Which is better, bagged vacuums or bagless vacuums?

You must have trash cans at home. Do you use garbage bags? Of course you do because it's far more sanitary when you throw out the garbage bag instead of dumping the can with all the dust being thrown into the air. Also if you currently have a bagless vacuum or at a discount store where they are sold, take a hold of the bucket where the dirt goes in. If you move the bucket, you can see all the areas where dust can blow out as you are using it. A bagless vacuum is designed to blow through the dirt to keep it away from the filter inside or away from the motor. With mass production (all bagless vacuums are made overseas), the quality is not very good and thus the vacuum does not seal allowing that dust to blow out up into your breathing space. A famous quote from a leading consumer magazine was: The most unhealthy thing you can have in your home is a bagless vacuum.

All the better vacuums have bags. And bag technology has come along way. Now most better vacuums have fabric bags that not only filter to HEPA certification but also allows for better airflow so that you maintain your suction till the bag is full and it allows the motor to run cooler. Want to know more? Come into our store and we will take the time to demonstrate the difference.

Can I get a lightweight vacuum with a lot of power?

Reading our industry periodicals, the second most requested feature when buying a vacuum now is lightweight right behind wanting something powerful. As a result, our number one selling upright in our entire store of inventory is the Riccar SupraLite. It is under 10 lbs and has never been rated less than excellent in a leading consumer magazine for deep cleaning performance on carpet. Here is a link to learn more about the SupraLite models, http://www.nybakke.com/riccar.htm. The best way to experience the SupraLites is to come in to our store and lift it but also see how it pushes on a variety of carpets we have in our showroom.

What brands of vacuums do you service and can I get parts from you even though I did not buy my vacuum from your store?

Nybakke can service virtually all brands of vacuums. A very few manufactures refuse to sell their parts to anyone so only those vacuums we can not service. These brands we do service: Dyson, Oreck, Kirby, Eureka, Hoover, Bissell, Miele, Riccar, Simplicity, Panasonic, Kenmore, Filter Queen, Electrolux (current company), Dirt Devil, Royal, Tri Star, Rainbow, SEBO and more.

Nybakke carries over 500 different paper bags and filters to fit most brands and models. If we don't have it in stock, we can get it for you quickly.

Please call us at 309-662-7272 with any questions or simply come to Nybakke and lets us help you.

I have never heard of Riccar but I have heard of Dyson and Oreck. How do your vacuums compare to them?

When you purchase a vacuum from Nybakke, our name and reputation goes out with each vacuum sold. Thus we have to carry the finest vacuum cleaners that not only perform best but will last you 10, 15, + years. Riccar has become the largest seller of vacuums in independent vacuum shops across the country. We have customers that have 20 year old Riccars and are still using them. Riccar does not spend a dime in national advertising. They use their money by reinvesting in engineering and manufacturing so that their vacuums keep performing better and lasting longer.

Dyson and Oreck out spends in advertising everyone else in the vacuum industry but isn't it strange that neither have been rated excellent in your leading consumer magazines in deep cleaning carpets or picking up pet hair from carpets? In fact in Good Housekeeping magazine (September 2010), the Dyson Animal vacuum cleaner was tested for pet hair pick up and Good Housekeeping found: The Dyson DC28 Animal vacuum ($600) sounds like it's designed for you, but while it did fine on our embedded-dirt, bare floor, and filtration tests, it needed nearly six times as many passes to clear up pet hair as other models.

Riccar is Made in USA (Dyson made in Malaysia, newest Oreck made in China) which is important for many reasons. Obviously it's wonderful to sell American Made products that support American families and jobs. They also make the world's most powerful vacuum, http://www.nybakke.com/riccar2.htm and the most powerful lightweight vacuum, http://www.nybakke.com/riccar.htm. Plus the advantage of making vacuums in America is that they can react to the different trends in carpet and floor styles better than overseas manufactures. No where else in the world has as many different lengths and textures of frieze carpets as we do in America and with their engineers working side by side with the manufacturing in St James, Missouri, they can offer vacuums uniquely designed to clean frieze carpets. As well as most new construction homes and most remodeling jobs in America now has as much or more hard floors than carpets. Riccar has one of the only vacuums rated excellent in carpet vacuuming but also excellent in bare floor vacuuming.

I would like a central vacuum system but I live in a home that does not have the rough in for one, can you put a central vac into an existing home?

Yes, we have been putting central vacs in existing homes for many years now. It is more difficult than a new construction but we have been trained to install a central vac in homes without rough ins and know how to do it. Interested in learning more? Please call us or stop by and see our central vac display.

Why should I buy my central vacuum system from Nybakkes? Aren't they all the same?

With the greater distance the air has to travel, central vacuum systems have the biggest disadvantage to overcome to be a good cleaning vacuum. The distance through a 2" PVC pipe and however many 90 degree elbows effects airflow but mostly the 1 1/4" diameter 30ft hose that is not smooth on the inside nor straight in a line (usually curled up on the floor) is where the greatest airflow is lost. One study measured through a curled up hose versus a hose straight in a line and found that you could lose up to 25% of the airflow. Most central vacuum companies claim in their brochures that they have 2 to 3 times more power than a portable vacuum cleaner. Those claims are hollow words with no substance.
 
Don't get me wrong here. You can get one of the most effective cleaning vacuums with a central vacuum system. I have a central vacuum in my own home. In other words, central vacuum systems are not created equal.

Also it is amazing to me that so many of the sales of central vacuum systems come from businesses that are in new construction so a lot of systems are put in by heating and cooling people, closet organizers, music and sound people and others that know nothing about vacuum cleaners and how a vacuum works. Don’t trust marketing hype visit our central vacuum page, http://www.nybakke.com/central.htm or visit our store and learn why our central vacuums outperforms other systems or we can come to you and your home by calling us at 309-662-7272.

How important is amps to the power of a vacuum?

One of the first features that manufactures grabbed onto in this new age of discount store marketing was amperage. With manufactures being able to manipulate the amount of electricity (amps) a vacuum cleaner uses with just changing the gauge of wiring the motor is assembled with, the amps game became the advertising hook that sold a lot of vacuums. One manufacture's advertising slogan was, "The most power a vacuum can have" which actually meant that they built their vacuum using the maximum amount of electricity a 120 volt appliance can use and be UL approved.

The average consumer on the street assumed that the more amps (electricity) a vacuum cleaner had meant more power and obviously greater performance in picking up dirt. Sadly many consumers still today are being misled by assuming what manufactures want you to believe. Certain manufactures such as Dyson are spending up to $70 million dollars per year just so they can sell you the sizzle so you'll want to buy their steak.

In the sixties and seventies, most vacuums used about 3 to 7 amps of electricity. These vacuums still today will outperform most of the vacuums made today that uses 12 amps. The design of the vacuum and the distance the air has to travel plus the amount of filtering area have far more to do with cleaning your carpets with a vacuum than the amount of electricity that a vacuum uses. Want to learn more? Stop in our store and we will be happy to explain the differences between highly advertised brands like Dyson and Oreck and vacuums designed for performance and quality.