Customer Reviews

Electrolux EL6984A Harmony Ultra Quiet Canister Vacuum

5 star:		(81)
4 star:		(36)
3 star:		(19)
2 star:		(8)
1 star:		(10)

 

 

Light and quiet, the Harmony really cleans hardwood floors and area rugs well. We don't have wall-to-wall, but from what I can tell, if you have lots of carpets I would recommend moving up to the Oxygen model. It does not come with a powered carpet attachment. Gotta work a bit to clean carpets - glides easily on hardwood. Stores in small places. Great design and easy to use; instructions are a bit weak. Overall happy, great in a small city house/apartment.

This vacuum is great. Very powerful, very quiet, very ergonomically
designed, very cute. BUT...

I know someone else has already posted this info, but I just checked it
out myself and was amazed to find the exact same thing. All of the
advertising for this vacuum (including the manufacturer's description
on the Amazon web page) extoll the virtues of its "washable HEPA H12
filter." However, the other reviewer is exactly right -- this filter does
not come with the Harmony vacuum. You must purchase this separately
for $30. The Elextrolux website also clearly implies that this vacuum
comes with a washable filter. What a crock! Somebody call the better
business bureau! Somebody call Consumer Reports! Don't let them get
away with it!

But I will say again, this vacuum is brilliant. It's a wonder of design and
simplicity. It is to other vacuums what the iMac is to other desktop computers.

If you have nothing but hardwood floors, this might be a fine vacuum, but if you're looking to vacuum carpet of any texture, think twice. If you have a pet, look elsewhere.

My wife and I bought this vacuum knowing the Electrolux name from my childhood, only to find out it's a different company, and they're nowhere near the quality of the old '65 vacuum that my father still uses to blow out his pool lines (there's a novel use...).

Pros:
1. Quiet
2. Light

Cons:
1. Expensive
2. Bags are small and Expensive.
3. Proprietary design for hose and attachments (the two that come with it are all you'll ever get.)
4. Vacuum head and brush roller jams with the slightest bit of hair.

Let me get back to the attachments: If you're going to make a vacuum, give it more than a crevice tool and a brush, or at least make a set of extra attachments and sell those separately. The company has no plans to support further expansion of this hokey design.

I'm a bitter man about this vacuum. By way of disclosure, I should state that I have two golden retrievers and I may have been expecting a bit much, but for a vacuum over $400.00, I should see better performance... The vacuum's been fixed twice now when the head siezed up and stopped spinning the roller. At least the warranty location is good about helping me out.

Really... there are better tools than this one for the money.

We recently purchased the Harmony after our POS Hoover died. We love this canister vac. It's small, ergonmic, and best of all it cleans great. We have mostly hardwood floors and a few area rugs - and two labrador retrievers and two cats - the Harmony picks up dog hair and dirt very effectively. Some reviewers have complained that the Harmony isn't good enough for pile carpets. That may be true but the turbo attachment works well on area rugs and if you have a lot of pile carpet you should look at an upright instead. Others have complained that the Harmony doesn't come with a life-time HEPA filter as advertised. We can't find anywhere in Electrolux's literature where they say the lifetime filter is included. If you don't want to spend the $30 you can get the filter for $10 at Lowes. We looked at Miele and Dyson and for the money we think the Harmony is the best value. We got ours at Amazon for $65 less than we could find locally - plus no tax and free shipping. As well as the Harmony cleans it is incredibly quiet too. We can vacuum while our toddler is napping or watching TV with no complaints!

Although this vacuum has powerful suction, the quality of the plastic wand and cleaning attachments are not consistent with the cost of this vacuum. The carpet attachment does not come off easily and in my case, broke off from its collar. I had to spend nearly 40% of the original purchase price to replace the wand and attachment which were NOT covered by the warranty. Overall a poor value and not recommended for the price.

