Battery Equivalents and Replacements

Vacuum Wattage: How Many Watts Does a Vacuum Use?

Vacuum cleaners range in size, type, and wattage significantly, so when speaking about vacuum wattage, one must take into account these moments as well.

If You wish to find out how many watts your vacuum use, the best thing to do is to check the Owner's Guide that came with the unit. However, there are a few more things to consider as well ...

Published: November 29, 2022.

vacuum wattage 1

Most Popular Vacuum Types and Their Power Requirements

When trying to describe how strong their vacuums are, many manufacturers use Air Watts, which is the strength of the airflow at the entrance of the vacuum.

Air Watts are related to the actual electric power, but they also depend on the suction motor efficiency, air flow pathways, tools being used, how clean are air filters and similar.

So, when talking about vacuum cleaner watts, we are going to discuss the actual electric watts of the vacuum cleaners, not their Air Watts.

After all, when paying electric bills, we are all paying for actual spent electric energy...

The most popular vacuum cleaner types are upright vacuums, corded stick vacuums, cordless stick vacuums, robot vacuums, and canister vacuums.

Other vacuum cleaners are used as well, but they are not as popular as these.

Suction Control

Suction control is very important when vacuuming various surfaces, but it also decreases power consumption.

Not all vacuums have suction control, and those that have suction control often have valves that decrease the suction on the nozzle while keeping the same airflow and the same motor wattage - mostly bagless vacuums with centrifugal air filtration require constant air flow to keep the air filtration at the required level.

Bagged vacuums, especially canister vacuums, often have very fine suction control, which increases or decreases motor power, thus regulating the airflow.

Upright Vacuum Cleaner Wattage

Upright vacuums are very popular vacuums and are often used as the main vacuums in homes and apartments.

Most upright vacuums are corded units rated from 600 to 1400 Watts.

shark az3002 stratos

For example:

  • Shark AZ3002 Stratos is a full-size corded, bagless, upright vacuum cleaner rated at 1416 Watts (120V 11.8A).
  • Bissell 2252 CleanView is another full-size corded, bagless, upright vacuum cleaner rated at 8 Amps (120V, 960 Watts).

While both units feature excellent performances for their own classes, Shark AZ3002 Stratos features stronger suction, but it also needs more energy.

shark hz3002 stratos

Corded Stick Vacuum Cleaner Wattage

Stick vacuums are ultralight vacuums that are not as strong as upright vacuums but are easy to use and can be used quickly, even in emergencies.

Corded stick vacuums are often 2-in-1 vacuums that can be quickly converted from the stick vacuum cleaner configuration into handheld vacuum cleaner configuration and back.

Most corded stick vacuums are rated from 250 to 700 watts.

For example:

  • Shark HZ3002 Stratos (don't confuse it with the Shark AZ3002 Stratos) is rated at 600 Watts,
  • Shark HZ2002 Vertex is rated at 680 Watts,
  • Bissell 3070 PowerGlide Pet Slim is rated at 4.2 Amps (120V, ~500 Watts),
  • BLACK+DECKER BDXHHV005G 3-In-1 Upright Stick Vacuum is rated at 480 Watts, etc.

Some manufacturers also offer ultralight corded stick vacuum cleaners rated at 2-3 Amps (240-360 Watts), but they are good only for quick cleanups and are not very recommended for larger cleaning tasks.

Cordless Stick Vacuum Cleaner Wattage

Technically, cordless stick vacuums are very similar to corded stick vacuums, except that they are powered by onboard lithium batteries, not requiring the user to pull the power cord behind the unit.

Cordless stick vacuums are a very popular category, and with the advancements in technology, more and more cordless stick vacuums are being used as the main vacuum cleaner at home.

Most cordless stick vacuums are rated from 50 to 600 Watts, however, when talking about their electrical requirements, it is important to note the power of their battery chargers and not the rated power of the vacuums.

dyson v15 cordless

For example, Dyson V15 Cordless Vacuum is one of the best and strongest vacuums on the market, featuring maximum air suction of 230 Air Watts.

However, when its battery is fully discharged, it takes its charger ~4.5 hours to fully charge it again.

And its charger is rated at 30.45V and 1.1A (~33.5 Watts).

shark iz862h stratos

Similarly, Shark IZ862H Stratos is rated at 309 Watts (25.2V, 12.26A), and it comes with a 28.8V 0.8A (~23 Watts) battery charger that requires ~3 hours to recharge the battery completely.

Canister Vacuum Cleaner Wattage

Canister vacuums are almost exclusively corded units rated from 600 to 1400 Watts.

miele canister vacuum

For example, Miele Complete C3 Cat & Dog PowerLine Canister Vacuum Cleaner is a corded, bagged vacuum cleaner rated at 1200 Watts.

Also, it features very fine suction controls, allowing the user to adjust suction according to the surface being vacuumed.

Robot Vacuum Cleaner Wattage

Robot vacuums can't replace the main vacuum cleaner, but they can save plenty of time and effort.

Most robot vacuums come with charging stations that draw 2-5 Watts while on standby and anywhere from 25 to 50 or even more watts when charging the robots.

roomba j7 vacuum

For example, iRobot Roomba charging stations, on average, require 4W on standby and ~28-35 Watts when charging the batteries, which usually last ~3-4 hours.

Vacuum Cleaner Electric Energy Bill

The actual electric energy bill for the use of a vacuum cleaner depends on the vacuum usage frequency, the length of cleaning tasks, the tools being used, and similar.

But, if we assume that our hypothetical vacuum is:

  • rated at 1000W,
  • used 3x per week, 20 minutes per cleaning task,
  • 1 kWh of electric energy costs $US 0.15.

Then the monthly electric energy bill is:

$US = 3x 20 min * 1 kW * 4 weeks * $0.15 = 0.60 $US

Annually, that would be:

$US = 0.60 $US * 12 = 7.2 $US

So, the vacuum cleaner in the example needs 1 kWh per week, 4 kWh per month, and 48 kWh per year, and as such, it influences very little on the actual electric bill.

How To Power Vacuum Cleaner In Emergency

If You have charged cordless vacuum cleaner, it can be used in an emergency or during a blackout just as You would normally do - just keep an eye on the battery charge level.

However, if You wish to power your corded vacuum cleaner in an emergency, perhaps the best solution is to use a solar generator/portable power station.

A portable power station can be used indoors, and if it is strong enough, it can easily power even upright vacuums.

For the power station to be used for such purpose, 2000 Watts or stronger units are recommended with surge power of 3000 Watts or more.

Of course, such power stations may be used to recharge cordless vacuums and robot vacuum cleaners as well.

Note: during blackouts and emergencies, please, keep your smartphones and other telecommunication devices fully charged, just in case...