How to Choose the Right Vacuum for your Space

You've been told you have $15,000 in next year's fiscal budget for replacement carpet cleaning equipment. What should you spend it on?

Before simply replacing your current equipment with the same vacuum style or model, let's take a look at the key questions that will help you get the most productivity for your spend.

1. How many square feet of carpeting do you vacuum?
2. How is your cleanable space configured?
3. How frequently do you vacuum, based on traffic and cleanliness expectations?

There are several different types of vacuums including uprights, backpacks, walk behind/sweepers and riders. Each one has an environment for which it's best suited. Production and cleaning rates vary widely between styles. More often than not, a facility will need a combination of vacuums to be most efficient with labor.

How Many Feet?

Large, wide open spaces, like those in convention centers, malls and schools, will be cleaned most efficiently with ride-on or walk behind vacuums. These vacuums will typically have cleaning paths in the 28" to 48" range.= The Chariot™ iVac 34" all terrain vacuum has the added versatility of being able to both vacuum and sweep facilities with mixed soft and hard flooring. If you manage a substantial amount of carpeting that requires frequent vacuuming, a rider is often the best choice. The labor savings alone will frequently offset the cost of a purchase or lease payment.

What's Your Environment?

Tight spaces and those with obstacles like desks, chairs, cubicles, and stairs, are more easily maneuvered around and cleaned with a backback vacuum. The flexibility of a backpack lets workers move naturally, stretch, and vacuum in a more ergonomic manner versus an upright vacuum. According to ProTeam backpack vacuums require less energy and effort than commercial uprights and are 43% more efficient. Backpacks are an excellent choice for offices, retail space and hotel rooms. Cordless backpacks are a great choice for highly congested areas, Day Cleaning and areas where a power source is limited.

Long hallways and large open areas lend themselves well to wide-area vacuums and battery/sweeper vacuums. Heavier soil loads like those found on entrance mats will also benefit from the agitation and suction power of an upright.

Use the Data to Decide

Fortunately for facility managers, hourly cleaning rates for common sizes and styles of commercial vacuums are available from the ISSA (International Sanitary Supply Association) and often from manufacturers themselves. Let's take a look at a few example cleaning rates:

Of course, it's easy to see that a larger (and more expensive) rider-sweeper will clean more square feet per hour than an upright or backpack vacuum. If you're cleaning an open space of 60,000 square feet, it will take you about an hour to clean it with a 43" rider, 1-1/2 hours to clean it with a 36" rider, and 6 hours to clean with a 24" backpack tool. Multiply the frequency you vacuum a space annually by the number of hours currently listed to see the total annual labor hours each style of vacuum would take to clean that area.

Now compare your cost for labor to the cost of each machine and your decision of which vacuum style is best and most efficient will make itself!

Come to Nassco with your floor plan in hand and let us help guide you through your decision-making. Our floor equipment experts will know which combination of equipment will be best for your building or facility. Call 800-729-6726 or ask a Nassco expert!