Obviously I like buying things once and for all, but I feel it’s extra difficult with anything electrical because I just don’t know that much about it personally, and I can’t exactly check the insides.
So lately I’ve been wanting to buy an upright vacuum. I don’t know if there are more durable brands, what kind of accessories I should consider to make my life easier, what budget I should consider, or what characterics are more likely to make it shorter lived than others.
Well the minimal bars for electronics is:
0 - The repair manual exists and is readily available with full schematics of the item in question. 1 - Replacement parts are available for purchase. 2 - Compatible replacement parts are made by 2 or more 3rd party companies 3 - Designs for replacement parts are available 4 - Local maker space is able to make the needed replacement parts.
If you can’t get level 0, you probably shouldn’t buy it if you expect to keep it working for life.
Level 0 is an extremely high bar when buying a new product in 2023.
I mean, I agree with you, but holy hell is it difficult to find products that meet that criteria!
oh I definitely agree that it has been harder and harder to find products that meet the absolute minimal amount of information required to repair and maintain.
note, I didn’t even cover things like requiring specialized tools (which these days with BGAs and the wave solder requirements, limits repair to people with about $15K in capital tool costs)
Level 1 does not saves you much. I went that way when buying blender few years ago. Only to find out that today, when one part broke - it’s no longer available anywhere.
Dyson gets shit on a lot, but I’ve had a ton of luck with a Dyson V6 cordless stick vacuum. I bought it used about 7 year also and it’s still going strong. The main issue is that eventually the battery wears out and you have to replace it. It’s only 2 screws to remove it though.
Also. if you aren’t willing to service them, they might “die” within a year or two, but with a little bit of elbow grease they can last a long time. The good news is that because they are the name brand, there are a bunch of videos on YouTube with ways to service them, and replacement parts are plentiful.
The casing — made to look like fancy metal — is cheap plastic. One fall on the hard floor (and it will eventually fall and hit the floor) and the casing breaks. Pretty soon your vacuum is covered in duct tape to keep it from leaking air.
These vacuums have some merit, but they are def not designed to last more than a few years.
I don’t know how everyone is linking the reddit mirrors, but this dude was a legend
https://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/7gmsoe/iama_reddits_own_vacuum_repair_tech_with_a_very/
Libreddit alternative link:
https://r.nf/r/IAmA/comments/7gmsoe/iama_reddits_own_vacuum_repair_tech_with_a_very/
Have you checked out Vacuum Wars? https://www.vacuumwars.com. He does really thorough testing and reviews for vacuums. I used him when I was looking to purchase a robot vacuum, but he covers uprights and cordless, also.
Gonna go against the grain here and say: If you have allergies, get a bagged vacuum.
I have absolutely brutal allergies, live in a carpeted apartment, and have a dog (I’d say mistakes were made but honestly my options were limited except for the dog, who’s worth it). Getting a Miele bagged canister vacuum was one of the better decisions I’ve made. If I vacuum regularly it really cuts down on my allergies compared to when I had a bagless Dyson.
I suspect if you have hard floors and aren’t a walking allergy disaster it’s much less of a big deal. At some point in the next ~year we’re gonna get a house and I’m gonna rip out any carpet in said house, and then I’ll probably get one of those cute rechargeable Dysons.
I can second the Miele purchase. I don’t actually use it too hard so I can’t speak to it’s durability, but it does real well with my stairs, carpets, and honestly, tiles. I do more vacuuming than sweeping - i hate the dustpan lines.
Miele vacuums are incredible. I have one that’s over 20 years old and still going strong. They’re still making accessories that fit it too!
We usually start big purchases like that by reading The Wirecutter. We don’t always buy what they recommend, but they’ll suggest some criteria that we may or may not feel are important and review a number of products. When the Internet is a swamp of reviews-for-pay and SEO non-reviews, Wirecutter has the advantage that they actually evaluate products.
As for vacuums, we bought a Dyson V15 a few months ago. It’s big, which makes it inconvenient both to operate and to store, but it sucks mightily (in a good way). We haven’t used the plug-in canister vacuum at all for a couple of years now.
Our older Dyson, a V6, has new batteries and has recently been cleaned, and is relegated to bedroom cleaning. It doesn’t suck nearly as well.
For stuff like a vacuum think about buying second hand. They can last for a long time and are pretty simple. Then look at places like buy it for life, there are some decent brands which really do last a long time. A vacuum in particular is pretty simple, so they can last. Then avoid bags obviously.
Problem about very old vacuums, they sometimes have extremely wasteful wattages (read: in the ballpark of 2000 Watts), while modern ones often use a maximum of e.g. 800 Watts. The high Wattage comes with almost no measurable performance advantage. Source: An article in the partly state-funded German product testing magazine Stiftung Warentest.
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I bought a vacuum cleaner within the last couple of months. In preparation, I browsed the r/vacuumcleaners and r/buyitforlife subs extensively. I also watched a few reviews on youtube once I narrowed down some models.
The vac sub seemed to favor Sebo vs Miele as the highend, longlasting brands, with Sebo being the more favored due to cheaper parts availability and machine designs that better accomodate cleaning, maintenance, and repair. Individual parts are apparently easier to take off and clean or replace. That sub seemed to really hate Dyson, and the consensus was that they spend all their $$$ on advertising instead of actually making a good vacuum.
I went into the sub expecting to get a Dyson, but their vehemence toward that brand swayed me away. I ended up getting a Miele, C3, which I’ve been very happy with. Our family’s last vaccuum purchase was probably 20 years ago (lol), so the jump in ease of use, etc felt great. I can see myself being happy with Sebo as well if I went that route.
I’d say a lot of making a vacuum (and lots of appliances) last is just routine maintenance. Too many people vacuum till dirt/dust/hair is well over the “fill” line in a cannister, at which point it builds up on the filters which they never actually clean. Keep your cannister empty, clean the filters regularly (some can be washed), and cut away any tangles of hair/string on the rotating part.
