Prices for vacuums are going through the roof — some models cost more than $1,000. Consumer Reports says there are plenty of good-performing vacuums that go for $100 — the price most of us are able to pay.
Consumer Reports takes the jobs of testing vacuum cleaners seriously: It tests uprights, canisters, bagged and bagless models ranging in price from $50 to $1,500.
the machines are put through a battery of tests. the first test is carpet cleaning — a vacuum’s toughest job.
Medium-pile rugs are sprinkled with carefully-composed dirt, which is embedded deep into the rug with a 30-pound weight. Then, testers pass a vacuum over the carpet 16 times.
“We weigh the carpet as well as the vacuum to determine how much dirt the vacuum picks up,” said John Galeotafiore with Consumer Reports.
Testers don’t stop there: the vacuums also have to pick up sand from bare floors.
Shedding pets present another big challenge for vacuums: Consumer Reports uses real cat hair embedded into carpet to see how well the vacuums can handle that too.
the question is: do you have to shell out the big bucks to get a top-performing vacuum?
“There are very good vacuums that cost $300, $400, even $700,” said Galeotafiore, “but we found several near the top of our ratings that cost about $100.”
Those budget-friendly vacuums include the Eureka Airspeed, a bagless vacuum that’s excellent on bare floors and impressive at cleaning carpet.
for a bagged vacuum, consider the Hoover Widepath Tempo, which rated excellent for cleaning both bare floors and carpet.
If you are looking for a canister vacuum, Consumer Reports says you won’t find one for even close to $100. Testers recommend the $500 Kenmore Intuition model number 28014, which excels at cleaning bare floors and pet hair.
Consumer Reports is published by Consumers Union. Both Consumer Reports and Consumers Union are not-for-profit organizations that accept no advertising. Neither has any commercial relationship with any advertiser or sponsor on this site.
(All Consumer Reports Material Copyright 2011. Consumers Union of U.S. Inc. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.)
(Copyright ©2011 KGO-TV/DT. all Rights Reserved.)
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