Is Henry Hoover Good?

Ah, old Henry it feels like you’ve been around for as long as any of us can remember. But despite being so visible, if you are in the market for a new hoover and are considering a Henry, you may want to know is Henry hoover good?

Based on our own experience here at VacuumStuff.co.uk we think the answer is a pretty emphatic “yes”! But let’s not get too far ahead of ourselvess.

Below we’ll cover in detail the various aspects of Henry’s performance we’ve been able to put to the test regularly and some of its key features by looking at:

• What Is A Henry Hoover?
• Is Henry Hoover Good On Carpet?
• Is Henry Hoover Good For Hard Floors?
• Is Henry Hoover Good For Wooden Floors?
• Is Henry Hoover Good For Stairs?
• How Big Is A Henry Hoover?
• How Heavy Is A Henry Hoover?
• How Much Are Henry Hoover Bags?

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What Is A Henry Hoover?

When we refer to a Henry hoover we specifically mean the Henry HVR 160-11 which is a bagged cylinder vacuum cleaner. The HVR 160-11 is essentially the flagship Henry from Numatic International. One of the most recognised vacuum cleaners around, the manufacturer states they have made over 10 million units with most still in use today.

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It has a powerful 620W motor alongside a 10M length capable giving it a great range of high suction cleaning. That is one thing that really stands out for us when using the Henry; it’s long-range cleaning reach. From a power socket on the ground floor hallway we can clean the entire house (3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, across 2 floors) without having to switch sockets. The manufacturer states that the Henry HVR 160’s cleaning range is 26.1M and this comes in very handy when you are going from room to room.

Is Henry Hoover Good?

Determinig whether or not any vacuum cleaner is good enough for you will depend on what your needs are. Most homes have a range of different surfaces that a vacuum cleaner needs to be able to handle.

To help find answer the question “is Henry hoover good”, we’ve put Henry through its paces using what we like to call the “Vacuum Cous Cous Test”. Our Vacuum Cous Cous Test simply involves dropping a palm-full of dry cous cous on the floor and then seeing how well the vacuum cleaner does with picking it up.

We did the Vacuum Cous Cous test with our Henry HVR160-11 on the carpet, hard (marble/tile) floor, a wooden floor and lastly on the stairs (carpet).

Henry HVR160-11: Performance

In judging how good the Henry hoover is we’ll first take a look at performance on various floors.

Are Henry Hoovers Good For Carpets?

Are Henry hoovers good for carpets? It’s difficult to rate the Henry HVR-160’s performance on the carpet anything other than excellent based on our own experience with Henry at home.

Despite having fairly old looking carpets the Henry still managed to get them looking fairly bright as well as clean. It performed well in our Cous Cous test leaving no trace that we could identify with the naked eye.

What has also always been pleasing about the Henry’s performance on carpets is that you don’t have to keep going back and forth over the same spot to get all the dirt collected. This was certainly the case with the cous cous where we were able to get rid of the majority of the particles after the first sweep and the remaining stragglers with a few more.

The suction on the carpet is impressive and left it looking refreshed. But it’s worth noting that our carpet is pretty old and the fibres are now quite flat. Thus the carpet performs closer to a hard floor then a deep pile carpet. This works fine for Henry hoover as it relies on air flow to get rid of any dirt and dust on the carpet floor. With deeper pile carpets you ideally also want a vacuum cleaner with a motorised brush head to get the deepest clean out of carpets, much like you get with many upright vacuum cleaners.

There are also some who are not fans of Henry hoover on carpets as they believe the heavy suction can wear out thinner carpets more quickly then they otherwise would. They can also pull the carpet piles back after flattening them out which could result in thinner patches in places. We have not seen some of these issues on our carpets though this is worth considering when making your own selection. What you do notice with Henry at times with carpets is the powerful suction and how it can stick to carpets at times something mentioned by many in product reviews.

So overall, are Henry hoovers good for carpet? This depends on the type of carpet you have and how deep their piles are. In our experience with own carpet with fairly light piles, Henry does a great job of keeping it clean. However, with deeper pile carpets the powerful suction whilst great for getting dirt out can mean it gets sticks to the carpet more often.

Is Henry Hoover Good For Hard Floors?

Next we move on to the question of – is Henry hoover good for hard floors? Once again based on experience of using the Henry HVR160-11 on our hard floors we have to conclude it performs very well.

The Henry HVR160-11 comes equipped with a combination style floor tool/ brush head which can be adapted to suit hard floors or carpets. When you’re using it on the carpets you ensure the brushes are up whilst when you switch to hard floors you have them down for a more effective clean.

