Breaking Vacuum Cleaner news for Model Engineers...

From 1 September, companies in the EU will be banned from making or importing vacuum cleaners above 1600 watts.

The rules will get even tougher in three years' time.

From 1 September 2017, all vacuum cleaners will have to be less than 900w.

**LINK**

That sucks.........................

one thing it wont do is 'suck'. what a bizarre world you eu people live in....are there no exemptions for 'industrial' cleaners? imagine the street sweeper with a 900w vacuum....and if it takes 3 times as long to do the 'hoovering' ('dysoning' doesnt have the same ring does it?) where is the saving in that? Surely the requirement should be to meet certain efficiency/performance requirements, not just limit input power.

russ (from Oz, where we do have some strange rules of our own...)

Maybe all that Hoovering is burning a hole in the Ozone layer !

It seems that Australia is not the only country heading for the dark ages !

Microwaves and frypans will be next followed by power tools and maybe lathes and mills !

At least you don't have a mayor that wants to ban ALL motor vehicles from the streets of Sydney so she can set up bicycle tracks and cafe's

Ian

A few years ago, the average 2ltr diesel car was pushing out 50-60 bhp and took a fortnight to get up to any decent speed.

Nowadays we are looking at common rail engines of the same displacement pushing out 150-200 bhp, top speeds of around 140mph, and with 0-60mph times quicker than most petrol variants.

These new domestic appliances will have to perform or they won't sell.

I use a V-tuf industrial wet/dry in the workshop, the motor is 1000w with 230 m/bar suction and 53 L/sec airflow, more than adequate for de-swarfing all of the machine tools.

I recently bought a new chest freezer ( the old one died after nearly 30 years service), the new one uses a third of the power of the old one and hardly ever seems to be running, despite that it gave no problem keeping temps down to the proper levels even when subjected to the recent heatwave - the freezer is in the conservatory and temps went up to 130F.

Technology is moving on.

I hope Lofty is right, but imagine there is little you can do to significantly improve the performance of top-end vacuum cleaners so they still function well with smaller motors. Is that v-tuf as noisy as my workshop vac? If so, no good as a domestic one.

My wife says this is to make sure I spend more time vacuuming and get more exercise.

I say the EU has realised that vacuuming is a dangerous activity and ideally it would be banned altogether.

On the flip side, I'm aghast at the new trade deal where all the rules keeping US food full of hormones, antibiotics and other additives stand to be relaxed. This is one where the EU HAS been protecting us.

Neil

On the flip side, I'm aghast at the new trade deal where all the rules keeping US food full of hormones, antibiotics and other additives stand to be relaxed. This is one where the EU HAS been protecting us.

That's why the yanks are so much bigger/taller than us if you ever visit the USA

Their food is stuffed full of animal growth hormones and gawd knows what else

We bought an AEG Vacuum cleaner many years ago and it worked well until the attachments broke etc. it was billed as a "Eco" vac as it only had a 650 watt motor - but still produced the same suction power as a machine twice the wattage. They were sold in Germany with reduced tax to encourage their use, sadly not over here. I begged the question about power etc and was told the motor was a much better designed and manufactured unit hence the low wattage. They cost more to make but you got your money back in reduced running. Sadly the majority of the public don't care or are too stupid to think about it.

Same thing with diesel cars, we were going to buy one many years ago and were asked if we planned to keep the car for at least 5-6 years (we weren't) or drove at leat 20-24k miles a year, we didn't. In that case the salesmen said you'll never get your money back as they cost that much more to buy. No need to mention the increased noise and pollution from them.

Central heating? Not needed in the UK, it doesn't get cold enough - IF the house is properly insulated. Many houses in really cold countries like Sweden don't have central heating. £1000 extra to insulate the house properly when it's built or £1000 a year in heating bills if you don't. Not really that difficult to work out is it?! I saw a timber built Eco house they're trying out the the USA and that was really clever, it didn't have any additional insulation either.

I have not seen any of the details of the proposed rules but reducing energy consumption sounds like a good idea to me.

