nrh1981

Appologies if this has been asked before, had a hunt around on on past forums posts but cant get the answer.
We are moving to canada in the very near future and wondered if we could buy a miele hoover from here (priced around 150-200sterling as opposed to 499-699 C$) and use it over there with a transformer?
I seemed to recll somebody saying the power consumption was an issue, but i would appreciate the help.

Thanks guys.

YoshiPal2010

Why would you bother? It is most likely the first domestic appliance you need when you move into a home (owned or rented), and it will not do you much good if it is in a container on the high seas; and I should think that the excess baggage charges, should you try to bring it with you on the plane, would be pretty much the same as buying a vacuum over here.

Dave n Ailsa

From what I've read, your hoover would only suck at half it's capacity.

I think transformers generally REDUCE the power coming out the wall, like powering a laptop at 9v from a 240v supply, but stepping up from a 110v supply to a machine that requires 240v is a bit different.

And anyway, don't they all have central vacums built into the walls of Canadian houses these days?

nrh1981

I reason I asked was due to the huge difference in cost. We could live without it at first if it meant saving a few hundred quid. thanks for suggesting I take it as hand luggage, i can only imagine the strange looks we would get towing it through the airport and into immigration!! Hehe

Aviator

Anybody sees that, they'll think you're a right sucker!

YoshiPal2010

Where are headed? We live in Calgary, which is pretty dusty (kind of dry here!). We wouldn't want to leave vaccing for more than a week; two at most. And with all the other luggage you probably have, do you really want to lug a vacuum all around the airport? And besides, having to pay a lot of dosh for a new vacuum hoover, will be good acclimatisation for all the other extortionate prices we pay for stuff here!
n

Geordie Lass

I bought a Eureka "twice as powerful as a dyson and half the cost" hoover from Walmart for about 80 dollars I think. Whilst it is smaller it's pretty good so I would wait til you get here - there are plenty deals on.

I wouldn't want to lug a transformer around - is it not the same kind of thing as a hairdryer? I had a converter and it was taking an age to dry my hair so I bought a Canadian one - it's just easier....

Former Lancastrian

In 6 months time see if that Eureka is still as powerful as a Dyson and there is a reason it was only $80 possible previous experience

Fall River Gal

Hii just moved into Fall River from Glasgow a couple months back ...... I sold just about everything apart from Dyson ( don't know why ) but its pretty useless here. Yes we do have a central vac, but we also bought a few big transformers and they are pretty useless. Even brought the george foreman.....crap even with a transformer. We were advised not to bring white goods, and the ones we did were useless. Things like kettles, toaster, grill mocrowave, we bought in the Atlantic superstores and they were great and NOT costly . Hope this helps,,,, and if you want to meet another from glasgow ...give me a yell

nrh1981

we are not seriously considering lugging a vacuum cleaner around an airport..... hehe we are looking at vancouver, so a bit wetter for sure but i get your point.

nrh1981

yeah we have fallen for the false economy of a cheap hoover before only to find in 1 years time the combination of my girlfirends long hair and two large cats kill it entirely...
On the other hand we have used a miele one, on and off and its quality is unquestionable.... have heard a few hit and miss stories about dysons but we think we might just got for a dc30 handheld dyson, as its only 180$ and would do our needs. (sofas, and the rug) assuming hardwood floors of course.

nrh1981

hey, can i ask what you used to sell your stuff. Ebay/gumtree/private adds? We are keen to do the same as we have quite a selecrtion of kitchen stuff, cofffee makers etc and i figure very little of it, if any will work. As for meeting up, we would but we are headed for vancouver not NS....

MikeUK

Ye s it’s possible to run a vac on a transformer, but the transformer will be big and heavy several Kg’s in weight..
If the vac is similar to a dyson and bag ess and has really good suction you may be able to run it on just 120v at around a1/4 power.. my dyson at ¼ power still outperforms the local Panasonic vac I bought here
But it would all become rather pointless if the place you rent or buy has central vac….

iaink

A transformer just converts voltage from one value to another. There are step up and step down ones, depending which way you go. With the right voltage and power rating the vac will basically work the same, so no idea where this half capacity idea came from.

I suspect the novelty of operating a vacuum via a transformer would wear thin pretty quickly, and overall the cost of a new decent vacuum is just a drop in the bucket of overall immigration expenses, especially if you are going to have to spend on a transformer anyway. Sell it in the UK for what you can get and buy a replacement once here.

Unless the OP intends to spend 8 hours a day vacuuming, the additional "transformer losses" when actually running the vacuum will be pretty small in real terms if you do go that way, assuming you unplug it when not in use. If you leave all those transformers plugged in when you are not using them then the background "phantom losses" will add up over time.

Former Lancastrian

What happens if they move into a place where there is no carpet?
Surely a swiffer wetjet or other such item is all that is needed.