In our search for the 5 Best Commercial Vacuums for Your Office Space, we tried to look at practical vacuums that would be able to cope with day to day vacuuming and normal wear and tear. That led us to some interesting conclusions we hadn’t started out with.
Whether you are searching for your next replacement or interested to know why we chose the vacuum we did overall, we know that your office space is ‘atypical’ so a review like this should also be a generalist in approach.
We looked at 5 manufacturers for commercial vacuums with various styles to best suit the office environment. Not in any order, here are the commercial vacuums we are going to review.
- Shark Rotator Professional Upright NV501
- Oreck Commercial XL Commercial Upright Vacuum Cleaner XL2100RHS
- Hoover Commercial Lightweight Backpack Vacuum C2401
- Vacmaster 8 Gallon HEPA Vac with 2 Stage Motor VK811PH
- Numatic Henry Extra Vacuum HVX200 – 838689
To begin let’s look at a comparison of the items each vacuum manufacturer sends in the box.
-18" Flexi-Crevice Tool
-Multi-tool
-Straight Suction Nozzle
-Standard Power Brush
-Hose
-Crevice Tool
-Adaptor
-Upholstery Tool
-Floor Tool
-All Purpose Floor Tool
-38" Wand
-20 In. Locking Steel Wands (2)
-1 Steel Elbow with Air Flow Adjuster
-Round Brush with Horse Hair
-Crevice Tool
-Power Tool Adapter
-15 In. Floor Nozzle (with 2 brushes)
-2 Stainless Steel Extension Tubes
-Double Taper Hose/Tool Adaptor
-2.6 In. Soft Dusting Brush
-5.9 In. Upholstery Nozzle
-5.9 In. Slide on Brush for Upholstery Nozzle
-11.4 In. Combination Floor Tool
-Stainless Steel Tube Bend with
Cloth Liner
-High-Efficiency Fine-Dust Collection Bag
-Microfiber Pre-Filter
Felt Filter
-18" Flexi-Crevice Tool
-Multi-tool
-Straight Suction Nozzle
-Standard Power Brush
Felt Filter
-Hose
-Crevice Tool
-Adaptor
-Upholstery Tool
-Floor Tool
-All Purpose Floor Tool
-38" Wand
Cloth Liner
-20 In. Locking Steel Wands (2)
-1 Steel Elbow with Air Flow Adjuster
-Round Brush with Horse Hair
-Crevice Tool
-Power Tool Adapter
-15 In. Floor Nozzle (with 2 brushes)
-High-Efficiency Fine-Dust Collection Bag
-Microfiber Pre-Filter
-2 Stainless Steel Extension Tubes
-Double Taper Hose/Tool Adaptor
-2.6 In. Soft Dusting Brush
-5.9 In. Upholstery Nozzle
-5.9 In. Slide on Brush for Upholstery Nozzle
-11.4 In. Combination Floor Tool
-Stainless Steel Tube Bend with
In the Box
Continue below to find a side by side comparison of the features for each vacuum.
Table of Contents
The Comparison
Not all commercial vacuums are made equal and they certainly range from the length of cable to motor size. Look at the table below to see what each one has:
As you can see there are some great differences in the way manufacturers create their commercial vacuums. Let’s discuss a few details below you should be noting.
Major Differences between the 5 Best Commercial Vacuums for Your Office Space
First, we should discuss the shape of the commercial vacuum to find Best Commercial Vacuums for Your Office Space. After all, you or your employees will find the shape the most difficult part of vacuuming a space.
The ‘normal’ vacuum used to be upright and that still suits many styles of vacuuming today, but with other options available, your office has more choice.
The Hoover Commercial Lightweight Backpack Vacuum C2401 offers the comfort of moving around with the vacuum on your back making stairs and crowded spaces easier to navigate. Of course, you will need to be aware there is something on your back for the first few occasions to stop from bumping into furniture.
The only wet/dry vacuum we chose to review was the Vacmaster 8 Gallon HEPA Vac with 2 Stage Motor VK811PH. It has a massive volume and excellent suction and of all the wet/dry vacuums offered an excellent HEPA filter. (For dry vacuuming and needs to be removed when working with wet environments.)
The simplest vacuum with no tools and with edge cleaning brushes was the Oreck Commercial XL Commercial Upright Vacuum Cleaner XL2100RHS. The beater bar really does a sterling job and the weight is vital to notice when comparing the other vacuums. Lightweight and simple to use.
The Shark Rotator Professional Upright NV501 offers the most variation out of all the vacuums reviewed here. The Shark Rotator Professional Upright NV501 is a 3 in 1 vacuum that can be used as an upright, canister or even detached and carried around. It was also the only bagless vacuumed at this level.
Finally, the Numatic Henry Extra Vacuum HVX200 – 838689 has made a name for itself as being a very dependable British brand of vacuum and as the company expands it is now becoming available in the USA. It comes with a whole host of tools and is the only vacuum that has a charcoal odor control system.
Considerations
Below I discuss what you would need to consider to make your choice for a Commercial Vacuums for Your Office Space. Briefly, they are your environment; power; bin volume; filtration and noise. Each of these models should be compared specifically to your environment.
