You may have noticed the last time you went shopping for a vacuum cleaner that right alongside the standard "household" vacuum cleaners were a second type called "commercial" vacuum cleaners. What's the difference between the two? Is it worth it to buy the commercial model? And why are these new types of vacuum cleaners now being marketed to the average consumer?

First of all, they are actually not a new type of cleaner at all. They've been around for awhile but previously were only used for business, or commercial, purposes. This meant that they were designed to be cleaning a business environment. What's so special about that, you ask? This leads us to the differences between the two types of units. Let's take a closet look.

How often does the average household clean their carpet? Estimates vary, but you can guesstimate that the typical vacuum cleaner in an American home is going to get maybe 1 hour of usage a week. Just one hour a week.

This is not a lot of usage!

Contrast this with a vacuum cleaner designed to clean businesses. How often do you think a business needs to clean their carpets? If they're a customer facing operation, the answer is going to be everyday. Sometimes more than once! (Imagine how many times a busy movie theatre needs to clean up to keep up appearances.) With that in mind, the cleaners used for these businesses need to withstand a lot more usage.

A lot more.

How much?

Maybe 10-20 hours a week.

And this is the first and biggest difference that ties in all the other differences between the two:

A commercial vaccuum cleaner is designed to be used 10 to 20 times as much in the same time period as a household vacuum cleaner.

From what we've learned above in regards to how much more usage a commercial unit is going to get, you can imagine that behind the hood, there is a big difference in the design and parts used.

For a vacuum cleaner to withstand such heavy usage, it's going to need to have:

• A better motor. Commercial vacuum cleaners have motors that are higher rated and will last much longer than household models.
• More durable materials. The unit itself needs to be made of stronger plastics, more rugged, durable materials, and even all sorts of small details such as longer lasting wheels - these are all very important.
• Additionally, you're going to see a much longer power cord. What for? This way a cleaning crew can easily pull off a carpet cleaning in a large room or several small rooms - maybe even an entire office - without having to unplug and re-plug in elsewhere. It is common for commercial vacuum cleaners to have 50 foot power cords.

All these stronger materials, better designed models, longer power cords, stronger motors - it adds up, and the extra cost is of course passed on to the consumer. Is it worth it? If you vacuum a lot, it is. It especially becomes worth it when the cost of a high end household model is comparable to the cost of a low end commercial model. With that in mind, if you are in the market for a vacuum cleaner, do a bit of research and see if a commercial unit can fit your needs at the price tag you were expecting to pay.