Before you buy the first vacuum cleaner you see, you should consider a few things. For example, where are you going to store it? You might want to choose the largest and most powerful one on the market to help you get the job done quickly, but if you don't have a suitable place to hide it away you'll soon get fed up of it. The size of your house, flat or cottage is also very important. If you live in a smaller apartment a small, cordless model will be the best vacuum cleaner for you and help you quickly whizz round all the rooms in a matter of minutes. For larger homes, you should consider something with a mains power source, so you won't have to keep charging the battery before you've reached the second guest bedroom. A final thing to think about is what type of floors you have. If you have a lot of carpets that need a deep clean, you should consider a carpet or steam cleaner to really get rid of all the dirt. Let's look at the options.

The most powerful suction available, these use a mains power source to achieve unlimited hoovering time. The upright design makes them grip exceptionally well on carpeted floors, where you need to stay in close contact with the fibres at all times to clean them effectively. They are a little more cumbersome when it comes to stairs or smaller rooms, but many models have small attachments that you can extend from the main body to clean these hard to reach areas much more easily.

This style is larger and needs a bigger area to store it, but it can also hold more dust, dirt and hair in the chamber, meaning you can clean a larger home without having to repeatedly empty it.

At the other end of the spectrum, cordless vacuum cleaners are not attached to the mains power by a cable but have a battery pack that is charged up when not in use. This type is great for smaller homes that you can clean in under an hour (otherwise you might run out of power). They are lightweight, easy to manoeuvre and store thanks to the detachable extension tubes and accessories. They do, however, have a lower capacity, which means you'll have to empty them out more often. But, in a smaller home, this shouldn't be too much of an issue.

Occupying the middle ground of cleaning capabilities, cylinder vacuum cleaners are lighter and easier to manoeuvre than upright models, but more powerful than cordless vacuum cleaners. They don't rely on a battery pack so can carry on hoovering for as long as you can, and are also easier to store away thanks to their compact size.

The ultimate in auto-cleaning, robot vacuum cleaners move around by themselves to hoover up any dirt without you even noticing. They are not capable of tougher jobs like embedded pet hairs or travelling up and down stairs, but we can all hope for the future!

The final type of vacuum cleaner you should consider is one that utilises water in the form of steam to wash and dry your floors in the same quick motion. These are best used on older carpets that need a refresh during the spring months, or tiled bathrooms or utility areas that see a lot of dirt very frequently. These can also be used on upholstery and even windows, as well as for carpet cleaning.