Our In-Depth Review
Design
The Dirt Devil UD70220 Total Vision comes with four on board attachments giving you the ability to tackle a variety of jobs. The attachments include a crevice tool, extension wand, dust brush and power brush.
The power brush is a excellent tool that has its own rotating brush and did a great job of cleaning pet-hair off of our upholstery.
The dirt container on the Total Vision can be easily removed from the front of the machine by pressing a button and lifting it off.
A wonderful feature of the dirt cup is that the dirt remains enclosed in the container until you have it over your garbage receptacle.
Once in place, you can release the bottom of the dirt container with the press of a button allowing the dirt to fall into the trash. This makes for a much cleaner experience.
Even though this vacuum is equipped with a HEPA filter, we found the filtration system to be lacking.
When we tested it with our particle scanner, the particle count in the air increased, meaning that the filter is not capturing dust and allergens as it cleans.
Performance: Using The Dirt Devil UD70220 Total Vision
The Dirt Devil UD70220 Total Vision requires no set-up to move between carpets and hard surface flooring other than adjusting the height if needed. The vacuum did a good job getting debris off carpets, but did struggle with large particles. Handling fine particles on hard surface flooring was a breeze for this machine, but it faltered with medium and large particles.
Performance on Carpets
To determine the Vision’s ability to perform on carpets, we began by dumping flour on our carpet. The flour test is used to see how vacuums handle picking up fine particles like dirt, sand and dust from flooring.
The Total Vision vacuum was able to quickly and easily suck up all of the flour from the carpet. Using rice to test the vacuums performance on medium particles, we found that the Vision was able to thoroughly clean the rice from our carpet.
After adjusting the height of the vacuum to its highest setting for our final test, we used white beans to test the performance on large particles. The vacuum struggled to capture the white beans and it took several passes to get them off the carpets.
Performance on Rugs
Testing the Total Vision on our light kitchen rugs, we found that it did a great job of cleaning them with out pulling or bunching. However, the suction is to strong to clean rug tousles so be careful not to not run them over while you are cleaning or you might snag your rug.
Performance on Hard Floors
Typically, canister vacuums are designed to perform well on carpets and can sometimes struggle to clean hard surface flooring. To determine the Vision’s performance on hard surface flooring, we put flour on our floor and found that the Dirt Devil did a great job getting it up.
Next, we spread rice on the floor. The Vision sucked up most of the rice, but spit a few grains up to four feet behind it leaving a bit of a mess.
To test if the Vision was able to clean large particles from hard surface flooring, we put white beans on the floor.
The vacuum did a slightly better job on the the white beans than it did with the rice, but still broke a few beans and left the pieces behind.
Edge Cleaning
This vacuum claims that it has edge to edge cleaning. After testing the machine on edges on hard surface and carpeted flooring, we found their claims to be true. When a vacuum has the ability to clean edges well, it really streamlines your cleaning process because you don’t have to stop and attach the crevice tool to do a thorough job.
Pet hair
We were easily able to get up the the light, fluffy dog hair we used for testing from our carpets and hard surface flooring with this machine. We used the power brush attachment to clean the hair from our upholstered furniture.
The power brush did a superb job of grabbing the hair with its spinning brush and sucking it up. We have tested vacuums that cost much more and the Vision far surpassed them in its ability to clean pet hair from furniture.
Attachments / Onboard Tools
The Dirt Devil Total Vision comes with four tools. It has a crevice nozzle, a dust brush tool,an extension wand and a power brush.
The crevice nozzle measures eleven and one-half inches long with a three-fourth by one-inch tapered opening. Stored inside the extension wand, it is easy to access whenever you have a cleaning job in a tighter space or need concentrated suction.
We liked that the nozzle was long in length allowing us to clean between couch cushions and other similar jobs.
The dust brush is three and one half inches long by two inches wide and is stored on the back of the vacuum. The opening of the brush is surrounded by bristles. One thing we noticed about the bristles is that they have the potential to scratch wood furnishings.
The extension wand is sixteen and one-half inches long and is stored on the left hand side of the vacuum. While it gives you a little extra reach while cleaning, we found that there were many spots that it just wasn’t long enough to clean.
We felt that this would work fine for someone with average height ceilings, but if you have tall ceilings or furnishings, it will leave you unable to reach them.
We loved the power brush! This little tool is four and one-half inch wide and is stored on the handle of the vacuum in the front.
This tool has a rotating brush with bristles that spins very fast picking up dirt, debris and pet-hair from your furniture and stairs.
With its own belt, it is basically a very compact vacuum head.
Filtration
The Dirt Devil Total Vision has two filters, a foam filter and a pleated filter. Both filters are located on the base below the removable dust cup and can be accessed by pushing a button to release the filter cover.
The foam filter sits on top of the pleated filter. The pleated filter can be cleaned by lifting the foam filter off and tapping the pleated filter inside a garbage can to remove excess dust and dirt.
To see how many particles were being released into the air, we used our particle scanner to test the emissions from the exhaust of the vacuum.
