Review & Giveaway: Oreck Halo Vacuum Cleaner (11/25)

In our home, we have a cat, messy two kids and a messy hubby. Mommy is clean. For the last couple of weeks, we have been trying out the new Oreck Halo. What is this?

The New Oreck Halo Vacuum Cleaner uses UV-C light to kill many of the germs that could be on your floors, while you vacuum. So that you and your family can enjoy a healthier clean. Oreck Halo. What is Halo?

What is Halo Technology?

• Halo Technology is comprised of a patented light chamber that magnifies and concentrates ultraviolet light in the C spectrum, effectively killing many microscopic germs, bacteria, viruses, mold, dust mite eggs, flea eggs, and other microorganisms that could living and breeding on your floor surfaces.

How do you know its working?

• When the Halo light chamber is switched on, you will see a blue glowing ring on top of the powerhead. You also can see blue light glowing from the edges of the powerhead. Most contaminants are microscopic, so just like using a chemical cleanser, you can’t directly see the effects.

Right out of the box, it was easy to put together and ready to go.
What’s included? I will show you.

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Who would think that your carpet would have more in it than just cookie crumbs? When I read all that the Oreck Halo was capable of, it blew my mind away!

Product Details

Powerful 2-in-1 cleaning performance.
The new Oreck Halo is a revolution in vacuum cleaner technology. Incredible suction vacuums dirt and debris, while the patented Oreck Halo light chamber kills many microscopic germs, bacteria, viruses, mold, dust mite eggs, and flea eggs using UV-C light. And like all Oreck products, it’s remarkably simple to use – just vacuum as you normally would, and the Oreck Halo vacuum cleaner kills and reduces microorganisms without any extra effort or harsh chemicals.

Carpets and floors can be the most germ-ridden surfaces in your home.
Every time we enter our homes, we can track in germs and bacteria from outside. Think about coming home from work, or the kids as they enter the house, dirty from playing outside. Where have their shoes been? Public bathrooms? What have they stepped in? What about the dog digging in the dirt or trash? It’s easy for germs to get on your floors. Dust mite eggs, flea eggs, mold, bacteria, germs, and other microorganisms could be living there, too. But the new Oreck Halo vacuum cleaner with germ-killing UV-C light can help rid many of them from your floors – easily.1

Did You Know…

• Carpet can be the most germ-ridden surface in your home. It can contain approximately 200,000 microbes of bacteria per square inch, and as many as 100,000 dust mites per square yard.
• A typical square inch of kitchen tile floor can contain over 2,500 bacteria.
• Bacteria samples from a typical home show that the bathroom floor contains 18,025 bacteria per square inch, while the toilet seat has only 49 bacteria per square inch!

Redefining the meaning of clean.
Conventional vacuums likely can’t do the whole job. Even after being cleaned with a conventional vacuum, carpets and floors can still be covered with germs and dust mite eggs. That’s why you need the Oreck Halo vacuum cleaner to quickly kill many of the germs, dust mite eggs, flea eggs and mold that could be on your floors. And you’ll have piece of mind knowing the Oreck Halo does it all without chemicals – making it safe for you, your family and the environment.

The Oreck Halo effectively reduces the amount of bacteria, germs, and other microorganisms that could be on your carpets and flooring. These petri dish images represent the positive results of repeated exposure to the Oreck Halo light chamber. Over time and with routine cleanings, the Oreck Halo and its UV-C germ-killing light can help reduce dust mite populations by killing many dust mite eggs. It can also help reduce harmful bacteria and viruses on floor surfaces throughout your home.

Breakdown:

Weight:
While this is a beautiful vacuum, my first thought was its’ weight. It weighs right around 20 pounds. Yes, I stepped on the scale with it to check. Having a 2 story home with a basement, toting along 20 pounds up and down the stairs gets a bit tiring, but after checking it out in my home with a fuzzy cat and a messy family, I liked how it picked up the messes on our carpet, rugs and even in our kitchen on the tile floors.

Height:
The Oreck Halo is a nice height for hubby and myself and I do have to say that I love the handle on it! It is gripped so you get an easier grab on the handle.

