Oreck Vacuums - Lightweight Models are Best
In our opinion, you buy an Oreck vacuum cleaner because you need or want a lighweight upright vacuum cleaner for your carpets. If the weight of the vacuum is not important to you then think about what vacuum cleaner features are important to you and take it from there. If a light weight vacuum for carpet is what you desire we can provide then you will find that Oreck make some of the best lightweight vacuums available. Oreck does make other vacuum cleaners but we feel they are average in quality at best. Because they are branded by Oreck you will end up paying more in our opinion then you would for a similar sized and featured vacuum cleaner.
Oreck has a variety of lightweight upright vacuum cleaners available at any given moment. They sell them online directly and if you have ever walked through Target or some of the other popular department stores you might notice some Oreck models made specifically for them. Oreck XL lightweight vac are not the strongest vacuum by any means but they generally can perform relatively well on low pile carpets and are one of the better uprights at cleaning hard surface flooring. Oreck vacuums have proven to be very durable even when compared to full sized vacuum cleaners. That is not a statement that can be made about most lightweight vacuums designed for carpet or hard floors.
Oreck offers some very expensive lightweight vacuum cleaners that provide varying levels of filtration and features. If you actually stand behind an Oreck XL or one of the many lighweight variations, you will notice an exhaust grill near your left foot. When the vacuum is being used, a fair amount of debris is recirculated into the air, with the remainder of the debris making it's way to your vacuum bag. Some of the new models address this by having a small exhaust filter in this area to low emissions.
You can only do or expect so much with a lightweight vacuum cleaner, so please do not think that we are trying to pick on Oreck by any means. The point is that these vacuums have some limitation regarding their ability to effectively filter the debris that they remove from your carpet because of the basic design required to keep a vacuum cleaner light. The limitation is inherit to the design of the vacuum. We can make the same statement about a Kirby vacuum and it would be accurate.
If filtration is not a major selling point, then we would recommend you buy a less expensive model in the Oreck light weight vacuum product line, which for the last 5 to 10 years has been the Oreck commercial vacuum cleaner.
Oreck has more than one commercial vacuum. You are looking for any Oreck commercial vacuum that looks like there residental lightweight models in the $200 to $300 range (like the Oreck Oreck XL2000 HHB).
Oreck Vacuum Review - Commercial lightweights
Pros:
- The Oreck XL2000 HHB features the same ergonomic handle as the higher line Oreck vacuum cleaners.
- The motor provides that same suction as the more expensive models..
- The on / off switch is on the handle.
- There is a commercial grade power cord on the vacuum.
- Good vacuum for residential and small commercial cleaning services. Easy to carry around.
- Bags, belts, and parts are widely available, and will most probably remain that way for years.
Cons:
The only con I see with the Oreck XL2000 HHB as compared to similar Oreck residental light vacuum cleaners is the obnoxious color scheme.
As far as performance goes, I wouldn't recommend a lightweight upright vacuum cleaner to anybody who suffers from asthma or allergies, has pets that shed a lot of hair or lives in an area that results in a lot of sand being tracked into the home. Those situations call for a more powerful and ultimately heavier vacuum cleaner with excellent filtration. If you are looking to buy a vacuum and the one of the above conditions is a factor in your decision then a Sebo vacuum cleaner or a Miele vacuum would probably be a better fit to your needs.
More on Oreck vacuums
We would recommend that you buy micro filtered or Celoc pack of Oreck vacuum bags to reduce the amount of debris that enters the bag area from being redistributed into the air. The quality of the vacuum bag will not effect the cleaning performance of a upright Oreck vacuum but it will help reduce vacuum cleaner emissions a little bit. Lightweight vacuums generally have a high level of emissions so every little bit helps.
Oreck lightweight uprights (and most of the other upright lightweight) vacuums have a fan that send debris to the bag area. That means you need to be careful of what you vacuum or you could break fan (beware of coins or small hard objects). The use of a fan in this manner is not unusual but you need to exercise a little bit of caution while you are operating the vacuum so that you do not break it.