VACUUMS & SWEEPERS DOING MORE WITH LESS
While most manufacturers of vacuum cleaners have accepted last year’s EU legislation capping machine wattage, Dyson look deeper into the regulations, highlighting some potential flaws with their findings.
The energy label is designed to help you understand the energy efficiency and performance of household appliances. However, the European regulations allow vacuum cleaners to be tested in a laboratory without any attempt to replicate real-world conditions – which can lead to misleading results. Dyson is challenging the European Commission’s regulations on vacuum cleaners on two counts:
1. Lab rather than living room The regulations permit the performance of vacuum cleaners to be tested in laboratory conditions: empty and with no dust. But performance in the home is very different to that in the lab. Bags and filters clog with dust as a machine is used, which can lead to a loss of suction and a drop in cleaning performance for the user.
2. Hidden costs Vacuum cleaners do not need bags, but some manufacturers insist on making their machines rely on expensive, potentially environmentally damaging, consumables. However, the energy label does not communicate the number of bags or filters required each year, and how much they cost. As a result consumers are not able to make an informed decision about the environmental impact and long-term cost of the machine.
Dyson has shown that through efficient engineering, high performance can be achieved without the need for extra environmental cost. During the development of the new Dyson Cinetic Big Ball Animal, Dyson spent more than 9,000 hours in real homes and in the lab to calculate vacuum usage patterns and their relation to dust pick-up. By conducting tests using the equivalent of 10 years’ worth of dust, Dyson engineers and scientists have proven that the Cinetic Big Ball Animal maintains constant suction without the need to ever change or wash filters.
www.tomorrowscleaning.com
LOOK BEYOND THE LABEL To find a truly efficient vacuum cleaner, Dyson is encouraging people to look beyond the energy label, choosing a vacuum cleaner that maintains suction in the home, has no hidden costs and doesn’t rely on unnecessary waste.
1. Choose a vacuum that
maintains performance As mentioned earlier, the performance of vacuum cleaners in the home will be very different to that in the lab as bags and filters will clog with dust as the machine is used, which can, in some cases, lead to a loss of suction. As suction drops, energy is wasted. The label currently ignores this. Dyson machines maintain suction in use and don’t lose suction – wasting less energy.
2. To make a real saving,
get rid of hidden costs Some vacuums rely on disposable bags and filters to trap dust. The cost of regularly replacing these could be as much as £499.90 over a vacuum’s ten-year lifetime.
3. Consider the wider impact
on the environment Vacuum cleaners that use consumables produce waste that cannot be recycled. In Europe alone, 126 million bags and filters end up in landfill or have to be incinerated each year. The energy label ignores this impact on the environment.
DOING MORE WITH LESS Dyson will continue to promote that the most effective way of reducing the environmental impact of vacuum cleaners is to put a cap on their motor wattage and highlight the use of costly, potentially environmentally damaging, consumables like bags and filters.
Dyson has never used a vacuum motor bigger than 1,400 watts. And since 1999, has invested more than £160million researching and developing Dyson digital motors. This
patented technology enables our engineers to make lightweight, high performing technology which uses less energy. Supported by a team of 120 motor engineers, including specialists in aerospace, mechanics, materials and electronics, the Dyson digital motor powers Dyson’s cordless machines and the Dyson Airblade hand dryers.
Dyson engineers design machines to solve problems. Then they find ways to make them do more with less.
www.dyson.co.uk
Tomorrow’s Cleaning November 2015 | 47
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