Eureka - NEN170 Bagged Canister Vacuum Cleaner

One cat household. I've had my under-$250 Eureka Pet Rewind bagged cleaner for over 10 years, have never changed the belt or brushroll, and only once replaced the hepa filter. (Yeah, I know, my bad). They no longer make bagged models (don't get me started on that) but if you don't mind bagless, you could give them a shot. It's not without its annoyances like being very tippy, but definitely built to last.

With all hard floors and some rugs a bagged canister is the best option. A canister vacuum will be easy to use in your car thanks to its hose and tools. I wouldn't choose any of those Bissell upright vacuums, they're cheap and break quickly. They have brushrolls that are always spinning so they often throw stuff around on hard floors. The filtration on them is very poor they have cheap sponge filters. I'd also avoid using a regular shop vacuum like that Hart as a house vacuum. It's very loud and the filtration is very poor, it will blow a lot of dust back out. Shop vacs aren't designed for home use either, they're wide, tippy, and usually have a short cord. This Hyper Tough doesn't have a good indoor floor tool. The Eureka Mighty Mite is a decent option. Suction is good and it fits standard 1.25 inch tools. The criticism of its plastic attachments are fair for the combination dusting brush/upholstery tool is a cheap tool IMO. But many people aren't used to canisters or the friction fit plastic wands. Once you get used to how to use a canister and that plastic wands just fit on to each other it's not that bad. Pull too hard they'll come apart but so do the plastic wands on shop vacs. Check out the Eureka NEN170 $106. It's another canister vacuum from Eureka. This is a much more modern canister vacuum. It has a better metal extension wand, it has an automatic cord rewinder. It has factory hepa bags and a hepa filter. It's also much quieter than the Mighty Mite. Downsides are the included tools are small and it doesn't fit standard 1.25 inch tools. I have heard that it fits Miele tools 35 mm, but I can't confirm that. HP in shop vacuums is a way to confuse buyers. Not only do shop vacuums not achieve the stated HP numbers but since household vacuums don't use this rating it's easier to make them sound more powerful than they are. Shop vacs and house vacuums can both draw up to the max 12 amps or 1440 watts from a regular household outlet. You can have household vacuums that use 12 amps and you can have shop vacs that use less than 12 amps. If you really want a shop vac I recommend the Karcher WD 3 $79. It's a shop vacuum that isn't too loud and it has fleece bags that are reasonably priced. I would use the bags and filter combined for all dry vacuuming. It's still tippy because it's a shop vacuum and has the motor on top. It only comes with a floor tool and a crevice tool included, so I'd buy the combo floor tool and other car brush set,

I bought the NEN170C in a similar situation, $85 on amazon.ca

I recently bought the Miele Guard M1 Parquet. The vacuum head is perfect for bare floors. It has bristles, but with gaps at spaced intervals so there's good air flow and it doesn't just push the dirt and hair around the floor. It comes with some standard attachments...crevice tool, small round brush head, and upholstery brush. I'm 68 and need a vacuum that's easy to maneuver. This one has wheels that smoothly spin 360 degrees, so it's very easy to pull across the floor and from side to side. The swivel wheels make it easier for me to get the canister through doorways without hitting the door frame. retractable cord. The length of the metal tube is adjustable. I bought it to replace my original Miele canister vac, which is now 23 years old and works perfectly. It's just too heavy for me. Miele also makes a Guard M1 Cat and Dog, but the included head isn't that good for smooth bare floors. BTW, Miele sells a series of identical vacuums that are named differently according to what heads are included. Buying extra attachment is expensive, of course. It has a handle that I don't care for. My husband found the M1 on Amazon for a relatively reasonable price. They normally don't go on sale, but it you call around to dedicated smaller vacuum sellers such as Mr Vac and Mrs Sew or [classicvac.com](http://classicvac.com) they may offer a discount. You can also find coupon codes on line, at least for Classic Vac. A few months ago, I bought a Eureka Canister Vac that was just awful. Hard to pull, hard to turn, and it flipped over on its back literally every time I used it. You won't regret buying a Miele, in spite of the high initial cost and expensive bags. You might have to will it to someone, because it's still going to be great many years from now.