When carpet square footage is a concern, wide-area upright vacuums can save the day, covering widths anywhere from 24 to 36 inches in a single pass. Most wide area machines resemble lawn mowers: they’re pushed like uprights but are heavier and have a great deal more power than a typical upright.

These are not your average vacuums, and are priced in the thousands of dollars. Most come equipped with a battery or a 75-foot power cord, and large recovery bags.

Wide area vacuums are best utilized in hallways and lobby areas of hotels, schools, convention centers, movie theaters and any other facilities that has large areas of carpeting.