Numatic’s Henry Goes Cordless

Numatic’s iconic Henry vacuum cleaner now has a cordless counterpart

Henry Vacuum Cleaner image by David Simmonds (Creative Commons License: Attribution-Some Rights Reserved).
Now available in cordless forms: Numatic’s Henry vacuum cleaner. Image by David Simmonds (Creative Commons License: Some Rights Reserved – Share Alike).

Numatic’s Henry and Hetty cleaners are already an icon in most homes and offices.  Now, alongside rivals Dyson and Bosch, Numatic have introduced a cordless vacuum cleaner.  Yes, Henry has gone cordless.  We kid you not.

The HVB160, just to give it its model number, is powered by a 36V battery.  On its highest setting, a fully charged 36V battery can clean for 20 minutes.  On its lowest setting, 30 minutes.  The vacuum cleaner comes with two 36 volt battery packs and a charging dock with a full charge taking 3.5 hours.  Its bagged capacity is six litres – the same as a bog-standard Henry cleaner.

The latest Numatic cleaner aims to make vacuum cleaning a lot easier.  Trailing wires can be a pain for household and office cleaning operations.  The latest version of Henry aims to alleviate this.  If you are short of mains sockets, this will be a boon.

Numatic’s cordless version of Henry sells for a recommended selling price of £300 including VAT.  It is already available from Argos, Currys and other leading stockists of electrical goods.  A corded version of Henry sells for a third of the price of his cordless brother.  Though you get the same power as the corded Henry, is the extra flexibility worth another £200?

In comparison with rival cordless cleaners, storage capacity is more generous.  A typical cordless vacuum cleaner has a litre of storage space.  Henry’s capacity is six times that.  What’s more, Numatic Hepaflow vacuum bags are also compatible with other cleaners in the family.  If you have more than one of their vacuum cleaners, that’s one variety of bags to buy (which is good if you can buy in bulk).

Should you save your dosh till the cordless Henry falls in price, or is the corded Henry still a good buy?  The choice, as they say… is yours.

Clean Hire, 25 April 2017.