Before I say anything else, let me just say that I hate to vacuum. As in unequivocally, without a doubt, hate with a capital H. Unfortunately, it’s a necessarily evil because my apartment has carpet in every room except the kitchen and bathrooms. The result of my vacuum hate is that I’ll procrastinate. So though we take our shoes off at the front door 90% of the time to minimize dust, dirt and germs being trekked through the house, carpet is carpet, and there’s no avoiding some accumulation.

The idea of pulling out our hulking vacuum every other day is not appealing. In fact, it conjures black and white images of those infomercials where you see a tired, frazzled housewife tugging around a hefty vacuum that makes her want to pull her hair out, with foreboding music in the background. Then in the next scene, you see the same woman, smiling and happy, using a much lighter handheld machine with birds chirping and upbeat music playing in the background.

That’s a ridiculous comparison, I know. But for me, the Dyson DC35 is the “happy” vacuum. Seriously, it makes a chore I hate much easier. I can’t say I look forward to it, but at least now I know it will be over pretty quickly.

We have owned another cordless vacuum. At the time, that one seemed great. But after using it for a while, a couple of problems became apparent:

• Suction was decent, but when we turned it off and put it back on its charger, dust and other stuff the vacuum had picked up would be deposited into the charging cradle because of low suction.
• And speaking of suction, it would lose power after a few short minutes of use. So while it still turned on, the power clearly waned, and it wasn’t nearly as effective for the last few minutes.

The DC35 apparently has fixed that. You get full power, and full suction, for 15 minutes of use  — 6 if you use it on “max” power for tougher jobs. During those 15 minutes, suction is constant. And because the charging cradle attaches to the handle area of the machine, there’s no worry about picking up the vacuum, only to find dirt from yesterdays cleanup on the charger. And did I mention it’s Energy Star qualified?

The biggest downside? You have to hold down the power button while you’re using the machine. On most vacuums, you can simply switch power on and off. In this case, you have to keep your finger on the button or the vacuum shuts off. An annoying feature, definitely, but something I can learn to live with based on its other benefits.

I relish in the fact that this lightweight machine can tackle big jobs like vacuuming under the dining table to small jobs like cleaning crumbs off the sofa. It’s incredibly easy to switch attachments, so I can go from a long vacuum that can tackle the entire floor, switch to a smaller nozzle too clean up my window sills and small cobwebs in corners, then remove the long nozzle altogether and use the upholstery attachment to clean my dining chairs. Overall, I’m incredibly impressed!

Next week, I’ll share with you some of the jobs I was able to tackle with ease because of this machine. In the meantime, check out this video from Dyson sharing what goes into engineering and testing the DC35:

Disclosure: I am a member of the Walmart Moms program. Walmart and Dyson have provided me with a Dyson DC35 Digital Slim vacuum to review and compensation for my time. Participation is voluntary and as usual, all opinions are my own.

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OK…so the photo above isn’t really our laundry room, and definitely not our basement. But it accurately sums up the way I feel at the moment.

It’s been a long time since my husband and I have had to make a major purchase for our home. With all the moves we’ve made in the past few years, we’ve done our fair share of washing clothes at the laundry. As much as I hate doing laundry at home, there’s little in this life I hate more than having to do it all at once in a hot, often crowded public laundromat. So when our washer inexplicably quit last week, I almost shed some tears.

We’ve had this pair almost as long as we’ve been married, since they were a late wedding gift from a family member. But as clunky and basic as they are, they worked, and that was all that mattered. Even though we got them before Energy Star-qualified appliances became the norm (and before we knew enough to care about energy efficiency), we really weren’t in a position to replace them. Now it looks like we might not have a choice.

I admit I haven’t done a whole lot of looking, but if we’re going to buy, we’d prefer a pair that is not just Energy Star rated, but also as water-efficient as possible. Hopefully, this will result in a monthly reduction in our electricity consumption and water usage, which are goals we’re constantly pushing toward anyway. It is going to be a tough squeeze for us financially, but I’d rather go to the laundry than make an uninformed purchase that will use loads of energy or water.

Ideally, our laundry room, outfitted with new appliances, will look like the Kate’s from Centsational Girl (above). Oh, who am I kidding? As long as we have working appliances, that’s the one room that doesn’t have to look great.

Suggestions?

Do you own an energy- or water-efficient washer and dryer? Which brand, and what do you think of it? Any suggestions or observations are more than welcome!

