Vacuum for the house. Shark ????

[Dave Lehnert]

What Vacuum do you have for the house?

After reading a ton of reviews I had decided on the Shark 501.
https://www.amazon.com/Rotator-Professional-Lift-Away-Upright-NV501/dp/B0091JG0LY/ref=sr_1_1?s=home-garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1520744983&sr=1-1&keywords=shark+501
I went and looked at them at two local stores. Each one was broken. The vac weight was a lot more than expected. The vac head was not very wide. Had a ton of plastic that snapped on and off the unit. Was kinda surprised at all the good reviews for $200.
Have not ruled it out but like to know if anyone here owns one and their experience after a year or two of use.

What other vac can you recommend?

[Phil Mueller]

Miele canister for whole house cleaning, and a Electrolux stick for spot cleaning. Been using this combination for about 10 years.

[Jerome Stanek]

The Sanitare the model most of the motels I stayed at used. I got 4 brand new ones from the stores that I installed their fixtures and casework. I used one for clean up for 10 years and it still is going strong. This is cleaning up on a construction site and 8,000 sq feet of carpet so we could set the gondola.

[Roger Nair]

I have a Miele canister in use for twenty years. It has worked so well that other brands I have used, Hoovers and Eureka, are not regarded, by me, as machines of equal magnitude.

[dennis thompson]

We have had a Shark for a couple of years. We have people who clean our house and bring their own vacuum. Once in a while we need to clean up ourselves (for example after my grandson leaves), the Shark picks up far more dirt than any vacuum we have ever had. We are very impressed by its cleaning power, however, since we only use it occasionally, I can't comment on its durability .

[Curt Harms]

We have a Shark, I think the model is Navigator or something. It works very well but with one shortcoming. The canister is held to the base with two plastic clips. The 'nubs' on the canister that the latches engage have broken off on two canisters. There's a 5 year warranty and they sent us a whole new machine. I think if one of the 'nubs' breaks off after the warranty expires I'll just make a J shaped metal strip and bolt it on. I'm not familiar with the models but I'd recommend the one with the larger dust cannister. And yes I've been seeing Sharks at hotels/motels after years of Oreck.

[John K Jordan]

When I vacuum, I use this commercial backpack, less than $200, very maneuverable, light weight, well-built, powerful, long cord, perfect for steps and corners, great for the shop too:

381019

My Lovely Bride prefers an upright for carpets.

JKJ

[Rick Moyer]

When we, well when my wife..., got our Dyson she used the canister first, then the Dyson to see what it would pick up. Couldn't believe what the canister left behind!

[Alan Rutherford]

...What other vac can you recommend?

If you can make it work, consider a central vacuum system. It moves the noise, the dustbag and the dust that blows through any vacuum outside the living area. It's more powerful. Depending on your house, with a 25 or 30 foot hose you might get away with a single port in the wall. You can get one of those cool things set in the toespace under a kitchen cabinet where you kick it open with your foot and just sweep toward it. Yes, the hose is bulkier than an power cord but not as much as you might think and they can survive being stepped on.

I've installed 2 of them at a cost of $2-300 each. In both cases I bought a clearance or demo vacuum unit, added the necessary pieces and installed it myself. I was over 65 when I did the first and over 70 when I did the second. The tubing all went into crawl spaces and up inside interior walls. I won't pretend it was all easy but it was doable. With the right house layout, it would be a breeze.

[Peter Kelly]

Miele Flamenco II. Works great after 20+ years.

[Peter Christensen]

Miele. Used to have an expensive, at the time I bought it, Hoover that left me suffering from the fine dust that passed through the paper filters. That stopped with the Miele's spun fibre bags and HEPA filtered final stage exhaust. It is quieter too.

[Art Mann]

We have a Shark similar to the one in your link and it is the best vacuum we have ever owned. That is comparing maybe a dozen or so models of different types and brands over 43 years. The one we have is not just an upright. You can separate the canister part and walk around the house with it and the bare floor hose. That is a feature worth having. We have had ours for a couple of years.

[Howard Evans]

Wife and I bought a Shark Rotator about 18 months ago... Best vacuum we have ever had... It gets the dirt out without the typical dust blowing back that the Hoovers ( two of them) had... Simple to dump put the dirt. Lots of suction...

[Jim Becker]

We have had several Sharks and they have been good vacuum cleaners.

[Bruce Page]

You can buy a Dyson DC33 for the same money. We just replaced our 15+ year old (That I accidentally broke) Dyson of similar design with one 2 weeks ago. The old Dyson still worked as good as the first day we bought it. FWIW, we borrowed one of the new Dyson “ball” vacuums and hated it.

[Steve Schlumpf]

We've had the Shark Navigator for a few years now and it is great. No problems or issues with it but if I could change one thing on it, it would be the hose portion. It is too short and stiff to use comfortably. Reminds me of trying to use a shopvac hose, always fighting it. Other than that, best vacuum we have ever had.

[Cary Falk]

We love are Dyson.

