Vacuum Comparison

Introduction

Yesterday as I was biking home from work, coming through the apartment complex, fortune smiled upon me. I saw, sitting next to a dumpster, a very nice slightly used microwave. Sleek. Black. Upgrade. Upon returning my treasure to the apartment, I decided it was a fine time to continue dumpster diving.

I found many nice things, though only one other item which was possibly nicer than an item I already own: a vacuum. I returned home that night with not only a newer microwave, but also a rather nice Euro-Pro Shark, Limited Edition, dark red 12 Amp vacuum cleaner.

After thoroughly cleaning out the filter (which was clogged and keeping the piece from functioning properly) I gave it a test to see how well it worked. It seemed to work fine enough, but I already had a vacuum cleaner, less than a year old. The old vacuum had only a 10 Amp motor, but which would really suit my vacuuming needs better? I decided to run both vacuums through a series of scientific tests, to determine which was ultimately the vacuum I would keep.

The Power Test

The first thing I wanted to determine was whether the new vacuum really had more sucking power than the old. While the motor is larger, the hoses are of smaller diameter and the filter is smaller in area, possibly resulting in less airflow. I decided on an experiment wherein I would put a newly acquired ping pong ball in a glass tube of some kind, attach the vacuums to either end, turn both the vacuums on, and see which one grabbed the ping pong ball. To make the tests as fair as possible, I tapped out the filters of both vacuums before starting.

Unfortunately, I had no glass tube. I decided to use a pop bottle, but had none in the apartment. I actually had to go dumpster diving for a pop bottle to use. When I tried the experiment, no results were obtained as the weakness of the bottle caused it to crush under the pressure differential. I eventually found a peanut bottle in the cabinet, modified it to work, and ran the experiment.

The Setup


The Results

Results

The red vacuum came out ahead. It not only grabbed the ball initially when both vacuums were activated at the same time, it even stole the ball away from the blue vacuum when the blue vacuum was turned on first and allowed to grab it.

The Floor Cleaning Test

Having decided that the red vacuum was more powerful, it was time to discover which had the strongest ability to remove debris from the floor. Certainly power isn't everything for this task, the correct and efficient operation of the brush system plays a large role.

The cats volunteered to lend some of their mess for this experiment. I brushed Lola, taking clumps of her hair and spreading them around into two area. I also took some cat litter, and distributed it evenly over the hair areas. I then used a piece of plastic to work them into the carpet a bit. Each vacuum was given one medium speed pass over the mess.

The Setup


The Results

Results

Both vacuums left small trails where the brushes did not protrude from the spindle. While it is difficult to see in the picture, upon close inspection the red vacuum cleaned up nearly all of the litter, whereas the blue vacuum left small amounts of litter. The red vacuum was victorious again.

The Fashion Test

It's important to me to look good as I clean the apartment. Call me old fashioned, but I just think it's nice to look nice for your wife when she gets home from a hard day of work. So, I broke out the tripod and studio light (excuse the hard shadows, light was still in short supply and I don't have a reflector) and took some shots.

Classic Stance


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Skyward


Casual


Studying


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Results

I look fantastic with both vacuums, though slightly better with the red vacuum. Diana should be as pleased with my half naked vacuuming as she always was.

Final Results

Having seen the test results, I believe it is only sensible to choose the new vacuum. Why someone would throw out such a fine piece of equipment is beyond me. The fact that the old vacuum's cord is 6 feet longer and its reservoir is slightly larger cannot make up for the power, sexiness, and quiet efficient performance of the Shark Limited Edition.