We took a sample of the air and then turned the vacuum on and sampled the air coming from the vacuum. The particles in the air dramatically increased meaning that the filtration system on the Vision does little to capture and hold dust and allergens.
The HEPA media filter on this machine is designed to capture over 99% of dust and allergens from the air.
However, unless a vacuum has a sealed filtration system, the air being forced through the vacuum will take the path of least resistance and can leak through the gaps around the filter rather than going through it.
Ease of Use
Ease of use of thsi vacuum can easily be analysed from the following information.
Getting Started
A phillips head screwdriver is required to assemble this vacuum. The back of the vacuum snaps into the base and is secured with two screws in the back. Next, the dirt container snaps into the base of the vacuum.
The handle slides down into the back of the vacuum. The handle fastener for the power brush tool snaps into the front of the vacuum just below the handle. A long screw will then need to be secured through the handle and the handle fastener.
Then, loop the hose over the hose caddy and plug it into the hose connect at the base of the machine. The last step is to wind the power cord over the cord wraps and put the attachments in their place.
Maneuverability
The vacuum slides easily across carpets and hard surface flooring. All the attachments are easy to access, but you will have to bend almost to the floor to disconnect the hose from the base.
The hose doesn’t stretch very far before pulling over the vacuum. The only handle for this vacuum is located 44 inches high and makes lifting the thirteen point nine pounds of this machine to carry it between floors inconvenient.
There is a release pedal located on the bottom left of the vacuum. It is easy to release the handle of the vacuum, but you have to push it hard to get it to snap back into place once you are done vacuuming. We realized this after not getting it secured a few times and having the handle fall back.
Ease of Use on Stairs
In order to clean the stairs, you will need to detach the hose from the base and use one of the attachments. We suggest using the power brush tool. Because the hose only reaches ten feet, you will need to carry the vacuum with you up the stairs as you clean.
The handle of the vacuum is fixed at forty-four inches tall so it can be difficult to carry the vacuum in a comfortable position and secure it while you are vacuuming.
Cord management and Length
The cord measures twenty-five feet long. It is stored on the cord wrap on the back of the vacuum. The top hook flips down for quick release of the cord. The cord is long enough to comfortably vacuum a full room without having to stop and move the cord to a different outlet.
Hose Management and Length
The vacuum hose wraps around the back of the vacuum looping over the hose caddy and plugs into the hose connection on the base of the vacuum. To use any of the attachments, the hose disconnects from the base.
While it stretches up to ten feet, we found that it would only comfortably extend seventy-eight inches before pulling over the vacuum. The hose has a six inch wand connected to the end that allows you to clean with just the hose or use one of the attachments.
Floor Selection
The height of the vacuum base is controlled by a dial on the top of the base. The Vision gives you the option to select from five height options. This allows you to vacuum thick ply carpets or hard surface flooring with just a turn of the dial.
Noise
As we used the vacuum, we felt that the noise level was comfortable. We used our decibel reader to test the volume and it gave us an average readying of 76.3 dB. This falls into our moderate noise category.
Suction Strength
The ten Amp motor on the Vision produces fifty inches of water lift. Water lift is the measurement of the power of the suction produced by the motor.
While this is not a powerful vacuum, we have seen vacuums with twelve amp motors that produce the same or less suction strength.
Storage
The slim profile of this vacuum will slide quickly into a closet for easy storage.
Because this vacuum is self-contained and all the attachments are stored on-board, it will not clutter your closet.
Maintenance
The dirt container will need to be emptied when full. This can be done by releasing the container from the front of the vacuum with the press of a button and lifting it off.
One thing we really appreciated about the Total Vision was that the dirt container is completely enclosed and does not allow any of the particles to escape as you carry it to the garbage.
Once you have the dirt container in place, you can release the bottom of the container with the press of a bottom allowing all the dirt to fall into the trash. This is so much cleaner to empty than vacuums with open dirt cups.
The pleated filter will need to be replaced every six months. In between replacements, the pleated filter and the foam filer can be rinsed clean and must be allowed to dry for twenty-four hours. Dirt Devil recommends tapping excess dirt from both filters each time you empty the dirt container.
The air director that is located inside the dirt container, will need to be removed and cleaned. To clean the power brush, a little plastic ring should be removed allowing the back panel of the brush to be lifted off. You can then clean the roller and replace the belt. There is a belt view window on the vacuum base and power brush that allows you to see when the belts need to be replaced.
Value For Money
At around seventy dollars, we felt this vacuum was a good bargain. The Dirt Devil Total Vision is lacking in some areas like its filtration system and ability to clean medium and large particles from hard surface flooring. However, for vacuums in this price category, these are fairly common shortcomings.
Final Vacuum Verdict
We recommend this vacuum for someone who has fifty percent or more carpet flooring in their home. This vacuum would work well for someone who has pets as it does a great job on pet hair.
The Dirt Devil Total Vision vacuum is simple and inexpensive, but if you are unable to make an investment in a higher quality vacuum, this will work well for a few years. We do not recommend this machine for someone who suffers from asthma or allergies.