[Perry Hilbert Jr]

When out new house was built, Mrs. just had to have a new ball dyson. It is a tank and difficult to use the hose and attachments. An acquaintance who cleans house for folks, swears by the shark and it does weigh less than the dyson. We still have our old el cheapo dirt devil upright that cost $30.00 and while it may not have the suction of the dyson, it is much lighter and easier to use. Although cleaning the filters is a PIA.

[Bill Dufour]

Even house vacs are loud and the user should be wearing ear protection. Uprights are only sold in the USA and Britain. The rest of the world has figured out a canister is lighter weight and about half the noise at ear height.
Bill D.

[Tom M King]

I have wished for a long time that 15 amp motors were allowed on house vacuums, instead of being limited to 12 amps. We've worn out many brands, but the Miele we have now has been, by far, the longest lasting. It's like the engineers at Mercedes, and BMW got together, and designed a vacuum cleaner.

[Yonak Hawkins]

We've had the Shark Rocket for about two years. I like that it's easily maneuverable and lightweight. However, after only two years, the head has developed a rattle, probably a brush bearing going bad. I called about getting a replacement head but the cost is over $100.

[Stan Calow]

We just bought a Kenmore upright that was top-rated by Consumer Reports. It's much heavier than the plastic Oreck it replaced, but we could tell immediately that it was pulling more dirt.

Uprights for carpet; canisters for bare floors, is the standard advice.

[Dave Lehnert]

We've had the Shark Rocket for about two years. I like that it's easily maneuverable and lightweight. However, after only two years, the head has developed a rattle, probably a brush bearing going bad. I called about getting a replacement head but the cost is over $100.




Thought the Shark had a 5 year warranty?

[Yonak Hawkins]

Thought the Shark had a 5 year warranty?

I looked it up and you're right, Dave. This gives me some hope.

[Dave Lehnert]

I looked it up and you're right, Dave. This gives me some hope.



Be interested in how it works out for you.

[Yonak Hawkins]

Be interested in how it works out for you.

Well, I don't think the condition of the vacuum cleaner is at the point where it's clear there's a problem, only an unusual rattle when the brush rolls, but it was noticeable enough for me to call about a replacement head. Fortunately for me, I've still got three years to see if a disabling condition develops.

[Rod Sheridan]

We have a Kirby and a Festool vacuum. The Kirby is used for the carpets, I use the Festool for vacuuming floors, bookcases, furniture etc.

The Kirby is 18 years old, still works like a charm. Both the Kirby and the Festool don't emit dust when vacuuming, I'm no longer sneezing when I vacuum.

Interesting test on the Kirby below.

https://www.greatvacs.com/education/KirbyVsDysonVacuumReview.html

regards, Rod.

[Curt Harms]

We have a Shark similar to the one in your link and it is the best vacuum we have ever owned. That is comparing maybe a dozen or so models of different types and brands over 43 years. The one we have is not just an upright. You can separate the canister part and walk around the house with it and the bare floor hose. That is a feature worth having. We have had ours for a couple of years.

Very useful indeed for vacuuming steps. Shark also has an air driven small carpet head that works not great but better than I thought it would.

[Larry Edgerton]

Miele canister for whole house cleaning, and a Electrolux stick for spot cleaning. Been using this combination for about 10 years.

Ditto on the Miele. Quiet and works. Retractable cord is HUGE.

[Harry Hagan]

If you can make it work, consider a central vacuum system. It moves the noise, the dustbag and the dust that blows through any vacuum outside the living area. It's more powerful. Depending on your house, with a 25 or 30 foot hose you might get away with a single port in the wall. You can get one of those cool things set in the toespace under a kitchen cabinet where you kick it open with your foot and just sweep toward it. Yes, the hose is bulkier than an power cord but not as much as you might think and they can survive being stepped on.

I've installed 2 of them at a cost of $2-300 each. In both cases I bought a clearance or demo vacuum unit, added the necessary pieces and installed it myself. I was over 65 when I did the first and over 70 when I did the second. The tubing all went into crawl spaces and up inside interior walls. I won't pretend it was all easy but it was doable. With the right house layout, it would be a breeze.


Beam central vac

[Ken Fitzgerald]

We have a Dyson upstairs and a Shark in the basement. Both work well on carpet EXCEPT on the stairs. Neither have a long enough hose to work well on the carpeted stairs. I am not a fan of uprights and tried to convince my wife to get a canister.

[Jerome Stanek]

We have a shark liftaway that we use for the stairs.

[Curt Harms]

We have a Dyson upstairs and a Shark in the basement. Both work well on carpet EXCEPT on the stairs. Neither have a long enough hose to work well on the carpeted stairs. I am not a fan of uprights and tried to convince my wife to get a canister.

Try removing the cannister/motor of the Shark. I do two steps at the time and it works pretty well. If the carpeted treads are pretty dirty I use the brush first then the powerhead. The only problem I've had is mentioned above, the plastic lugs on the dust cannister have broken. They sent us a new cannister the first time and the second time they sent us a whole vacuum. Perhaps the design changed and they had no old style cannisters, don't really know why they sent us a whole machine.