This canister vacuum is great, please note I mostly have hard wood floors and tile flooring. The suction is awesome even on bathroom tile. It is unbelievable on dust.The head is slim so can easily go under sofa and chairs. I do have some carpeting you will need to slide button for carpeted areas also will need to switch to turbo speed. You cannot beat the lightness. I can lift with one hand which works out great since I have a 5 mo old! Note, I ordered the canister bags extra when I placed my order, vacuum only comes with one bag.

My husband is a contractor, I am an artist--we have a heck of a lot of tools so it's really a delight to come across this vacuum that is extremely well designed. This actually makes vacuuming fun! Quiet motor (although air suction makes some racket), great suction, easy to change attachments, motor speed control, 2 places to control suction which runs the beaters, doesn't tip over. I think the telescoping wand is plenty long and I am 6' tall. Tools snap securely in handle, lightweight, easy carry and pivoting head makes getting under furniture a breeze. I have not had problems with unwanted cord retraction. Bags ARE small, but I'd rather get rid of dog hair, fleas and flea eggs quickly. Ordering bags can be a drawback in a pinch. As with most canisters, best for bare floors, low pile and areas other than the floor. All in all, efficient and easy to operate, good power. But only time will tell on durability. My advice is to buy refurbished. Same 2 year warranty at nearly half the price and mine looked brand new.
I don't normally review products but I was particularly impressed with this item. I'd echo other reviews, if you have severe allergies, want an electric beaters or have mostly carpet--go for an upright. But if you want a canister, and can't afford the top end model of this series (approx $600-700) this is the vacuum I'd reccomend.

Bought this vacuum some months ago & have been underwhelmed. First: carton arrived with water damage, which I know is not mfr's fault. Second: carton appeared repacked, also a fault of unknown origin. But there was little accompanying literature inside, unlike the blizzard of paper you usually see with small appliances. One skimpy 6- or 8-page flyer gave minimal assembly instructions so I wasn't even sure how to put it together. No instructions on how to use attachments--had to find out by trial & error how to telescope the wand, disconnect attachments, etc. Yet I believe all the literature the mfr supplies did make it to my home. And the website offers nothing.

It's quiet as promised, & that's nice. The flexibility for getting around & under furniture is good. Full power has plenty of suction, but it's poor at picking up dog hair. After I vacuum our few area rugs, I have to vacuum all the dog hair off the top & bottom of the attachment itself. Different power settings are good, as is the ease of switching from hard surface to carpet. The dusting/furniture attachment is weird--if I've figured it out correctly, it's reversible, that is, double-ended. The cord retractor retracts whether you want it to or not. I wish the cord would stay extracted until I hit the "retract" button. Speaking of buttons--it's too hard to tell the cord button from the power button. Had to paint a black dot on the power button so I could easily tell which was which. The capacity is amazingly small--didn't realize a vacuum could be made with such a small capacity! There's supposed to be a light to tell you when bag needs changing, but I can't tell when it's "on." The small size of the vacuum makes it easy to use.

Bought this to replace a 15-yr-old Eureka "Mighty Mite" which today costs 1/3 or less the price of this Electrolux. Unfortunately it seems the Eureka might be the better deal. I was expecting an appliance like the one my grandmother swore by. Instead I got something I sometimes feel like swearing at.

I have three cats and a husband who shed hair constantly. The Harmony Vacuum is great for dust and hair on hardwood floors. If you have carpet or a lot of thicker pile area rugs this model may not be for you. It is compact, lightweight, and all in all I am very pleased.

While the vacuum does everything it is supposed to I feel cheated that the description says the HEPA filter is washable and it is not! On their own website,Electrolux has described it as washable while neglecting to add that it is optional and can be purchased for $30. Most dealers will tell you that it is washable because that is how Electrolux is marketing it to them. Check the Amazon site and you will see it too! Without the washable filter one has to pay $15+shipping for each filter replacement. The suggested schedule is one for every fifth bag change.Thats a lot to add to the cost of the already expensive vacuum cleaner.
I contacted Electrolux and received no help from customer service. They denied that the website mentions the washable filter - I have copy of it. Calls to the home office have gone unanswered. I might return the product because of the false advertising. Just wanted others to know what they were getting.