Is a vacuum worth the space in a small apartment?

[eirual]

We have an average-sized vacuum at the moment. Do you think a vacuum would be worth the space in a small apartment? our place will be all hard-wood, which is the only thing holding me back.

If I can sweep the majority of the floors, I'm thinking of just getting a small vacuum for the corners and nooks. If anyone has anything like that, is there one small vacuum you'd recommend for that type of random use?

[Chamomile Girl]

Well I think I would only bother if it were a vacuum that could clean hardwood. I have a Oreck and it works fine on hard floors, and its got a low profile so it doesn't take up much room.

[eclipse]

I moved from an apartment with carpets to an all tile house, and I almost never use my vacuum. It's outside in the laundry room and rarely ends up coming back in the house - usually only when I'm vacuuming between the sofa cushions. So I say you don't really need one. It's much easier to sweep the floors than to vacuum them.

[KempsMama]

We have this;  http://www.google.com/products/catalog?q=shark+stick+vac&oe=utf-8&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a&um=1&ie=UTF-8&cid=4988493961683948969&sa=X&ei=IxJ9TcmaBcTprAHsrJn_BQ&ved=0CEoQ8wIwAg#

We have a house, with some carpet and some hard surfaces and I love this vac.  It also converts to a hand held.  It takes up very little space, is very light, and my three year old uses it! 

[Logan]

I just bought one for our floors (hardwood) and LOVE it. I was worried about having one because we only have a small space and it has to be out in the open. But it has made an enormous difference to how clean the floors are. There are thin groove gaps in between the floorboards and I was never getting anywhere sweeping every day because a lot of the dust/crumbs would stay down in there. It has made it so much easier to clean and keep clean. That said if you are buying a new one and know you will have a tiny place, I would highly recommend one similar to this...

http://www.godfreys.com.au/vacuum_cleaner_information.php?cat=5&is_subcat=0&id=291&page=1&catname=SGFuZCBWYWN1dW0gQ2xlYW5lcg==

Its a dustbuster and vacuum combined so you can easily clip them off for quick vacuums with the dustbuster. I had one when I used to live in an apartment and it was perfect for small spaces.

Oh and this is the one we ended up getting just recently because if its going to be out for all to see it may as well be cute .....

http://www.shopperhive.co.uk/compare/numatic-hetty-vacuum-prices

[SuzyLee]

DS has one of those lightweight "stick vacs" iykwim. It works ok but I think sweeping works better. But if you could mostly sweep and just needed the vac for a small room or rug then it would be fine IMO.

[seriosa]

How small is small? I had one in our previous 800 sq ft appartment. All ceramic tile floors. Sweeping is OK but I wouldn't happily do without a weekly throrough clean with a vacuum. The vacuum gets floors cleaner, and you notice the difference if you mop after vacuming or after sweeping. And think not only nooks & corners, but rugs, sofas, matresses, curtains. Think random spills, the occasion broken glass. I have just an ordinary Bosch model but it has all the attachments, a wide brush and good suction. I don't think with a baby vac that the size difference would make up for the efficiency loss.