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Putting the Dyson V11 through its paces

Allergens, pets, mud: one Dublin family puts the new Dyson V11 Absolute cord-free vacuum to the test, pitting it against their three-storey home, busy lives and two pets

Cathy and Colm Murray live in Rathfarnham, Co Dublin with their children, Oisin (19) and Lottie (11) and two pets, a dog called Nina and a cat, Coco. They are both busy working parents so keeping a clean home, while a top priority, can be difficult to maintain.

They agreed to test the new Dyson V11 Absolute cord-free vacuum to see if it made a difference to their busy schedules. Here, Cathy tells us about the vacuum and the impact it’s had on their household.

Is it hard to keep your home clean with kids, pets and busy jobs?

Absolutely, you could vacuum and clean the house in the morning and it doesn’t look like it’s been done by that evening. My son, Oisin, plays hurling, so he might come in with muddy boots, or Colm might mow the lawn and then grass gets in the house so there’s always something and, like with any busy family home, it’s very hard to keep it clean all the time.

How does the new Dyson V11 Absolute fit into your lifestyle and did it reduce your cleaning time each day?

We have a three-storey house so there’s a lot to keep clean. It’s so much easier to pick up the Dyson and head to the top floor. We’d be vacuuming every day with this whereas you wouldn’t with the old vacuum cleaner. I find I use it more spontaneously than the old cleaner and the kids can use it to do their own rooms too. Before we got the Dyson they wouldn’t have been eager to clean their bedrooms.

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How effective is the Dyson V11 Absolute on the different floors in your home?

We have three types of floors in our home; wooden floor, tiled and carpet. The Dyson is great on all three of them as there are different cleanerheads to accommodate them all. I loved this.

What other benefits does this vacuum have over your previous cleaner?

Cleaning the car was always a massive chore as you had to position it at an angle and you needed two extension leads to get the old vacuum out to it, so it was always a big palaver to clean. With this it is so simple. The vacuum has a special boost mode so it’s great to get the dirt out of the car. You can also put on the little handheld connector, which means you don’t have the long wand, and you can easily get right into all the little places in the car that are hard to reach, which is fantastic.

What is the battery and technology like?

The battery performance is very good. There are a number of functions, including the eco function and boost which are helpful. The auto mode manages the cleaning power and the battery life, and is good for moderate vacuuming.

I would use the boost function for the car or a big spill but that uses a bit more battery. The display gives a very clear indication of what mode you’re on and the amount of battery life left, so there are no surprises. The suction is very good.

There is much less effort required with this. It’s a simple design and is very easy to use. I also liked the fact that when you’re tipping out the dirt, there are no bags, which makes it very easy. You are not having to stock up on vacuum cleaner bags either so that is a cost saver. I like the fact that you can see the dirt going into the holder too.

Did it feel very different using a cordless cleaner for the first time?

It felt weird but brilliant. The flexibility of being able to run up and down three flights of stairs with the vacuum is great. It’s easy for me to carry and it doesn’t take up too much room. It’s small so you’re not tripping over it. You can clip it on to a bracket on the wall and we put it near a plug socket for ease of charging.

Did you like the design?

It’s very cool, futuristic and the kids are fond of that. It attracted them to pick it up, so a lot more chores are being done around the house now.

Could you return to your old vacuum?

No, absolutely not. We love it, it’s part of the family now!

Available from dyson.ie

Tech specs: the new Dyson V11 Absolute cord-free vacuum

The technology powering the Dyson V11 Absolute represents some of the most sophisticated developed for the home.

Cleaning power

A dynamic load sensor constantly monitors the environment it’s working in and intuitively detect brush bar resistance up to 360 times a second, automatically communicating with the motor and battery’s microprocessors to change the cleaning power between carpets and hard floors. This allows carpets to be deep cleaned and runtime to be extended on hard floors.

Deep clean

The High Torque cleaner head is Dyson’s most powerful cord-free cleaner head yet.

It features stiff nylon bristles that drive deep into the carpet to remove ground-in dirt, and anti-static carbon fibre filaments that capture dust from hard floors.

User feedback

The on-board screen shows current performance, including selected power mode and remaining run time, giving the user more control of their cleaning jobs.

The screen also reminds the user when to clean filters, and informs them of any blockages and how to clear them.

Battery life

Dyson’s most powerful battery pack has seven high-capacity cells with nickel-cobalt-aluminium cathodes and allows up to 60 minutes of floor cleaning in eco-mode.

Available at Dyson stores in Dundrum, St Stephen’s Green, Liffey Valley and Mahon Point shopping centers or at dyson.ie

A trio of home technology

The Dyson V11 Absolute is one of a trio of Dyson products designed with you and your well-being in mind. It partners with the Dyson Lightcycle task light which is engineered to provide the right light for the right time of day, while the Dyson Pure Cool Me personal purifying fan is built with air filtration and projection technologies to make it a perfect fit for your personal space.

Available from dyson.ie