There is a vacuum cleaner for every household, but they come in a variety of functions, such as cyclone and cordless, and prices range from around 10,000 yen to 50,000 yen. Please do your research to ensure that you buy the right product for your home!
- Paper-pack type or cyclone type is recommended.
- Canisters and Sticks
- Motorized and air turbine type
- Power corded and cordless
- Product Comparison Chart
Paper-pack type or cyclone type is recommended.
Cyclone vacuums claim to "eliminate the need for paper packs." However, the machine does the work of separating the inhaled dust and filtering the air, which is done by the paper pack, so maintenance will be necessary. On the other hand, the paper pack is simply thrown away. Some people say, "Paper-pack vacuum cleaners, unlike cyclones, cost more to run." However, it is much more problematic to have a clogged filter that reduces cleaning efficiency, or to have to spend time cleaning the filter with a brush. Therefore, I recommend paper-pack vacuum cleaners.
Canisters and Sticks
Some stick vacuum cleaners have paper packs, but they have a much smaller surface area for filtering air, so their suction power is lower than that of canister vacuum cleaners.
In fact, for example, the web page introducing Hitachi's CV-KP90K paper-pack canister vacuum cleaner clearly states the suction work rate. On the other hand, the web page introducing Hitachi's PKV-BK3K paper-pack, stick vacuum cleaner does not.
Motorized and air turbine type
The motor type turns the brushes of the head by electric power, while the air turbine type turns by the air it sucks in. The air turbine type is cheaper, of course, but the motor type can remove dust from carpets and lightly stuck-on debris. The motor type is also recommended because it can be vacuumed with light force using the power of the motor turning.
Power corded and cordless
I mention this just in case there were no cordless products among the paper-pack or canister vacuum cleaners that I could find. Cordless is certainly attractive because it eliminates the hassle of unplugging and plugging in multiple times, even in a large house. However, as I wrote in my article on mobile batteries, lithium-ion batteries lose 25% of their capacity after about 500 charge/discharge cycles, so they have a shorter lifespan than power-corded products. Although troublesome, we recommend the power cord type.
Product Comparison Chart
Based on the above, the following vacuum cleaners are recommended.
- Paper-pack type
- canister style
- motorized
- Power cord type
Below is a table comparing vacuum cleaners from different manufacturers.
| Manufacturer | Hitachi | Panasonic | Mitsubishi Electric | Toshiba (company) | sharp |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| model number | CV-KP90K | MC-PJ22G | TC-FD2C | VC-PL9 | EC-VP510 |
| Suction work rate | 620W - 100W | 600 - 60W | 500W - 100W | 350W - 20W | 320W - 70W |
| noise from operation | 65 - 60dB | 65 - 60dB | 65 - 58dB | 65 - 61dB | 66 - 62dB |
| Main unit weight (standard weight) | 2.7 (4.4)kg | 2.7kg (4.3㎏) | 2.4 (3.8)kg | 2.3kg (3.7kg) | 2.2 (3.4)kg |
| price | 26,156 yen | 21,918 yen | 40,905 yen | - | - |
*1...Prices on Amazon on April 8, 2023
Today, commoditization has progressed, and there is little difference in detailed functions, so I will skip the explanation, but there does seem to be a difference in suction work rate. The measurement method for the suction work rate is defined in JEM 1454, a standard of the Japan Electrical Manufacturers' Association (JEMA), and is used as a criterion for judging the work rate.
Based on the above table, we recommend the Hitachi CV-KP90K, which has the highest suction work rate.
