Dyson Animal Reviews

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The Dyson DC14 Animal was introduced in 2004 with a redesigned Root8 Cyclone technology in the canisiter. It also has a slightly shorter center of gravity due to a shorter, ’squattier’ canister design.

Of course the ‘cyclone technology" is what makes the Dyson line such an efficient cleaning machine so getting details on what and why the canister was redesigned between the DC07 and DC14 is somewhat of a mystery. Besides, who really cares - unless you work for a competing company - as long as the thing cleans.

Near as I’ve been able to tell the big difference between the DC07 and DC14/15 canister is the cyclonic tunnels have been reversed with the smaller part of the cone now facing down instead of up. Since the air is forced from the larger part of the cone to the smaller (thus the air is sped up and ejects more of the fine dirt particles), having the cones face downwards means gravity is now helping the captured dirt fall into the canister on the DC14/DC15/DC17. But that’s just a guess on my part and who really cares as long as the thing helps you keep your house clean?

Likes

The DC14 Animal maintains the "quick-draw" hose which simply means with one push of a pretty large button just above the canister, the hose and extension handle can be detached from the vacuum and used. The hose has a full reach of seventeen feet which is long enough to reach all the way up a traditional flight of stairs or vacuum the walls and ceilings of a typical room without having to move the vacuum.

The extension handle on all models starting with the DC14 no longer needs to be reversed so have the handle at the back with the majority of the aluminum extension out front. You simply slide the cap away from the top of the handle, push a small button to allow extension of the aluminum tube and push the larger release button above the canister to remove the extension handle and hose. No more having to take the handle completely out of the hose and reverse it as with the DC07. The attachments fit on the extension handle solidly - I’ve never had one fall off while using.

The cord length is a hair shorter than the DC07 - about thirty-five feet vs. thirty-seven. Still, that is a nice long cord that will allow you to reach almost all areas of a floor without having to unplug and move the cord. I can still do each floor of my house (about 1000 sq. ft) if I plug the vacuum into a central location.

The canister is easy to empty and see when it is getting full. Push a button on top of the canister (I think the button on the DC07 is a tad easier to push), remove it and then push a red trigger button located in the handle to open the bottom of the canister and release the contents. A few light raps on top of the canister will release any fine particles of dirt and dust still trapped in them.

The crevice tool (see video here). It is, in my opinion, an awesome attachment. I say that because until we owned the Dyson, cleaning the drapes or shears (hopefully the correct word) was simply a pain in the rump. They simply never got the cleaning they deserved because all previous crevice tools were sealed with only the narrow opening at the end of the attachment. As soon as you place the tool against a drape or shear the fabric would be sucked into the opening and normally required the vacuum to be turned off to remove it. We got quite good at the "hit and run" technique of simply ‘tapping’ the tool against the fabric and quickly pulling it away. Witt the Dyson crevice tool, this is no longer necessary.

The vacuum self adjusts for any carpet and floor height and also has the ability to turn off the beater bar when doing a non-carpeted floor. Theres also the additional of a front channel just in front of the beater bar that allows the pick up of larger debris without them having to pass through the beater bar area.

The vacuum is a slight bit lighter than the DC07 - 18.5 Lbs vs. 19 Lbs and it has even a lower-center carrying handle (the handle on top of the cannister) which makes carrying the vacuum up and down stairs easier. Again, my my wife or teenage daughters did not have a problem doing this (thought they wouldn’t want to do it for long periods of time). The handle feels solid when you lift the vacuum and because it is low, you arm can normally stay almost extended while carrying. That seems to make the vacuum lighter.

Simple to clean any clog because all parts in the vacuum airway have quick release button to remove them. No more coat hangers to dislodge a clogged vacuum.

Dislikes

The cord does not have a self-retract feature and must be completely taken off the handle in order to use the extension wand and hose. This makes it somewhat of a pain when doing just a quick cleanup requiring the accessory brush or carpet tool.

The larger handle on the DC14 has been reported to be somewhat unwieldy to use. It is much larger than the DC07 handle and can at times get in the way when using it or maybe saying it doesn’t feel as ‘nimble’ as the DC07’s handle is more a correct way to explain it. I did not find this to be a great problem when I tried out the DC14 and being able to extend and use the extension handle without taking it out of the hose, in my opinion, more than made up for this.

The vacuum stores the crevice tool, brush and carpet tool attachments on the vacuum itself which will serve 85-90% of your cleaning needs. The turbo tool and bare floor (low reach) tool must be stored elsewhere. It’s a bit of a pain to remember to carry the turbo tool around while vacuuming.

When emptying the canister sometimes the dirt and fine debris can float away from the trash can. You must hold the canister down into the trash can and then open it. Since the bottom swings down and away, you might not have enough room in your trash can to do this.