Eureka SuctionSeal AS1101A

Introduction

Design & Usability

{{section_header}}{{section.name}}{{/section_header}}

If you've ever tried to carry more than one cat up a flight of stairs, you know what it's like to use this vacuum.

The {{product.name}} was obviously designed by the marketing department. Handles are in the wrong place, and it's extremely heavy to drag up and down stairs. It's also easy to inadvertently hit multiple foot pedals in a single try. Because of the way this cleaner is designed, all 20 pounds of it must be carried wherever it goes. There are no handles on the front of the cleaner, so cleaning a flight of stairs or even lifting the vacuum over a threshold puts a lot of strain on one's lower back.

To make matters worse, all controls are foot controls. They're also pretty close together, so unless you're an accomplished pedal organist, you'll probably get them confused and retract the cord instead of unlocking the vacuum from the upright position. Speaking of which, the 28 foot power cord is plenty long enough and easily retracts back into the cleaner. It's a rare bright spot in a tunnel of mediocrity.

The extension hose will reach about nine feet away from the body of the cleaner if you pull it gingerly. Can you guess what happens if you use too much force? That's right! It hits the floor like the DJ just put on an Usher remix. The bagless {{product.name}}'s dirt holder is easy to remove and opens at the bottom to keep dirt from flying up into the face of the user, another small comfort. There's also a HEPA filter behind the dirt holder, plus a washable prefilter at the top of the dirt holder.

{{photo_gallery "Front Image", "Front 2 Image", "Right Image", "Left Image", "Handle Image", "Top Image", "Underside Image", "Hose Image", "Nozzle Extended Image", "Cleaning Tools 1 Image", "Cleaning Tools 2 Image", "Handling Primary Photo", "Handling Secondary Photo", "Controls 1 Image", "Controls 2 Image", "Controls 3 Image", "Filter 1 Image", "Filter 2 Image", "Power Cord 1 Image", "Power Cord 2 Image", "Dirt Container 1 Image", "Dirt Container 2 Image"}}

Features & Performance

{{section_header}}{{section.name}}{{/section_header}}

Does one thing really, really well. Otherwise, this vacuum is a letdown.

On board, there's a crevice tool and upholstery brush in a caddy that attaches to the back of the vacuum. Coincidentally, that flimsy plastic caddy is right where an ideal leverage point for a second handle would be, but if you try to grab onto the caddy it'll immediately come loose from the vacuum, which will then fall on your feet. There's a reason we wear personal protective equipment in the lab. The fun doesn't stop there. Right above the dirt holder, there's a turbine powered upholstery brush. It's held on by a magnet, and will clatter to the floor if you look at it the wrong way.

It's a shame that Eureka put the SuctionSeal cyclonic technology in such a lousy package, because it seems quite promising. Short carpet cleaning was truly excellent, but even when properly adjusted the cleaner head didn't get low enough to effectively clean high pile carpet or wood floors. Despite that hard-to-store upholstery brush, it did a fine job with pet hair. It also had no problems with debris, such as noodles, rice, and coins.

Conclusion

{{section_header}}{{section.name}}{{/section_header}}

Falls short on overall cleaning performance. Also, falls over a lot.

Think of the {{product.name}} like a Formula 1 car: It does one thing really, really well, but falls short on almost every other measure. Just as you couldn't easily parallel park a car that won the Monaco Gran Prix, you can't easily lift the Eureka SuctionSeal up a flight of stairs—even though it has some of the best short pile carpet cleaning we've ever seen. Unless your job is to clean empty, carpeted office buildings, another vacuum is probably a better choice—even if it isn't as technically proficient.

Science Introduction

{{section_header}}{{section.name}}{{/section_header}}

For all its cumbersome design elements, this vacuum did a really good job—with a few of our tests, anyway. Take a look at the numbers to see where this vacuum fell down (other than literally), and where it managed to pick it self up above the competition.

Cleaning Performance

{{section_header}}{{section.name}}{{/section_header}}

Long on short carpet, but fell short with the long.

We were briefly impressed by the {{product.name}} on short carpet. Of the 100 grams of varied, standardized dirt we put down, the SuctionSeal repeatedly picked up more than 99.5% of it. It's some of the best short carpet performance we've ever seen in our testing. Long carpets, though, didn't do so well. Only 33.8% of our dirt was removed, definitely less than what we like to see.

For the hard wood floor testing, we followed the instruction manual's directions and turned off the brushroll, setting the height for bare floors. The result? A majority of our dirt remained on our test floor. We checked the vacuum to make sure it was working and performed several other passes, but found the same result every time—only 50% of our dirt was removed. Interestingly, the SuctionSeal got up nearly all the dirt when we ignored the directions and turned on the brushroll. Unfortunately, that may damage your floors over time; we don't recommend it.

The {{product.name}} did a good job getting up pet hair. It also has a small turbine powered brush for upholstery cleaning. Noodles, rice and coins weren't a problem for the {{product.name}}, which picked most of them up without incident. The {{product.name}}'s bagless dirt holder can take a little less than half a gallon of dirt, a decent amount. Any more and the hose will start to fill with filth and debris.

{{photo_gallery "Science Section 1 Images"}}

Noise & Efficiency

{{section_header}}{{section.name}}{{/section_header}}

Loud and energy-hungry, but not outstandingly so.

The {{product.name}}'s call is less a siren song than a throaty growl. It's not a quiet vacuum, but it's not disturbingly loud, either. Like most vacuums with powered brushrolls, the {{product.name}} also uses a decent amount of energy, drawing about 1316 watts continuously. If you plug another appliance into the same outlet, you may blow a fuse.

{{photo_gallery "Science Section 2 Images"}}