Household chores, nobody enjoys doing them but it’s a whole load easier with a good quality vacuum cleaner. Sometimes it can even be therapeutic as you suck up the dirt creating lines of clean carpet as you go. These appliances come in all shapes and sizes these days from large standup units to nifty handheld devices. No matter the size, you’ll still need decent suction for a job well done. To create this performance, it needs to run a powerful electric motor, but what electricity does this consume?
Below we will discuss and test vacuum cleaner wattage, explain how to work it out for yourself, and calculate the total electricity required.
How Many Watts is a Vacuum Cleaner?
The average vacuum cleaner uses between 700 and 1200 watts.
The exact number depends on the size and model of your vacuum cleaner. For example, an eco-power stick vacuum can use 700W or less while big upright hoovers can reach over 1000W.
The power consumption is directly related to the level of suction and the internal electric motor. A bigger appliance will have a larger motor to increase suction. This larger motor requires more power to operate.
How to Find Out Your Vacuum Cleaner Wattage
There are 3 ways you can work out the wattage of a vacuum cleaner.
- Check Product Specification
The quickest way is to look at the vacuum cleaner’s specification. The watts (W) is usually written on a sticker on the base of the appliance. If not, you can check the user manual or the manufacturer’s website for technical details.
- Use a Wattmeter
A wattmeter is brilliant for getting a live wattage reading and tracking total energy usage of any appliance. You can simply plug it into your vacuum cleaner to get instant information.
I used one to test my Dyson vacuum cleaner which gave a live reading of 1289W.
- Wattage Formula or Calculator
If you know the amperage and voltage of your vacuum cleaner you can use this to find the maximum watt rating. Simply use the formula Amps x Volts = Watts. Or you can head over to the ‘Watt Calculator’ to work this out.
Vacuum Cleaner Wattage Examples
Let’s take a look at specific examples of how many watts a vacuum cleaner draws. Below is a collection of modern vacuum cleaners with their listed power ratings.
| Vacuum Cleaner Model | Power Rating (Watts) |
| Dyson UP24 Ball Animal 2 | 700 |
| Miele Blizzard CX1 Cat & Dog Pro Cylinder Vacuum Cleaner | 890 |
| Henry Vacuum | 620 |
| George Vacuum | 1060 |
| Hetty Vacuum | 620 |
| SEBO Automatic X7 ePower Upright Vacuum Cleaner | 890 |
| Shark NV360 Navigator Lift-Away | 1200 |
| Shark AZ1002 Apex Powered Lift-Away | 1350 |
As you can see, the power ratings vary between different vacuum cleaners. So you should take the time to check your own appliance.
How Much Electricity Does a Vacuum Cleaner Use?
You can use vacuum cleaner wattage to work out how much electricity it uses. Plus this can be useful in understanding how much it costs to run your vacuum cleaner.
A watt (W) is a measurement of power at a single point in time. A watt-hour (Wh) is the total amount of electricity used in an hour. For example, a vacuum cleaner drawing 900W would use 900Wh when running for an hour.
Happily, electricity bills are recorded in kilowatt-hours (kWh). A kilowatt is simply 1000 watts. So a 900W vacuum cleaner running for 1 hour uses 0.9kWh.
In reality, you might use a vacuum cleaner for 30 minutes a week. This means a 900W vacuum cleaner uses about 450Wh or 0.45kWh electricity a week. That’s 1.935kWh a month and 23.22kWh a year.
That’s a rough electricity cost of $0.29 a month or $3.48 a year to vacuum your house for 30 minutes every week.
Using a Vacuum Cleaner Off-Grid
If you want to use your vacuum cleaner in an off-grid situation like a power outage, RV, boat, or similar, the information above is important. You can ensure your electrical equipment offers enough power and you can calculate the run time.
You can either use a power inverter, portable power station, or generator to generate AC electricity.
To make sure everything runs smoothly you should check two things on this equipment – wattage capacity and total energy capacity.
Your power source, like an inverter, should have a wattage capacity of at least 20% more than your vacuum cleaner. This ensures it will be able to deliver enough power as they are never 100% efficient.
Secondly, you need to ensure your energy source, like a battery, has enough energy to run the vacuum cleaner for the required amount of time. As we already know, it could use about 450Wh of electricity for 30 minutes use. This is the equivalent to 37.5Ah on a 12V battery.
In this scenario, it is wise to consider a battery powered vacuum. This way you can charge it up when you have access to mains electricity and avoid using up battery or generator power.
How Many Watts Does a Vacuum Cleaner Use Summary
I hope you now understand how many watts a vacuum cleaner uses.
As you can see, these are relatively high powered appliances. You’ll need a decent supply of power to run the motor required for suction. If you’re vacuuming at home once a week then it’s not going to increase your electricity usage too much. If you plan to run away from the mains, then be prepared with a decent power capacity and energy supply.
