot more to vacuum than the physical removal of debris... need to factor in functionality, sound, weight, durability, warranty, etc... for more complete usability and all those things have potential value. The best upright that can't clean under a bed, or clean the stairs easily or can't get gobs of dust off a ceiling fan is, to me, not quite as valuable as a unit that can. Kirby's are fantastic if you live in a ranch house with wall to wall carpet, for sure. Each home is different, with different needs for different vacuums.

I recently had an opportunity to pick up a very lightly used Miele Compact C2 that came with the SEB228 power nozzle. Only $20 at a thrift store, who could resist? It cleaned up to as-new condition. I measured both suction and airflow at the hose end. Airflow was very high, registering a tiny smidge below the 9 line on my BAIRD meter. That is about what a new Kirby would show if you made the sales person test it at the hose end instead right at the hole in the fan housing. Suction didn't get much past 64 inches of water lift and that seems to be due to a suction release built into the bag indicator. I have seen this with other new Mieles. Attachments are tiny, especially the cupcake sized dusting brush. They are almost useless and that dusting brush especially so. Perching them on the canister end of the hose often causes them to foul the hose and tip the whole vacuum over on it's side. The hose material is nicer than that on my older S558 Silver Moon but it's still a short six foot long hose compared to the eight footers a high end Kenmore has or the 12 footer you can buy for a Tristar. Sound level of the canister is low average but the SEB228 makes some unpleasant noises on dense carpets. The motor struggles to spin the brush on the back stroke on some dense carpets in my home. The height setting seems critical, too low and the overload protection engages. None of my Panasonic or Kenmore power nozzles, or old Hoover Quadraflex power nozzles have any problems with the same carpets. The Hoover and older Panasonic Jet Flo power nozzles don't have height adjustment and it doesn't seem to matter. So I remain unimpressed with Miele vacuums. My trusty old Panasonics and Kenmores with their longer cords and hoses and superior power nozzles are a lot less work to use. Oh yeah, the Miele dust bag is both too small and ridiculously over priced. Figure using a $5 bag every week, maybe more often. They are almost the poster child for why so many buyers choose a bagless machine.