Ease of use:
While the vacuum head doesn’t maneuver as easily as I thought, it did seem to work and vacuum very well. I would like to see it a bit more light weight and easier to go around corners and around the baseboards a bit easier.

Accessories:
There is a very nice, long hose that is attached. This is a huge plus! We clean ceiling fans, baseboards, stairs, heck – we even have to get in the kids’ playhouse in the playroom to vacuum and I can easily do this with the massive long hose that is attached. There is a brush that is included so you can easily add it to the end of the hose for deeper cleaning things like the couch, or even the kids’ stuffed animals.

Clear canister vs. bags:
I have only had vacuums in our home that you can see inside the clear canister. Now, while I am not sure which is ‘better’, I can say that I like being able to see inside the vacuum to see what all I am picking up and if it is picking things up around my house. I read that having a bagged vacuum is better for people with asthma (me), breathing issues (Tucker) and allergies (hubby). Since we have had the Oreck Halo in our home a short time, I cannot deny that this vacuum is helping or if it is just that we are vacuuming more.

Cost of bags:
The Oreck Halo does use bags and when you purchase from the Oreck website, you will get a year’s free supply of bags. This is a nice option for Oreck to offer! When you are ready to buy more, they are available for around $25.00, plus shipping (give or take a couple of bucks, depending on where you buy them from) for a pack of 18. Not really too bad, if you ask me, but being that its suggested to replace the bag every 3 months, this can get costly. While the cost of the vacuum is just shy of $600.00, I would like to see a couple of additional bags included in the box. We had a bagged vacuum a few years back and the cost of the bags was enough to put anyone in to debt. My only suggestion might be to put a clear strip on the bag so people can take a peek inside to see how much gunk they are picking up. I am weird in the way that I feel more comfortable seeing the stuff my vacuum picks up.

Thoughts on germ killing technology:
This is amazing to me! Who knows what is living in your carpets? We play on the floor a lot, roll around, sit and read, lay and watch TV – so knowing that we are laying on top of something that is alive, crawling around under us and potentially harmful to us, is just plain gross! With the Halo Technology, we are able to vacuum and kill things such as Anthrax, Bacteriophage – E. Coli, Infectious Hepatitis, Influenza, Poliovirus, E. Coli, Myobacterium tuberculosis, Salmonella enteritidis, and Penicillium expansum.. Yup .. Mold! You know that time that your child’s sippy cup fell over and had that slow leak of milk. Can you imagine what is alive and feeding off those drops? I don’t even want to vision that! The Oreck Halo kills germs via germicidal ultraviolet light. Zap – dead!

Overall, I am very pleased with the Oreck Halo. I am looking forward to this Fall & Winter to see how my family’s breathing, asthma and allergies are. While we do not have access to a microscope to verify that all the germs in our carpet are dead, but I am pretty confident that the Oreck Halo will do the job it is lined up to do.

For more information, please visit http://www.oreck.com/

Mommy Goggles Review Policy: The featured product for this review was provided to me, at no cost, by the manufacturer or representing PR agency for the sole purpose of product testing. I do not accept monetary compensation for reviewing or writing about products. I only review products that I have personally tested and used in my home, and all opinions expressed are my own. If I didn’t like the product, I would say so.

What you win

• Oreck Halo Vacuum Cleaner

How to enter

• Go to http://www.oreck.com/
• Come back here and post to me a feature about the Oreck Halo that you find most beneficial.

Extra Entries

• Twitter the giveaway (copy & paste text below to Twitter. Leave link on comment entry) You can Tweet Daily, but you must leave your daily tweet on the comments below.

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Details

• ONE (1) winner will receive an Oreck Halo Vacuum Cleaner Valued at $599.95
• Winner will be chosen at Random and backed up by post content.
• Winner will be contacted via Email. If no response in 48 hours, another winner will be drawn
• For more specifics on how winners are drawn, click here
• Winners are posted here for reference
• US & Canada entries only
• Winner must not have won a similar prize on another blogsite. (Give others a chance too)
• Contest ends on November 25, 2009 at 11:59 pm Central Time

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