9 Things to Know About Cordless Cleaners, According to an Electrical Engineer

Range anxiety is real – but it’ll be okay

Although new cordless cleaning machines have longer runtimes than before, some people still get range anxiety – or the fear that their machine won’t let them do a full clean. New advances that extend battery runtime make this less likely. What’s more, people tend to overestimate how long they spend using a battery-powered product, according to Eric, who’s been with BISSELL for 9 years. “People say, ‘I take longer than 30 minutes to do a clean, or, I take longer than 45 minutes.’ But we find that consumers generally take just 10 or 15 minutes to get the job done.”

BISSELL now adds extra battery reserve

Your new BISSELL cordless cleaner may last even longer than you think. “We spend a lot of time in product design creating what we call the battery reserve,” says Eric. “When we make a claim to a consumer about battery life and how long the product runs, we’re not counting the reserve, which is a little battery energy left so that, even if you've drained the battery entirely, if you still have a mess inside the product there is always a little bit of energy left to run the cleaning cycle.”

Lithium-ion batteries can charge continuously

Battery charging used to require special instructions – like, drain the battery fully, then unplug the device as soon as it's fully charged to keep the battery running strong. But that was for batteries made of nickel metal hydride. BISSELL vacuums use lithium-ion batteries, which, according to Eric, are reaching a maturity point. “Batteries today are pretty mature platforms. We know what to do, we know what not to do. We know what they're capable of.” You can leave your lithium-ion battery–powered cordless cleaner charging when not in use without worrying about shortening runtime.

On cleaning machines, the motor uses most of the charge

Cordless cleaners often come with high-tech features. But performance headlights and LED screens only account for a fraction of battery use. “Vacuum motors use up 80- to 90% of all the battery power, so we constantly work to improve how efficient our motors are,” says Eric, who partners with other engineers to improve overall machine design, so no battery power is wasted. For instance, a vacuum with a small leak will require more suction – and battery – to pick up a mess.

New features focus on battery efficiency and runtime

Some of the most important innovations amongst cordless cleaners have to do with extending runtime. “We want to make sure that we can get the most out of a battery,” says Eric. This has led to innovations such as BatteryBoost+, which lets machines like the Little Green® Cordless Portable Carpet Cleaner require less energy – and battery – during less intense cleaning moments, such as spraying cleaning formula or scrubbing a stain, then ramps back up to strongly suction away the cleaning formula. “The BatteryBoost+ feature is meant to only give you the power that you need, when you need it,” he says.'

Cleaning in the correct mode conserves battery life

“A consumer might think using a product’s most powerful mode will let them clean faster, but that’s not necessarily true,” says Eric. “Running the product in Turbo Mode all the time is going to give you the least amount of runtime possible.” Normal messes can be easily cleaned in standard mode – doing so conserves battery power and runtime for cleaning jobs that require extra time and care.

An unplugged machine retains most of its battery charge

The amount of charge lost over time is minimal. So, if you bring your Pet Hair Eraser® cordless hand vac on a road trip, but forget to pack the charger, you should be fine. “When batteries sit, they inherently lose charge,” says Eric. But this loss of charge is very small. For instance, BISSELL charges most of its battery-powered products to around 30% before boxing them up. Even if a device sits on a shelf for a year or more, it will likely power right up as soon as you take it out of the box.

Battery life indicators can help you plan your clean

More and more, machines are designed to give people enough information to plan their cleaning. “On these products, we show how much battery is remaining,” says Eric. For instance, when you start to vacuum you may see three lights lit up, and as you drain the battery the lights will fade. When the last light starts blinking you have 3 to 5 minutes left. “This gives you enough warning time to finish up and get it to the charger,” he says. Other products show the percentage of battery left via an LCD display.

Better machine maintenance can improve runtime 

Despite all of these advancements in battery performance and innovative machines, some things are outside of control of BISSELL engineers and need a little help from the user to keep the product working best. “If you don't open your product up and clean the filter every now and then, you’re going to use more battery because the rest of your system is inefficient,” says Eric. Checking hoses for blockages and regularly emptying debris are other ways to ensure your machine stays performing at its peak for as long as possible.