I think damage happens *before* that discomfort level. (I am interpreting discomfort to really *mean* discomfort and not "I don't like that noise". I don't like the noise our vacuum makes -- nor the noise from the fans in my servers -- but wouldn't consider any of them "discomfort". Sort of like folks who claim to be "allergic" to cigarette smoke when, in fact, they just don't LIKE it.)
I don't think many people realize how much abuse our ears take in our typical lifestyle. When I can hear the OTHER PARTY on someone's cell phone "from a distance" (i.e., it's not AT my pinna), then it's probably way too loud for that person to have it against his!
Unfortunately, it's yet another of those "long lag" control loops that humans are so inept at handling -- when the feedback is so displaced (in time) from the action that any attempt at control (i.e., altering those actions) is essentially impractical.
[Other examples are weight control, smoking, many addictions, sun exposure, diet, etc. -- i.e., most of "living" :> ]
Get one that vacuums too high. Wait till other vacuum cleaners blink at you. Keep vacuuming. Refuse to get the vacuum cleaner adjusted lower. Blame the factory. Blame Shop Vacs. Compare your vacuum cleaner to other brands. Blame the factory, again. Refuse to get your vacuum cleaner adjusted, because even if you've had it for years, it's still the factory's fault.
Repeatedly post to AHR list via web portal such as Home Owners Hub, and tell us that the machine vacuums too high, and it's the factory's fault.
You mean you don't get door-to-door vacuum cleaner salesmen dropping by? Me either. The best you can do for "advice" is look at Youtube videos. There's a lot of them out there. I've got a Bissell Powerforce Bagless. 50 bucks at Walmart about 7-8 years ago. You can see what you've picked up, and you can wash the 3 filters. We liked it so much after a week that I picked up another one, and it's still in the unopened box in the garage.
CY: I had a part time cleaning job which involved using vac cleaner. Same deal, every unit they had, belt was broken. I had the old guy get me belts from some where, and I replaced them. Cleaned out all the hair and mop strings while I had the machines apart.
CY: I had a part time job (different one) fixing vacuum cleaners. At a vacuum cleaner sales and service place. I'd been battling some medical problems, and the job didn't last long. But, I did replace a heck of a lot of belts, bags, and other parts.
No, just delusional Mormons trying to "save our souls". :> Or, JW's on a similar mission.
The problem with "testimonials" is you have no clue as to the skill level, experience or wisdom of the folks making them!
We lamented the lack of *qualified* service people, here, at a party some years ago. One neighbor volunteered "Oh, use XXX! We do!" (XXX didn't sound like a good choice but I bit my tongue).
Not 5 minutes later, same neighbor was grumbling about how often XXX screwed things up for them. I.e., first hand experiences they'd had! Yet, 5 minutes earlier, they were eager to "inflict" this (poor) service on us!? Note to self: disregard most advice from said neighbors!
One of the librarians gave us a recommendation for washer/dryer when we were soliciting advice. We ended up going with her recommendation. Less than 18 months later, washer broke (with very little usage in our tiny household!). An obvious bad design choice on the manufacturer's part. When we recounted this to librarian some time later, she replied: "Oh, I've already replaced the washer *and* dryer; we had problems with both of them!"
[OK, can't fault her for the unfortunate recommendation as she hadn't YET encountered those problems at the time of the recommendation. But, this illustrates how "sensitive" recommendations can be to actual experience! Most folks are eager to boast about new purchases -- no one wants to claim they screwed up and bought a piece of crap! But, do those feelings translate to long term satisfaction? What if you're the type that replaces things often? How reliable would your recommendation be for someone who hangs onto things for longer service lives?]
Yet another upright... :<
Yikes! I think the tiny "toy" vacuums are more than that! Some of the things we've seen qualify as "big purchases" at 10X that price!
*3* filters? Are they all installed at the same time? Or, do you swap them out (while cleaning one, use another)?
