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These traditional-style vacuums cover a lot of ground, quickly!

Vacuums are hardworking appliances. In fact, our cleaning experts recommend vacuuming your home at least once a week, so finding the right vac to make the chore quick and easy is a must. But how do you choose between a stick, cylinder, upright, handheld or even robot?

If you have a bigger home, then an upright has plenty to recommend it. Their corded designs give you an unlimited power supply, and usually enough slack to cover a lot of ground without constantly pulling the plug out.

The Good Housekeeping Institute put a range of models to the test to find the best upright vacuum cleaners for your home. We’ve also covered everything you need to know about these trusty traditional cleaners.

Here are our best buys at a glance:

Like cylinder vacuums, most uprights plug directly into the mains, but instead of pulling the body of the vacuum along behind you, these more compact units are pushed out in front.

This makes them more stable and easier to manoeuvre. It’s also helpful if you have back issues or get back ache while vacuuming as you don’t have to bend down to use them, other than to plug them in. That said, some upright vacs can feel heavy after extended use.

They also have a wide floor head, allowing them to cover a greater surface area. This often features a built-in turbo brush that is notably effective at lifting hair from carpets.

Most uprights have hoses for cleaning stairs and under furniture and there is usually room on the body to store any accompanying tools. They pack away neatly, too, making them easier to store than cylinder models.

Both upright and stick vacs operate in a similar way with one unit that you push along to clean, but there are three big differences: capacity, power and weight.

While our champion stick vac – the Dyson V11 – can collect 0.76 litres of dust, our winning Shark upright sucks up 1.6 litres and the Sebo Felix Pet ePower boasts a mega 3.5-litre canister.

This makes uprights a great choice for larger homes as you can clean for longer before they need emptying. But their bigger capacity means they take up more storage space, so if you live in a flat or somewhere smaller, sticks are ideal.

Similarly, because our recommended uprights are plugged in for use (apart from the cordless Vax Evolve), they can run for longer periods of time than sticks, which require charged batteries.

Sticks are lighter though; for example, at 2.2kg our runner-up stick – the Hoover H-Free 500 Pet – is almost half the weight of our lightest upright vac. So, if you find vacuuming hard on your back, a stick should take the pressure off.

If you’re ready to commit, here’s what to consider when buying an upright vacuum cleaner:

Every vacuum is judged on three different floor types: laminate, floorboards and carpet. Firstly, our GHI expert assesses general pickup by laying down a set amount of specially formulated dust. Then, after a set number of sweeps, they weigh how much the vac has collected.

They do the same with pet hair, sourced directly from Battersea Dogs and Cats Home, and ground into carpet to create a worst-case scenario.

Our tester measures how much dust is left along floor edges and cleans stairs to see how far the vac will reach.

They try it under furniture and consider its design, ease of use and instructions before awarding it a final score.

Picking up over 90% of dust from every surface we tested it on, this is one reliable cleaner. It performed best on laminate, lifting 98%. Our tester found the motorised head particularly nifty; its brushes prevented dust from blowing around the room and lifted all pet hair without it getting tangled.

It moved nicely too, gliding across every floor type, while the compact design felt lightweight in use. You can detach the body, which is helpful when cleaning stairs, and it fared well along flooring edges. Finally, the canister emptied easily and cleanly. This vac ticks all our boxes.

Key specifications Bagged or bagless: Bagless Capacity: 1.6 litres Indicator to clear dust canister: No Cord length: 8 metres Hose length: 1.5 metres Tools: Crevice nozzle, dusting brush, multi-surface tool Variable power: Yes Wattage: 800 Weight: 6.8kg

If it feels like you spend all your time vacuuming behind your furry friends, this vac will impress. One swift sweep was enough to lift all our ground-in pet hair, and none of it got caught on the brushes. It was a star on carpet too, sucking up 96% of the dust laid on short pile and rooting out more than the set amount on deep pile.

It tackled floor edges brilliantly, getting notably close to the wall for an upright. To increase reach on stairs, we suggest using the hose and lifting the canister from the body.

