Dyson DC07 Animal Vacuum Versus Hoover Wind Tunnel Vacuum

Vacuum cleaners are not a place to get stingy when looking at purchasing a new one. Over the course of my adult life I have owned a number of vacuum cleaners. I'm not an especially messy person, and neither do I have a large number of pets (only two cats!). At one point I was breezing through two vacuum cleaners a year! Most recently I have owned both the Dyson DC07 Animal vacuum and a Hoover Wind Tunnel. One was for home and the other was used exclusively in my small coffee shop.

The Hoover Wind Tunnel Premium was adequate to the task, however the machine has definitely lost suction. This particular vacuum cleaner has been in use for nearly two years and is run daily. The canister is dumped approximately ever other day and I find it necessary to clean the filter monthly. The HEPA filter seemed to clog frequently which was a real annoyance. The Hoover Wind Tunnel is available in bagless and bag models. The Wind Tunnel picked up dirt, lint and stray bits of mess without much problem for the first year, but now seems to be having a little trouble getting the heavier dirt out of the carpet.

The other employees liked the Hoover's self-propelling feature, although I found it a little irritating at times as it seemed to want to pull me and I would have to almost fight the vacuum. I felt it was a clumsy model overall, especially at 5am.

In the coffee shop there wasn't much call to try out the pet hair attachments, although the Hoover Wind Tunnel Premium did seem to handle the other tools well. We left the tools off the vacuum as they seemed to want to fall off constantly, but this really wasn't a major irritant as we rarely used anything but the crevice tool weekly and the furniture attachment monthly.

The most irritating part of the Hoover Wind Tunnel was cleaning the filter and canister. Tapping out a dust collector makes no sense at all. Usually I ended up with dirty hands and dust on the floor. This vacuum is not especially pricey, but it is not a budget vacuum by any means. It usually averages around $260 or so for the Premium, and less for the non-premium variety. I even saw one on an online auction site for $400!

The Dyson DC07 Animal is our home vacuum and we love it. I have to confess I was first attracted by the color -- purple! We've had this vacuum for nearly six years and, other than the odd child's toy sticking in the hose, we have never had any problems with it losing suction or failing to clean superbly. Our carpet always looks extremely clean, almost new, when I'm finished vacuuming and pet hair left behind by our two cats is no problem at all. The allergen filter is terrific, as well. A friend is highly allergic to cats, but as long as we vacuum before she comes over (furniture too) she never has problems.

The vacuum itself is easy to maneuver and the hose stretches an incredibly long way. I have left the main part of the vacuum downstairs and used the "under furniture" attachment to clean the hallway upstairs! It also makes it easy to vacuum out light fixtures and the tops of shelves and cabinets. The attachments work great, although you will need an extra space in which to store them.

The dirt is easy to clean out of the bagless chamber -- there is a quick release trigger that drops the bottom open so all your mess falls directly into your trash. No filter to tap, no chamber to handle. Yay!

This is not an inexpensive vacuum. Dysons of all variety usually retail around $400, and the Animal is usually between $450 and $500. However, this vacuum paid for itself the third year I didn't have to buy another vacuum for home. For my money, this vacuum was a smart buy.