When it came to the Cous Cous test, the Henry HVR160-11 performed excellently on our hard floor (tiles) when it came to picking up the palm-full of dry cous cous spread on the floor. After the first pass the majority of the cous cous was picked up with no trace of it along the path the brush head followed. After a few more passes all of the remainig bits of cous cous were picked up with ease. The suction once again proved to be highly effective on the hard floors.

Overall, is Henry hoover good for hard floors? Based on our use of Henry for a number of years we say it is very good for hard floors as demonstrated in the photos above in our Cous Cous test.

Is Henry Hoover Good For Wooden Floors?

Is Henry hoover good for wooden floors? From what we’ve seen of the Henry HVR160-11 cleaning our wooden (laminate) floors, we think it does a great job. The floor is aways left looking clear with no need to keep going over the same ground.

When it came to handling our palm full of cous cous spread on the wooden floor, the Henry HVR160-11 did a great job getting rid of the dry cous cous very quickly.

Cous cous can be quite tricky to pick up especially on hard smooth surfaces but the Henry HVR160-11 made it look routine, as you would expect from one of the most popular vacuum cleaners around.

So, is Henry hoover good for wooden floors? From what we see from regular use of the Henry HVR160-11 on our wooden floors and specifically in the above cous cous test, we’d say the Henry vacuum cleaner is excellent for wooden floors.

Is Henry Hoover Good For Stairs?

For a lot of people whichever vacuum cleaner they purchase needs to be able to handle their stairs with relative ease. With that in mind we now ask “is Henry hoover good for stairs?”. Based on our experience we believe Henry hoover is great for stairs though there are a few limitations to consider.

When it comes to using Henry on the stairs, it does a great job of leaving them spotless as you would expect from what we’ve already seen is powerful and effective suction.

The extra long reach of the cable and hose mean the stairs can be done from one plug socket either in the hallway downstairs or upstairs.

However, one limitation when it comes to reach and the stairs is the fact that when we get around half-way up the stairs we find we either have ro move the Henry to the top of the stairs or end up supporting it as we go up which is not ideal. Though it must be stated this is likely to be the case with most (if not all) corded vacuum cleaners, an issue cordless cleaners do not have to contend with.

The other main limitation of the Henry on the stairs and in general is the lack of smooth flexibility in the main brush head/combi tool. When you’re vacuuming on the stairs it helps to have real flexibility in the head so you can turn it and get to the corners. What we find with the Henry is that it lacks this flexibility which can be limiting on the stairs and elsewhere. You do have the option of removing the brush head/combi tool and using a crevice tool or other attachments but stairs aside this may not always be practical.

So all in all, is Henry hoover good for stairs? The Henry does a fantastic job of cleaning the stairs which in our case is covered in carpet. The only reason we feel the Henry does not do an absolute perfect job is not because of the quality of the clean or suction but due to the limited flexibility in the combi tool and having to handle it up the stairs. Even with that said however, from our experience the Henry HVR160-11 is a great option for a vacuum cleaner which also needs to handle the stairs.

How Big Is A Henry Hoover?

Capacity: One of the very best things about the Henry HVR160 is how big it is in terms of capacity. It has a 6litre capacity dust bag meaning you can get a whole lot of cleaning done before you have to think about replacing it. What we’ve also found is that the suction does not seem to be diminished as the dust bag gets fuller (as long as there are no obstructions of course). The 6litre capacity, which the manufacturer states is some 5x larger than most bagless vacuum cleaners, appears to be one of the more generous capacities around.

Size: The product dimensions for the Henry HVR160-11 are as follows – 320 mm x 340 mm x 345 mm.

How Much Are Henry Hoover Bags?

The large 6L capacity of the Henry HVR160-11 means you won’t need to replace the bags very often, at least based on our experience, however it’s still worth knowing the cost of the bags when you do. From what we’ve seen you can get replacement bags for as little as a £1 each as part of a multi-pack. Bags appear to be widely available as you would expect for one of the most popular vacuum cleaners. Be sure to check the bag type you are buying is compatible with your model.

How Heavy Is A Henry Hoover?

A Henry HVR160-11 hoover weighs 7.5kg including the machine and its kit. When considering whether or not it is suitable for you, keep in mind the weight especially if you need to move it between floors on the stairs. Aside from moving it up and down the stairs which would be done manually, the rest of the time the weight of the Henry HVR160-11 is carried along on its wheels.

Is Henry Hoover Good?

So, is Henry hoover good? We believe that the Henry HVR160-11 hoover is excellent. It performs brilliantly on carpets and hard floors as well as the stairs. Though its main main combi tool/brushhead could be more flexible, this is a not a big enough factor to put us off using it regularly with great results.