I tend to keep vacuums a long time, and my old Hoover Dimension 1000 was dead after 17 years, so it was time for a new vacuum. My allergies have gotten a lot worse lately, so it was time to try a high-filtration vacuum. In the end we narrowed it down to either a Miele Silver Moon or an Air-way. Since there was no dealer nearby, we ordered in an Air-way, and we borrowed a Miele so that we could compare them side by side.
Our first reaction to the Air-way came from our contact with the people from Air-way. They were exceptionally nice, and in a nice southern accent they said things like "Each vacuum is hand assembled right here is Alabama", and "we're real proud of our vacuums", and
"why I have one at home myself - everybody here does". The feeling was one of dealing with a small family business. There was no high pressure sales - in fact it took three phone calls before they agreed to sell me a vacuum, and I was ready to order on the first call.
The next impression came when it arrived a week earlier than expected. I had ordered on a Friday afternoon, and they were off the next week, so they told me not to expect it for 10 days. Obviously someone hurried and shipped it within minutes of my order instead of waiting for the next week. It was nicely packaged, and included things like the hand turbo tool that they hadn't even mentioned to me over the phone. Under promise, over deliver. I like that.
The vacuum was well packed, and exceptionally well built. It is an all-metal canister, with large rear wheels, and smaller front wheels with metal ball bearing swivels on it, so that it follows easily. The on-off switch is a huge metal switch that is designed so that is can be foot activated, and looks durable enough to last a lifetime. Because of the metal, the vacuum was a little heavy, weighing 19 lbs, but felt a bit heavier than that because of the narrow metal handle which concentrates the weight. By contrast the Miele was much smaller and lighter, weighing only 15 lbs. I also weighed my old Hoover Dimension, and it was 21 lbs.
Next we examined the vacuums and turned them on. The Air-way was clearly quieter than my old Hoover, but the Miele was much quieter still. The Miele had a nice variable power control, but with the Air-way it was on or off with no adjustment other than the bleed valve on the wand. I was also disappointed that they Air-way had no bag full indicator, unlike the Miele. (FWIW, I've learned to detect the airflow with my hand held over the dusting brush - if I can feel a decent flow, the bag is fine, but if it feels weak, I change the bag, and this works satisfactorily.) The other place where the Miele was better was that, even with it's small case, you could put the tools inside it. With the Air-way the tools are stored on a bracked on the wand. This works, and can be handy, but they sometimes fall off or get in the way.
As far as suction, the vacuums seemed very close. I was unable to detect the higher air-flow that the Miele claimed to have. When it came to cleaning my carpets, the Air-way power head clearly groomed the carpet much better than the Miele, which had the small power head. We didn't feel that the Miele really did a very good job of cleaning the carpets. It seemed to glide over the top, cleaning the surface, while the Air-way seemed to clean very well. We also liked the Air-way bare floor tool on our bare wood and linoleum, and the free turbo tool that came with the Air-way was also a winner for things like upholstered chairs. We didn't like the upholstery tool because it kept falling off, and the crevice tool cracked, so we replaced them. That cost about $15, so it wasn't a big deal, but I wish the vacuum came with better generic tools.
In the end we decided to keep the Air-way for several reasons:
1. Dealing with the company was so pleasant
2. We prefer to buy American made products if they are of good quality, and this was exceptional quality
3. The bags and filters were much, much less expensive than Miele
4. The vacuum itself was much less expensive that the Miele Silver Moon
5. I honestly believe it will be the last vacuum I ever buy. It comes with a 25 year limited warranty, but I fully expect it to last 30-40 years. I have rarely seen a more durable, better made product of any kind.
Some additional comments from living with the vacuum for six months:
The bags are exceptionally easy to change, with no mess whatsoever. They a bit on the small size, but unless you are vacuuming a lot of fine dust, you can fill them to completely before losing air-flow because of the 360 degrees of airflow in the bag chamber that uses the entire bag, unlike most other vacuums where the bag sits in chamber that draws the air flow only from the bottom. We went through about 5 the first week, but now use about one a month.
The bags are unique in the vacuum industry. Air-way invented the paper bag back in the 20s, and their bags are made of layered cellulose instead of processed paper. The result is a thicker bag with "depth" of filtration, that is able to filter out more smaller particles without clogging. Almost no dirt gets through the bag to the HEPA filter. The vacuum has been tested and verified to provide 99.9% filtration at .1 microns. It also includes an anti-microbal filter and a carbon filter. The result is that when you vacuum, it actually makes the house smell fresher, unlike my old Hoover where you had to air the house out after you vacuumed.
The Cen-tec power head is a bit clunky, and it identical to the Hayden power head sold on central vacuum units. Thus, if it needs service, it can be serviced at a central vac shop. It cleans very well, and it has a cogged belt that should never need changing. In an unusual event, we snapped our belt when my wife vacuumed up a large dog toy, and the belt was not hard to change. The brush roll on the unit is a large diameter, which helps keep dog hair from winding around it, but like all vacuums, you should check it occasionally. I also recomend opening the head once a year or so to check and see if any hair is wound around the bushings.
Most European vacuums have very expensive bags and filters. This is a huge source of profit for vacuum makers. On the Miele, the bags are about $3-5 each, and the HEPA filters are about $40-60 each. For the Air-way, the bags are just over $1 each, and the HEPA filters are about $8 each. Best of all, the bags filter so well that you will rarely have to change the HEPA filter, though you will want to change the carbon filter so that the air stays fresh. If you figure 12 bags a year and 2 HEPA changes a year, the Miele would cost about $150 a year while the Air-way would cost about $30 a year.
This vacuum has made a huge impact on my allergies, and on the level of dust in our home. It seems that our old Hoover, like all non-high filtration vacuums, was blowing a lot of dust and allergens through the bag. When we first got the Air-way we used 3 bags the first 2 days, and 5 the first week, because we were picking up so much fine dust left behind by the Hoover. My allergies got better almost instantly, and the more we vacuumed, the better they got. I found that if I vacuum my mattress and pillow weekly I don't even have a problem with dust mites, and I can sleep through the night without congestion and coughing. As for pollen, I haven't hit the fall season yet, but the spring pollen season was clearly better than ever before. I haven't had a single allergy-related headache since December, and I used to have them about once a week. That, plus the fact that I can now sleep through the night makes this the best investment I have ever made. If I had known how much this would help, I would have bought one years ago. For maximum impact, use the vacuum for above the floor cleaning, too, especially on the mattress and pillows. I use it for power dusting shelves, etc, too. It's nice to know that once that dust or dust mites go into the vacuum, nothing will ever come out again!
I couldn't be happer with a vacuum. While it is a little clunky, that isn't a big deal. Even though it is a bit pricey up front, when you factor in the long life and the cheap bags, this will be an exceptionally in-expensive vacuum over time. And when you contrast that to the benefits to my allergies, this is a great buy.
-Moved from previous site by administrators.
Date Purchased:
Price Paid: $628
Recommend: Yes |
Pros:
Old fashioned quality and durable construction
Excellent Cleaning
Cheap Bags and Filters
Outstanding Filtration
Very nice people to deal with
25 year warranty
Cons:
Dated Apperance
Somewhat heavy and "clunky"
Cheap crevice tool and upholstery tool |
