Community Discussions

We all like our "Premium" OPE...Now how about "Premium" IPE (Indoor Power Equipment)

I'm looking to buy the wife either an Aerus Lux, Oreck Dutchtech or Miele canister vacuum.

Does anyone have any experience with these good or bad? Any reccommendations?

                                                                                    Thanks,

                                                                                                 Dan

We have an Oreck XL2.......Never again!

It's not bad, but other than it being 8 lbs, it's definately overpriced for the performance.   We bought it while we were expecting our first child, thinking that the floors could never be clean enough.   It is light and did a better job than our old one but it was pricey and not very well built.  Very flimsy, and kept falling apart.  I complained to our dealer and they offered to repair it. (Locktite on a couple screws).  Not long after that, it became evident that the design was poor, dust bunnies accumulated in the upright tube to the point of blokage.  Again I complained, and it was then fitted with a new tube of  new design, (appparantly I wasn't alone).  Then a couple of years later the motor developed a funny whine, took it in they replaced the motor, a couple of months later, new motor seized.  (I know you think I was sweeping out a barn with this thing and abusing it, but actually  I had it serviced annually by the dealer(included in purch. price).  They were going to  replace it again, and I had told the store mgr. that I would not buy this thing again.  She was stunned,  (why? Who knows? the emporer has no clothes syndrome?)  Any way she told me to come back the next day. I did and she gave me a brand new unit. (Newer design, with full new warranty).  I was impressed with the service, but 9 months later when it would pick up any longer, I wasn't impressed.  Plastic piece in the bottom  of the tube cracked, voiding all suction.  Took it back, they replaced it (service guy said he had seen several cases of this same problem).

My wife began selling commercial cleaning products and equipt. 2 years ago.  She brought one of her demo units home to our new house.  Staggering, was the difference!!

We had vaccumed the new place a couple of times with the Oreck already.   The comm. unit is a baggless HEPA filtered vac by Sanitaire (Eureka). Its heavy, but also Heavy Duty.  She sells them to several hospital accts.   The amount of junk it sucked out of  recently vacuumed carpet was scary.  It also showed what a poor vacuum the previous home owner had.  In each room, we got litterally 1-3 containers of dirt out of each room.  These carpets were in good shape, not  stained or showing any signs of wear, looked to be less than 1 or 2 years of age.   What we got  was a combo of dirt, and carpet fibers.  It was obvious that much was loose fiber and fuzz from the manufacture of the carpet.   Yet all the vacuuming the prior owner did and our Oreck prior didn't remove this.  And no, its not a case of this vaccum sucking or beating every last fiber out of our carpet.    It has since stopped "shedding".  This vac is not perfect, (terrible for hard floors) but it  clearly showed the short comings of our Oreck.

Long story short, my opinion of Oreck is a lot of hype.  It is lightweight and if that infuences how often you use it, then it may have merits, but for a avg. joe that wants clean and reliabliltiy, Oreck falls short.  My .02.

Emmo--
    I too got the same impression of the Oreck, as did my wife.  And to be perfectly honest, i'm none too impressed with my brother in laws 2 year old Kirby, either.  I mean it's a nice vac, but 1500???  Really?  For that money i know there is better, and, i think there is better for way less too.  Nice to know i'm not crazy about the oreck though, LOL ;) 

Mc master-Carr has one called a wisper vac that is excellent.Best canister vac I,ve ever used.

http://www.mcmaster.com/

why can't I post a freaking link?Never mind.Have to highlight it.

terrapin24h wrote:
Yeah, I know my Oreck isn't as "high end" as a lot of the vacs mentioned in this thread, but we paid $500 roughly for the Oreck, (it came with the little cannister vac as a "freebie") bags, belts, filters and 5 year annual service included)and to me, $500 is real money. Our previous vac was a 15 year old $100 hoover that was still going strong and never needed anything but belts and bags.  My brother and his wife had an Oreck for a couple of years and loved it.  My wife was expecting when we shopped and of course fell in love with the 8 lb aspect, so we bought it.

The Sanitaire demo that my wife has retails at about $350 but you can find them on the web for  less than $250 (Her cost in volume is like $170!, She has to buy like 20 minimum to get that price).

The Oreck dealer has certainly stood on her head to keep me happy (which is rare anymore) but I'm just not sold that it is anywhere worth the $$.

"Hey Emmo, you talkin to me?"

The Oreck we have is 8 years old.  The only servicing that I have had to do is replace the belt.  Caught a small hinge and the brush stopped and the little engine just ripped the belt to shreds.  Since it is used once or twice a week the service requirements were very low.  I only wish my OPE required as little attention.

 I like the weight of vacuum.  In order to come it at 8 lbs. you need plastic and as little metal as possible.  You will not get Ariens/Simplicity type construction and weigh so little.  Maybe I have been lucky but the unit works.  I also seem to remember that Consumer Reports has it in the middle of the pack. 

If you want heavy duty, high tech the Oreck is not your machine.  If you want a light weight unit that will do an acceptable job cleaning the Oreck is something to consider.

I went with the best on the market, takes very little power to run, even works well when there's no electricity (which happens frequently in good ole Nova Scotia)...it's a broom and dustpan.  LOL  Very inexpensive and Chris even uses it.

Sherri

TomP wrote:
LOL Tom!!

I'm happy that you like yours. Obviously many people do or they wouldn't still be in business.  I definately would rather push the Oreck around, it is much easier.  Glad too that you have had better reliability than I have.   My dealer has been super, I would buy from them again, but they ONLY  sell Orecks.

Tom, hahahaha! 

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Taking your advice I got on our sister site "what's the best vacuum .com". This site is filled with knowledge and advice from vacuum dealers and techs.

After looking at the Aerus ( read Electrolux) cannisters both used and new my wife was horrorfied when I told her the prices.I then began looking at the Aerus uprights because some are slightly cheaper.

A dealer from Indiana told me that the Sanitaire 6600 is made by Aerus under contract. The agreement with Sanitaire (read Eureka ) is for 24000 vacuums or two years which ever comes first. This is a commercial vacuum that does not have a lot of the expensive attachments of the Aerus. It has a expanding hose, dusting brush and crevice tool. Two  motors. 8.5 amps. This gentleman said that the 6600 is a stripped down Aerus 4000 that was sold betwen 2000-2001. 

Online I paid $318.00 plus free delivery and no sales tax. The Aerus uprights are around $700.00 plus tax.

The Sanitaire 6610 is geared for the home owner (navy blue with head light) for $499.00. You can purchase more nozzles and stuff for this one. 

If anyone is looking for a bargain this is it.  Aerus Lux quality at a Hoover price.

I'll let everyone know how it works after we get it and use it a few times.

                                                                Thanks everyone,

                                                                                                           Dan