UKC

All things being equal, would a corded or cordless vacuum cost more to run ? And please explain why. You'll help settle an argument that we can't find the correct search terms for on Google.

Thanks in advance.

In reply to dunc56:
You'll need to look at the relevant power of the alternative vacuum cleaner and measure how long it takes to do the cleaning with each. Watts times hours = Whrs. Whichever ends up with the bigger figure will be more expensive to run. Note that a rechargeable vacuum will lose energy when charging (charging the battery will only be about 90% efficient), so this should be taken into account if the alternative vacuums come up with figures which are close.

In reply to dunc56:

All other things being equal, a cordless device would use more energy due to inefficiencies in the battery charging process.

My limited experience of cordless cleaners however is that:

1) They're lower power than corded. I do not know enough to predict if a lower power cleaner uses more or less energy overall, and suspect this depends on myriad factors.

2) They tend to have a hand activated power switch in the grip, encouraging the user to turn them off when moving from place to place compared to a cabled cleaner. This alteration of user behaviour could potentially save a lot of energy.

In reply to dunc56:

Do you clean often enough that your cleaner usage is significant or is it a hypothetical question?

In reply to dunc56:

Do you keep a spreadsheet to calculate car mpg by chance?

In reply to dunc56:

I use my vacuum cleaner to suck my gas meter back which makes my central heating very economical. Swings and roundabouts.

In reply to birdie num num:


Have you not had someone come in and install a bypass so it only meters half the usage?

In reply to dunc56:

Best way to find this out would be to look at the energy efficiency rating table on a variety of vacuum cleaners. This should give you a kWH/annum rating to for a like-for-like comparison. This is the little chart with A - D ratings from Green to Red, and gives a box with the kWh/annum figure.

I think most mains vacuum cleaners run direct to a 240v motor so you have super simplicity - mains to motor to suction. This would be as apposed to a charged vacuum which would probably be - main to a voltage convertor to a battery charger to the battery. This will all result in wastage. Plus, a cordless would probably take much longer to cover the same square meter of carpet because of the lower suction and size.

In reply to dunc56:

Battery anything will have high running costs because the battery will only have a finite no of charges before losing too much of its capacity. Cost to replace battery will dwarf any possible savings on the electricity bill.

In reply to dunc56:
I think all things being equal charging a cordless won't be as efficient as using a cord.

However cordless vacuums are much easier to use and lighter, so the humans expend less calories lifting and moving the vacuum

I much prefer my cordless one, it's so much easier to use.