The efficiency of some domestic appliances is appallingly bad. 1.6kW is more than 2HP in old money. A 1/4HP motor is often enough power for a 3.5" lathe and just think how much metal that can remove. Converting rotary motion to airflow is never going to be an efficient process but I'm sure the average vacuum cleaner could be improved. If nothing else they could use the same techniques as the cycling Team GB (amalgamation of marginal gains) and eliminate a few 90 degree elbows. convoluted tubing etc.

I think the new rules will force manufactures to design and create more efficient motors for vacuum cleaners. I have not been in a Curry's shop for a while but whilst I can remember seeing power usage rating on fridges and washing machine I dont recall seeing them on vacuum cleaners, OK they are not running for 24 hours but when they do run they are thirsty.

Ian P

The hole in the ozone layer is probably caused by the hot air from the European Commission.

Dennis

In my latest flyer from "The Tool Shed" they have a vacuum cleaner at a reduced price, it's 2000W, it is an industrial one. Next ad is a dust extractor that can be used as a floor sweeper as well, it's got a 1hp motor/750W. The shop has just reopened in Christchurch, their old shop closed about six years ago. They have lathes, and other interesting things, must go and have a look.

Ian S C

Vacuum cleaners are the carpet manufacturers best friend, the more powerful the suction the more they like them. Have a look at the cylinder of a Dyson and see just how much fabric is in the cylinder when its full. I think we are obsessed about the need to clean our homes, with all the chemicals and sprays around Gramma never needed them and she lived to a good old age and rarely visited a doctor. Also I notice that in the US and Canada and some European countries they have cold water detergents for use in washing machine, not the UK why? Ted

Forget the 1600 o 2000 range there are more expensive models out the which suck at 2500+ for home and commercial purposes this is for health and safety reasons.

Now if you drop the suck power to 900 that means its going to take you longer to do what it has to do therefore making you use power longer think you know the rest.

I have 3 vacs in the shed a 1hp Dusty for woodwork, a 1200 normal vac used on the metal lathe a wet n dry vac from MiL's clear out rarely used 1100 it scream like a banshee.

Australia will follow suit I suppose they seem to get sucked into many a vortex.

To quote Tim Vine, I'm going to have to get rid of my vacuum cleaner. It's just collecting dust.

My 'Gramma' used to fill the room with a fog of DDT based (I think) fly spray, from a pump action sprayer.

This process was carried out on quite a regular basis if a flying insect was seen.

Think I prefer the modern products!

Edited By V8Eng on 22/08/2014 18:09:01

Perhaps we could make a Y shaped attachment and plug two 900watt vacuum cleaners into one inlet pipe?

Then they could outlaw the Y.

Interesting article on this here.

The pick-up power should not go down when the limit is reduced to 900 W as there is also a lower limit on pick up power and that is actually to be slightly increased at that time.

Russell.

There are deliberate "features" in vacuum cleaners to limit the vacuum to reduce carpet destruction. One well known maker was sued a long time ago by an owner who had a very expensive carpet with rapidly developing bald patches. So air leaks and other devices are used to limit carpet damage. Dyson's biography also contains one other fearsome abuse that concerned him.

It is certainly true that vacuum cleaners and dust extractors are incredibly innefficient devices, It takes around a KW/hr of energy to move a few grams of dirt a few feet. That must rate as one of the least efficient process in the home. Clearly there is a great opportunity for the next step in cleaner design.

I would hope that the effects of the legislation are better than that over incandescent bulbs which had the effect of introducing more mercury in very fragile thin glass tubes into homes while the vastly better LED option was retarded by the rush into the very unsatisfactory CCF .

Billy.

Perhaps we can now understand why the older people lived in house with drafts as it blew all the dust away. Notice how asthma and other bronchial ailments have increased as we lay thick carpets all over the house now. one thing I hate are these vapour things that are supposed to give off nice stinks.We have a Kirby and it has decimated every carpet and the bag is full of fluff which can only come from the carpets. It has destroyed a £400 hand woven carpet with tassels at each end ( What tassels says she) A recent aquisition is a Miele cleaner and it is really efficient and quiet. Expensive but very good. Something like 1600W. The reason for 2 is we dont like lugging it up and down the stairs. In the workshop i have an industrial cleaner which is made by Nil Fisk, very good for cleaning out the estate car. I use it attached to the router as it makes so much dust.

Clive