I think it would be too "heavy" for SWMBO. AFAICT, they were not "self propelled" so you had to move a fair bit of mass around to use it.
Something intended for use in hotels, perhaps? (I assume you DON'T mean shop-vacs)
As I replied to Tony, up-thread, this house just wouldn't easily accommodate anything like that. They opted to lift the ceilings when they built it instead of creating a (small) space above them for "services". It makes *everything* into a major project -- instead of a "day job". You're always cutting and patching drywall to add/remove/relocate/repair anything! I've been trying to sort out how I can run a water line from upstream of the water softener at the FRONT of the house to the kitchen sink at the BACK. :<
[I now understand why I've seen homes where the water softener is located *behind* the house and 100 ft of copper pipe runs on the OUTSIDE of the house *to* the softener (from the actual municipal water inlet) and another 100 ft runs BACK to rejoin the intended water inlet. Anyone stumbling across such would shake their head in disbelief (WTF??)]
It provides visuals at least. Looking at this one I saw right away the guy had it set high from the ground, which is why he left crumbs on the carpet. Then when he lowered the setting he just pushed away big pieces. C'mon. Any "normal" person would just tilted the machine back to pick up the big stuff. Jesus, it's not rocket science.
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Actually, a more serious problem with some products is "discontinuation." Often a model that's good is no longer offered. What good does a five year review do on something that's not available any more.
Which is no longer offered. Looks like the Bissell Powerforce Helix Bagless has replaced it. I don't know why the "Helix." Lucky I have that unopened older model in the garage, huh? But I expect I won't need it.
I grew up with cannisters. Why? They didn't make uprights.
Be my guest to pay 10x. It's a frickin vacuum cleaner.
All installed at the same time. Probably most people don't know there's a small filter for the motor. They're all easily removed/washed.
Exactly. Look at the quality of the reviewer before trusting the review. :-/
Yup. *Too* often!
OTOH, a review after "day 4" probably doesn't tell you much of anything!
SWMBO bought some jeans, recently. A hard-to-find style. She was tickled with them -- and, more importantly, with the service the saleswoman provided! On returning home, we both commented about how unusual it was, nowadays, to get such service and comprehensive knowledge of her "products".
SWMBO ordered two more pair which had to come in from another store. Fine. "Should be in on Thursday" (this was a Saturday) "We'll call you when they come in"
So pleased were we with the service, that we made a point of filling out the optional survey suggested by the URL on the sales receipt (as a rule, we tend not to do these things). she gave the store -- and particularly the saleswoman (who we later discovered was the store MANAGER -- important for what follows!) -- a glowing review!
Thursday came. No call. OK, maybe they forgot. SWMBO is eager to get them (different colors -- WTF do you need different color JEANS??) so we decided to give them a tickle before heading out on our shopping pilgrimage.
"No, I don't see them here" (different salesperson) "And, I can't find the order; she's got her own way of doing things (and, she's the boss, so I can't criticize her). Let me take your number and give you a call back when I get in touch with her..."
A few more days pass. Still no call. Try again.
Same sales *guy*. Again asks for phone number to "call us back".
Of course, call never comes.
A few weeks later, order the same pants on amazon -- for a net savings of $14 -- and call to cancel the order at the retail store.
We came away from this feeling annoyed that we'd given them such a good review -- prematurely! Had we included the "service" associated with the followup purchase (i.e., the two pair "on order"), the review would have been exactly the opposite!
Cheap insurance. I had a pair of walking shoes many years ago that were perfect! When they wore out, they were no longer offered for sale! In hindsight, I would have purchased 6 pairs! The cost of fronting the money prematurely would have been offset by the effort I later expended -- in vain -- looking for an alternate source (new-old-stock, etc.).
We had an "electric broom" when I was a kid -- in addition to the cylindrical canister. It didn't see much use.
Exactly. We're not looking to make a fashion statement or impress the neighbors ("Hey, come on over and have a look at my new VACUUM CLEANER!" WTF?)
