Visvac — Vacuum Cleaner Specs Explained | visvac.com
One numeric row per specification: suction in pascals, airflow in CFM, output in airwatts and input watts, each carrying its own unit.
Suction, also called vacuum or water lift, is measured in pascals (Pa) or inches of water. It is a pressure figure: how much of a pressure difference the machine can hold against a sealed opening. A higher number means a harder pull, which shows up when you clean carpet pile or lift debris from a crevice.
Airflow is measured in cubic feet per minute (CFM or ft3/min), and air speed in metres per second or miles per hour. Airflow is a volume moved per minute; air speed is a velocity at the inlet. The two are separate rows on the sheet and cannot substitute for each other.
The amount of input power converted into airflow at the end of the cleaning hose is measured in airwatts (AW). This is the output figure: it tells you how much of the electricity drawn by the machine actually reaches the cleaning head.
On narrow screens, swipe or scroll the plate sideways.
Input power is measured in watts. From 2017 no vacuum cleaner with a wattage greater than 900 watts was permitted in the EU, after models above 1600 watts were banned earlier. Both thresholds apply to what the machine draws from the socket, not to what it delivers at the nozzle.
Other listed specifications include weight in kilograms or pounds, noise in decibels (dB), and power cord and hose length. These do not affect suction or airflow, but they decide how the machine feels to use over a long session.
Wet and dry vacuum cleaners accommodate both wet and dry soilage, a useful feature in industrial plants and manufacturing facilities. The configuration row — upright, canister, drum, wet/dry, pneumatic or backpack — sits alongside the numeric rows and changes how you read them.
Further reading