It is all fine and well purchasing the Shark Rotator Professional Upright NV501 with the option of using it in 3 different ways but you have to store all the items and if you are not going to be using it other than as an upright there is little point purchasing it with every other part.
The Hoover Commercial Lightweight Backpack Vacuum C2401 had the longest cord length and the fact it has a ‘Chiropractor Designed Harness’ will make this an excellent choice for mobility. There is a consideration though. Hoover recommends cleaning the reusable bag daily. This may or may not impact your working needs dependent on the size and level of dirt you experience.
The Vacmaster 8 Gallon HEPA Vac with 2 Stage Motor VK811PH really seems to have thought of everything when considering a vacuum in the workplace. It removes most of the particles from the air, is able to work on both wet and dry floor and is canister shaped for ease of pulling around.
The Numatic Henry Extra Vacuum HVX200 – 838689 has plenty going for it. Great filtration system and a multitude of tools. It is also compact and easy to pull around. The only consideration is the thin user instructions and that it is only just branching into the USA so parts may be difficult or have lengthy timescales to arrive.
The Oreck Commercial XL Commercial Upright Vacuum Cleaner XL2100RHS is your typical vacuum. It is upright, is not more than it is meant to be and offers to clean carpets expertly with a high revolution beater bar. If you are going for simple and powerful this would be your choice. Just be aware the lack of tools means small gaps will be difficult to tackle.
What are the Questions we should be asking?
We have 5 different considerations that you ought to remember when choosing your commercial vacuum.
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Know your environment
You will know better than any salesman on the planet what type of dirt and debris builds up on your floors. You may have a workforce which is always walking in and out to job sites or you may have high customer foot traffic. Equally, you may be a quiet company that hardly entertains visitors and only has a few employees.
The other consideration is the stairs. Those businesses with stairs leading to and from pavement level and/or other floors really need to consider the effectiveness of drag behind vacuum and access to power points.
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Power Requirements
More than ever we have the choice to have cable powered or Battery Powered and there is very little to compare between them. If the rooms that are being cleaned have few or awkward power sockets, there are stairs and odd spaces to get between, then this may lead you towards battery powered vacuums.
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Dirt Bin Volume
When we are discussing the bin volume we mean the size of debris it is capable of holding, not the sound level. (Though point 5 below does discuss that briefly)
How much does your vacuum need to hold for one vacuuming session? Unless employees and visitors are traipsing in copious amounts of dirt from outside, the answer is probably just normal fine dust from day to day activities.
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Filtration
The whole vacuuming industry is more and more aware now that filtration is a necessary part of the cleaning cycle. Of course, the larger particles get to stay inside but it should be of major importance that you consider the fine material which is blown around the space once it has been cleaned.
An improper filter leaves the space dusty and worsens allergies and breathing conditions.
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Noise
Our final note is on the Noise level. We know that for the most part, vacuuming takes place after hours or when everyone is out of your home. So it is not vital that the machine be as quiet as a mouse, but it is a consideration and one which companies are taking very seriously.
Teething Troubles
Often a vacuum is reviewed by an owner and the review says something like, “It only worked for 3 months before it blew up…” I personally hate those reviews because I can only ever think of the time I met a customer who told me that their machine was useless and wanted to sell it for a ‘better’ one.
On closer inspection when getting home, the vacuum had never, and I mean NEVER had either of its filters cleaned. How the vacuum made it to a year I do not know, but after cleaning the filters the vacuum was perfect and has never let us down since!
Clean your filters is the lesson here. Schedule the clean so that once a week for heavy use or once a month if it is occasional use. Even if it looks clean, do it as a matter of course and your vacuum will reward you with many years of life.
Another point to make about filters is that HEPA filters do not like water! So when cleaning them with water, they will take a long time to dry. Prepare for that, because by using a filter clogged with water will destroy your machine!
My final tip is that if there has been a spill of liquid on the floor, sprinkle some bicarbonate of soda on it and watch as it turns to power you can suck up. Common sense is required obviously and I am talking about small spills. Larger spills require further effort – please note!
Best Value, Best Overall
The best value seems to be the Vacmaster 8 Gallon HEPA Vac with 2 Stage Motor VK811PH with its excellent HEPA filtration system and acceptable price. It had a fairly long cord and stored its tools. Our only concern was if you required to clean stairs where this would be awkward to maneuver.
In a close second was the Shark Rotator Professional Upright NV501 due to its versatility and HEPA technology. It really has it all, including a second motor just for the brush and it’s bagless. It just didn’t seem practical to store all those parts in the cupboard and Shark customer service seems to require a little more training according to the Amazon reviews.
Conclusion
There are plenty of commercial vacuums out on the market, and many will do a fair job of picking up dirt and debris from the floor. The ones that stand apart are those that are targeting real workplace issues. Clean powerful suction, a variety of tools and most importantly, filtration.
Why else would you vacuum if the fine dust particles were only going to be blown around the room making your allergies and breathing worse?
Out of the 5 Best Commercial Vacuums for Your Office Space, the Vacmaster 8 Gallon HEPA Vac with 2 Stage Motor VK811PH really is a great choice for all-round commercial vacuuming.
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