When shopping for a vacuum cleaner, one of the most important things to consider is how much it weighs and is the vacuum easy to push? Here are some tips when comparing models.

When people say the want a vacuum cleaner that is lightweight, does that mean they want one that is easy to push, or a vacuum cleaner that is easy to carry up steps?

The average full sized upright vacuum cleaner weighs about fifteen or sixteen pounds. There are models that are full sized uprights that are as lightweight as eight pounds. If you need to carry the vacuum cleaner up and down steps, and weight is an issue, the lightweight vacuums may be the best choice for you.

At our retail store, The Sweeper Store, in Wooster Ohio, we have customers ask us about lightweight, easy to push vacuum cleaners. This is usually the most important consideration, besides price, when buying a new vacuum cleaner.

What makes a vacuum cleaner hard to push is usually that the nozzle is adjusted too low against the carpet. This creates a seal that cuts off the air to the vacuum cleaner and makes the vacuum vary hard to push. That is why vacuums have height adjustments. These height adjustments are to push the nozzle away from the floor far enough to allow air flow, but not too far that the roller brush isn’t touching the top of the carpet fibers.

The best way to adjust your vacuum cleaner to the right height for your carpet is to adjust it as high as it will go. You then turn on the vacuum cleaner and, while it is running, adjust the vacuum cleaner nozzle height lower, one adjustment at a time. When you hear the pitch of the motor change, you are at the right height adjustment. Now your vacuum cleaner will be easy to push and the motor will be getting plenty of airflow to keep it cool.

The alternative is to buy an upright vacuum cleaner that has a free floating adjustable nozzle. This will allow the carpet nozzle to automatically float to the correct height for your carpet.

The way this works is that when you pull the handle back, as though you wee vacuuming, the wheels move under the body of the vacuum cleaner, holding most of the weight of the vacuum on these wheels. The only weight setting on your carper at the roller brush is the weight of the nozzle itself. Usually this is only a pound or two. The free floating head design allows for plenty of airflow, plenty of brushing action in the carpet, and more airflow to the motor.

Most of these models with the free floating nozzle are available at your local independent vacuum cleaner dealer. Usually they are not sold in the discount stores.

I hope this helps.