Dyson’s new PencilVac might be the strangest vacuum cleaner you’ve ever seen. There are no visible motor or filter parts, nor obvious battery. It just has a long handle with an oddly shaped flat head on the bottom.
It’s no different than the other best Dyson vacuums on the market. So what is it?
I did my first PencilVac demo a few months ago and have been testing the model at home for the past few weeks (here are my initial thoughts if you’re interested). During this time, I had the opportunity to learn about innovative design and how it works.
Where are all the mechanics?
On the handle! To create the PencilVac, Dyson developed a new small motor with a diameter of 2.8 centimeters/1.1 inches. It is approximately the same width as a 2 euro coin.
Like the filter, the battery is hidden (and removable) on the top edge of the handle. The handle itself is only 1.5 inches / 3.8 cm wide, making the entire device very lightweight.
Where did the dust go?
At first glance, the PencilVac doesn’t appear to have a trash can, but that’s a problem. Actually, there are teeth Trash. It is very small and hidden inside the handle along with all the other mechanisms.
The container has a capacity of 0.08 liters, which is 10 times smaller than standard cordless vacuum cleaners (typically 0.8 liters). For those of you who think you’d rather spend more time emptying your bin than vacuuming, Dyson has developed an innovative compression system that uses air to compress waste, squeezing as much of it into space as possible.
Also unusual is that the dust particles picked up by the vacuum cleaner appear to defy gravity and accumulate in their next location. Meeting of the dust collector.
Why should pulleys be thin?
Most vacuum cleaners have one or two rollers with parallel edges at the top of the floor, but here the rollers are conical. There are four of them. In theory, this shape is suitable for long hair.
The hair flows along the cone to the tip, where it forms neat strands that can be cleaned with a vacuum cleaner. The principle is the same as the Dyson curling iron.
Is it necessary? I really don’t understand it.
My early tests suggest it works well, but I’ve rarely seen a curling iron perform as well as Dyson’s new floor attachment. An unfortunate side effect is that the front of the floor head tilts and does not sit flush with the wall.
Why are all rollers smooth?
The size isn’t the only thing unusual about this vacuum container. The curlers are also covered with a soft cloth and no hair is visible.
If you’re familiar with Dyson’s latest line, you’ll know this. Similar to the Fluffy Floor Nozzle on the Dyson V15 Detect, the FluffyCons Floor Nozzle is suitable for use on hard floors.
Its soft texture stays close to the floor surface, allowing you to clean dust and hair without leaving scratches. Also, polish the floor carefully.
On this particular model, the floor beams look really cool and appear to float above the ground. Furthermore, here two pairs of rollers rotate in opposite directions and collect dust on both sides. From my testing, this design works well and effectively draws dust into the suction channel.
Is it really strong?
Is it possible that such a small motor does not produce such great suction power? This goes for a variety of Dyson products.
PensilVac offers 55W of power. Newer, more expensive vacuum packs offer up to 315 AW, while weaker options in the rest of the range can handle almost double that (100 AW).
However, if you have hardwood floors, 55AW is enough because all the dirt is on the surface. This vacuum is not designed for deep cleaning nor is it suitable for cleaning carpets (in addition to suction, you really need the bristles on the floor head to agitate the carpet fibers and remove dirt that soft rollers can’t cut through). However, I found it to be very effective at removing dust and hair from the large tile floors in my kitchen.
Are there advanced tools?
At first I thought it would be all in one since the mechanism is not designed to be reconfigured. However, Dyson offers a replacement detailing tool instead of the floor tool. So while it doesn’t fit in your hand in its traditional form (like most other vacuums), it can be used to clean baseboard dust.
In fact, it’s so smooth that we thought it was particularly good in tight corners. Plus, PencilVack is lightweight and perfect for removing cobwebs from the corners of your ceiling without hurting your hands.
The Dyson PencilVac is now available in the UK and Australia priced at £429.99 / AU$949. US pricing and release date are yet to be confirmed.
