I have a Shark Apex that I love and highly recommend. I researched vacuums quite thoroughly, read lots of reviews. It is powerful, does a great job on floors and carpets.

Miele is the best! Hepa, easy to pull around/follows well, light weight but powerful, retractable cord (which is important to me because I don't want to mess with a cord), relatively quiet. I love mine so much!

I have used Orecks for over 20 years with great success, but truly, Riccar, is the cream of the crop.

My old Electrolux was the best. Out of my more recent ones - Miele, Shark etc., my Shark is my favorite. The Miele did a terrible job with dog hair.

My Miele vac is the best purchase I have ever made. It is now 18 years old. It has never needed a repair, it still has as much suction as the day I bought it. It is a quiet, forceful machine that is fantastic in removing dust from anything.

We own a ridiculous number of vacuums for some reason. We have central vac with hide a hose and used it almost daily for years to keep up with all of the dog hair tumbleweeds. Our Dyson cordless has given the central vac a rest because it's easier to pull out and whip around the kitchen and family room. We also have a Shark upright that our cleaning lady uses and a Miele C3 Marin. At our beach house, we have a Miele C1 Homecare compact vacuum. My mom is a Miele fanatic and gave us the C3 Marin as a random gift even though we already have central vac. I tried to embrace it but I find it just a bit too bulky in comparison to the central vac hose. I will say that the powerhead and suction are wonderful.

Given your hardwood floors throughout, I'd suggest a lightweight cordless vac like the Dyson for everyday cleaning and maybe a Miele canister for weekly deep cleans. We only have three rugs in our beach house so we can get away with the air-driven turbo head on the Miele rather than paying the $$$ for a C3 model with an electric head. The non-electric hose handle is also a lot more comfortable to use on the C1 than the C3 Marin's electric handle which is sort of like a gas pump style.

Cordless Dyson stick is all I use now. I have one on each floor and can vacuum my entire 3100 sq ft house without recharging. The upholstery attachment is an added excellent bonus. After a bunch of disposable vacuums I bought an Oreck upright and a Miele canister. No longer use either one.

@3katz4me which Dyson do you have?

I have the V8 - actually three of them. Two at my primary residence and one at my lake home. They're all exactly the same but for which attachments came with them. I have an extra wood floor attachment at home - smooth, no brushes on it. I bought one with minimal attachments because it was the second one at that house. The main ones I use are the floor attachment with the brush, the wood floor one and the upholstery attachment which also has a brush. I know other people who have the higher models but they report that they're heavier and of course more expensive. They have big sales around black Friday. Prime Day coming up next week may be an opportunity to buy on sale.

I raved about it to my lake cabin neighbor and loaned her mine. She promptly bought one and five her of friends and family subsequently bought one as well. I have a housecleaner at home and suggested she try the Dyson - she opted for the Miele. I finally got her to try it and she couldn't believe how much stuff it sucks up. She quit using the Miele and I bought the second Dyson for downstairs so she wouldn't run out of power before she was done cleaning. We have wood floors, area rugs and some carpet. The design and maneuverability of it along with the lack of a cord are just superb plus it cleans amazingly well. Once you try it you'll never want to drag a canister or push an upright tangled up with a cord again.

Miele canister vac all the way!! There's a big difference in features between lower end and higher end models (for example, power head for carpets) -- splurge on a higher end model and you won't be sorry.

I have a Miele upright and a canister, I like the canister much better. The light on the power head is great as it lets you see what you’re vacuuming under furniture, and if you’ve gotten everything. I have wood floors in my house with rugs in every room, several long-haired cats and dogs ( think major shedding) and really think Miele is a great workhorse. I do have trouble with the staircase though as it’s very awkward to position the canister and try to get as far up or down the stairs as I can with the hose. I had a Dyson which I used for the stairs, but the battery didn’t last very long and I hated emptying the dust bin into the trash and watching a good percentage of what I had just vacuumed go airborne…

Dyson V8 is on sale right now at Target with Circle but it’s gotten a lot more expensive than when I bought mine. I’ve never had a good percentage of the bin contents go airborne when emptying though I can see how that could happen if you aren’t careful. And yes - it is designed perfectly for stairs - lugging the Miele canister was especially a PITA for that.