This is a fairly bulky model, and there's no onboard storage for accompanying tools, but our tester still found it easy to manoeuvre and lift.

Key specifications Bagged or bagless: Bagged Capacity: 3.5 litres Indicator to change dust bag: Yes Cord length: 9.5 metres Hose length: 2 metres Tools: Crevice nozzle, upholstery nozzle, stairs and upholstery turbo brush, SEBO Kombi, ET-1 Electric Powerhead Variable power: Yes Wattage: 700 Weight: 6.8kg

This handy Hoover weighs under 5kg, making it pain-free to carry around the house. It's also compact so you’ll likely find a nook to store it in, even if storage is tight. What’s more, its 1.5-litre canister has ample capacity for dust, so you won’t be emptying it too often.

On test, it proved consistently reliable, lifting almost 90% of dust from both carpet and hard floors. The head missed some dust in crevices and blew a little around, but it proved effective on floor edges.

It only took a couple of sweeps to pull up all pet hair; some of this did catch on the brush, but it didn’t tangle so was easy to loosen. Note it only has one power mode, making it best suited for lighter, everyday cleans.

Key specifications Bagged or bagless: Bagless Capacity: 1.5 litres Indicator to clear dust canister: No Cord length: 8.1 metres Hose length: 2 metres Tools: Crevice nozzle, mini turbo nozzle, dusting brush Variable power: No Wattage: 850 Weight: 4.94kg

We weren’t sure this cordless would rival the traditional upright vacs on test, so we were pleasantly surprised by its performance. On hard floors, it picked up nearly all the dust laid down, and it lifted 80% from short pile carpet.

It made light work of pet hair, too, scoring perfect marks by pulling it all up in one sweep. It only struggled on deep pile carpet, so opt for another model if that’s your main floor type.

Our tester found it lightweight and easy to use, with clear, accessible controls. It’s also notably compact. It comes with neither tools nor a hose, limiting its ability to clean stairs, but this won’t trouble anyone living in a single-storey apartment or bungalow.

If you don’t like faffing around with a cord but need more capacity than a stick vac can offer, this Vax would be perfect.

Key specifications Bagged or bagless: Bagless Capacity: 1.2 litres Indicator to clear dust canister: Yes Charge time: 3 hours Battery running time: 35 minutes Tools: None Variable power: Yes Wattage: n/a Weight: 4.1kg

It weighs 0.2kg more than the cordless Vax above, but this Russell Hobbs vac is the lightest of our traditional uprights. It will also set you back less than most, without compromising on performance. Our tester found it good on short pile carpet and even better on deep pile, where it picked up 92% of dust.

On hard floors, it was better still, lifting 93% and getting most specks out of crevices. That said, it did push dust around a bit.

It banished pet hair quickly but a little tangled on the brushes, which could get frustrating if your dog or cat is long-haired.

Its hose reached up eight stairs and its substantial 2-litre canister proved easy to empty. But if you have delicate flooring or rugs, you may want to look elsewhere; you can’t turn off its rotating brush, which could cause damage.

Key specifications Bagged or bagless: Bagless Capacity: 2 litres Indicator to clear dust canister: No Cord length: 6 metres Hose length: 3 metres Tools: 3-in-1 multi tool Variable power: No Wattage: 400 Weight: 4.3kg

This upright won’t break the bank but will still provide a good clean. It lifted over 80% of dust from short pile carpet and averaged 89% on deep pile.

On hard floors, it improved again, lifting 93% and cleaning edges and crevices well. It did disperse some of the dust as it travelled, though, and its wheels trapped some in their ridges. It picked up pet hair in one sweep but this tangled slightly.

Its hose has a long reach and its 2.5-litre canister houses a lot of dust. The controls are straightforward, but it’s bulky and not the easiest to carry upstairs or store. And, as with the above Russell Hobbs model, you can’t turn off the beater bar.

Key specifications Bagged or bagless: Bagless Capacity: 2.5 litres Indicator to clear dust canister: No Cord length: 2 metres Hose length: 2 metres Tools: 3-in-1 crevice tool Wattage: 400 Weight: 4.8kg