The Miele Powerhouse S184 is an upright vacuum that uses a bag system with HEPA filtration. The HEPA filter must be replaced at least once a year -- more often if you're battling pet hair or excessive debris. The bag has a 4.9-quart capacity, which is a nice feature. This means fewer bag changes and a lower cost for replacement bags.

The Miele Powerhouse S184 has a unique look, with a white exterior and black accents. More importantly, it functions like a pro. The Powerhouse S184 powers through dirt, dust and crumbs with ease. It also picks up pet hair, even copious amounts left behind by a long-haired pet. It has a 12-inch cleaning path, which is about average. We especially like the ability to turn off the Powerhouse's roller brushes. This allows us to vacuum delicate area rugs, and more frequently, vacuum bare floors. With the brushes off, we don't need to worry about damaging hardwood surfaces. Unfortunately, the Powerhouse blew dust and dirt as it moved across the bare floor. In the end, we opted for a standard broom and dustpan.

We like the sound -- lack of sound, actually -- emitted by the Miele Powerhouse. It runs so quietly, we can hear the telephone or doorbell ringing. The Powerhouse has a 7-foot stretch hose, and we find it needed at least another 2 feet to be useful. We were disappointed there weren't more onboard tools. The Powerhouse comes with a crevice tool, a two-piece wand and a dusting tool, and we would have liked to see additional attachments such as an upholstery tool. One relatively unique feature we especially like is the Miele's variable speed control. This means we can turn down the power when dusting things we don't want sucked into the vacuum's attachment hose -- such as drapes. The Miele's electrical cord is only 25 feet long, and we found ourselves moving the cord from power outlet to power outlet more often that we liked.

The Miele Powerhouse has a few extra features we find appealing, like a headlight to illuminate its cleaning path and specialized brushes for edge cleaning. A lightweight 14 pounds, the Powerhouse can be taken from one floor of a home to another floor without too much trouble. Its design is a bit boxy, but it doesn't make the Powerhouse unduly awkward when vacuuming steps or other tight areas. Overall, the Miele Powerhouse has adequate suction and extra features we like. But because it doesn't work well on bare floors, has a short electrical cord and just two onboard tools, it doesn't rank as high our list as comparable models.


Pros: Adjustable suction; quiet operation
Cons: Doesn't work well on bare floors; short electrical cord

Warranty
1 year