As I said, elsewhere, the best vacuum I had was a Panny canister. Not very impressive but it "got the job done" and never gave me any problems!
OK, similar to the little metal filter behind the scrubbing brushes in our carpet cleaner.
(People NEVER clean filters! It's absolutely disgusting to look inside some of the PC's I've repaired over the years. "Ick! Remind me never to eat at YOUR house! Look at all this cat fur!!")
The filter on our Dyson -- and I am guessing on the later models too -- is removed by pressing one readily visible button. It's certainly not out of sight, if that's what you were suggesting.
No, just indicating that the filter on our carpet cleaner *is* (you have to turn it upside down -- recalling that it typically contains lots of LIQUID -- to access the filter).
I think many people are unaware of which devices *have* filters or that those filters need to be cleaned/replaced periodically. My experiences with bits of electronic technology confirm this (and I suspect most folks have at least one PC/laptop!). From there, sorting out HOW to clean it would be yet another challenge, for many! :-/
[E.g., this computer runs 24/7 and has a very small fan. So, easily blocked with dust, etc. As a result, I clean it (while running) every week or two -- and clean the entire machine a few times a year (whenever it is powered down for some form of maintenance or relocation)]
I'm not deulusional. I really did service vacuum cleaners, years ago. But they were the only true and restored vacuum cleaners, and the only way to Vacuum Cleaner Heaven.
Been waiting to see if anyone else would mention. I require uprights to have top fill bags (like Hoover A). It is total stupidity, I think, to have bottom fill bag, such as Hoover C.
Once in a while, the removable hose (like Versamatics) comes in handy. But, a small shop vac will do for vacuuming under the refrigerator.
Shark brand works well and is reasonably priced, $300+ for the full sized (and fully equipped) units. But they are bag less uprights and have plastic parts so I presume you will turn up your nose, throw a bunch of quotes and/or emphasis stars back at me.
Good stuff:
The filters are washable.
The motor unit lifts off for easy accessibility to reach pretty much anywhere, steps, ceilings, walls, upholstery etc. They do give you a wheeled caddy to set the motor unit on to mimic a canister style but I find it easier to just carry the motor by the handle as its not at all that heavy.
They pick up pet dander that you don't even know is there so I guess they suck pretty good. Way better than the similarly constructed Bissel unit that they replaced.
I have two full sized Shark units. The newest one (spring of 2015) is used upstairs on the main level, the old one (4 years or so) is used in the finished basement. I liked the old one well enough that when I thought I had ruined it by getting a sock stuck inside I bought another. LOL - they really mean it when they say its a sealed unit. By the way, if that happens just take out the filters and turn it on until the blockage gets sucked up into the hose or handle which are removable.
The newer ones have a neat feature in that if the motor unit is removed and hand carried the hose and tube portion connected to the carpet brush can lay flat along the floor to get under furniture and beds. It can reach from one side of a queen sized bed to the other.
They both swivel like the Dyson ball but use a less obvious universal joint to do so.
Issues?
The older ones have air powered upholstery brushes. The newer ones have motor powered upholstery brushes available -but- at additional cost.
The power cord needs manually wound around two hooks adding an extra 15 seconds or so to finish the cleanup chore.
The older units need the filters washed every 45 days or so, the newer ones can go 6 months, all depending on severity of use of course.
The washable filters need 24 hours to dry.
The long cords can and do catch on/under anything available, Murphy was right.
They aren't robotic so they need people power to operate.
I've read reviews periodically thinking maybe I would replace my Hoover. But after reading the reviews none of the new ones sound any better and some sound like nightmares. So I stick with the Hoover, which is a perennial favorite of Consumer Reports. I have a Windpower self-propelled model. Every so often you need to replace the belts and clean out all the crap that gets wrapped around the bearings and moving parts. It is a bit heavy but uses bags and a hepa filter.
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