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I’ve always coveted a modern, stainless steel fireplace. Not that traditional brick and stacked stone fireplaces aren’t beautiful. They’re just not me. So if and when I ever decide to get one, I’m happy to hear from the team over at Alternative Consumer that EcoSmart fireplaces now qualify for federal tax credits for energy efficiency. Any consumer in the U.S. who purchases (or has purchased) an EcoSmart fireplace between 1/1/2009 and 12/31/2010 can receive a tax credit of 30% of the purchase price up to $1500. Sounds like a win/win situation to me! You get a beautiful, energy-efficient, clean-burning fireplace, and you get a decent chunk of your money back. Learn more about the tax credit here.

EcoSmart makes freestanding units, built-in fireplaces and fireplace inserts that are all vent-free. This means a nonexistent or much less costly installation process, even for the built-ins, and none of them require a utility connection for fuel. Rather, they use denatured ethanol, which is an environmentally-friendly, clean-burning, renewable fuel that is derived from natural sources like sugarcane, potatoes, bananas, beetroot and wheat. And because there is no vent or flue through which to lose heat (like a chimney would), the heat stays inside the unit and heats a space much more efficiently.

Why It’s Green:

• Energy efficient
• Uses clean-burning, naturally-derived fuel

Price: $1580-11500

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I have a secret. I hate vacuuming. It is easily one of my least-favorite chores, second only to cleaning the bathroom. I do both, of course, because they need to be done, but I rarely go about it happily. I hate lugging a heavy vacuum around from room to room hoping that the cord will be long enough to reach everywhere without having to switch outlets. It’s just not a fun chore for me. So when Dirt Devil contacted me about their Accucharge cordless stick vac that is also ENERGY STAR approved, I jumped at the chance. After all, a well-decorated home is a clean, well-kept home.

The Accucharge is very lightweight at less than 6 lbs. Just how light is that in real life terms? My 3-year-old uses and lifts it without breaking a sweat. In fact, she wants to vacuum all the time now because it is so easy to use. The cordless, rechargeable feature is easily my favorite. There’s no long cord to lug around, and it’s so small and light that you can literally take it to any room, get under the bed, under tables, etc. with little effort. And it works on carpet as well as bare floors with the flip of a switch. I haven’t used it on bare floors much, but it does a great job on carpet. Not exactly a deep cleaning, but for everyday spills, crumbs, hair, etc., it’s very reliable.

It sits on a charging stand when not in use. You could choose to put it away, but then you’d have to charge it before using it again. The Accucharge is ENERGY STAR approved, meaning that it uses 70% less power than comparable vacs. I was a little skeptical about this since it does sit on the charger while not in use and could very well be using phantom power. However, it apparently has an unseen feature that monitors the power supply. When it is fully charged, the charging unit is designed to vastly reduce power usage. I like the sound of that, but I still wasn’t convinced, so I unplug the unit when I’m not using it and plug it in about a half hour before I need to vacuum.

It provides pretty good suction for a unit of its size. It is very small and will take up only a little more space than your regular broom. And although I have never used this feature, the handle also folds down to allow storage in a smaller space. But speaking of size, that brings me to a couple of issues I have with the Accucharge.

The size of the dirt canister is tiny. The unit sucks dirt up in a cyclone motion that you can see when you’re using it. This results in a swirly pile of dirt that fills up the unit very quickly. I don’t mind emptying once in a while, because the canister is very easy to remove and replace. But if I were trying to vacuum the entire living room and hallway, I could easily imagine having to empty it at least twice. I would have provided my own photos of it in use, but my camera batteries died on me. Guess I need to recharge them too

My second issue is that the charge doesn’t last terribly long. I thought maybe the charge was running out quickly because I wasn’t letting the unit charge long enough before using it. One day, I left it plugged in all morning with plans to use it in the late afternoon. It didn’t make a difference. I was vacuuming only the visible floor area in our small bedroom. The batteries didn’t die completely, but after about 10 minutes, the suction power was considerably reduced. I was able to finish the job, but it took several passes over the same spot once the battery began to lose power.

Lastly, although I certainly appreciate the ENERGY STAR rating, that alone does not a green product make. Maybe the case could have been made of recycled plastic or even corn plastic, or the filters could be biodegradable. One step towards sustainability is definitely a step in the right direction, but I would definitely like to see the next generation of this product take the green commitment a lot further.

Overall, I have to say I still really like the Accucharge. It has become a trusted part of our household cleaning regimen. We use it at least two to three times a week. It has almost completely replaced our full-sized vaccuum, which we now use only about once a month or if there is a really heavy-duty job (like a picture glass frame breaking on the carpet). The Accucharge handles everyday messes with ease, and it actually works well on area rugs without shifting the entire rug. I love the fact that it is cordless and that my daughter loves to use it. Because of this, I may be able to give it up on vacuuming completely and let her take over that chore.

If you ask me, that alone makes it a winner!

Why It’s Green:

• ENERGY STAR approved

Price: $65.99

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