Upright, canister and stick vacuums beta · Kenmore
The BU4050 is a light upright that steers easily around furniture, and some owners who bought it as a stopgap found no reason to replace it, though it has no height adjustment.
Owners are divided on pet hair. Some, including one with lots of carpet and a heavy-shedding dog, rate its cleaning highly, while others say it takes several passes to pick up hair from a single short-haired cat.
Carpet performance is a clear complaint. It has no height or suction adjustment, so the brushroll can jam on high-pile area rugs and on rugs with dense rubber backing that block airflow.
The Kenmore Intuition BU4050 is a full-size upright vacuum that plugs into the wall and collects dirt in a bag. Its lower body lifts off as a smaller unit, so you can clean stairs and furniture, and the brushroll clears wrapped hair on its own. It's for homes with carpets, hard floors and pets.
| Type | Bagged upright, corded (30 ft cord) |
|---|---|
| Run time | |
| Bin capacity | |
| Weight | Under 15 lbs |
| Filtration | HEPA, 2 filters, sealed system; traps 99.97% of dust and particles down to 0.3 microns |
| Noise | |
| Warranty |
From the maker's spec page, checked October 9, 2026. A blank row means the maker does not state it.
Because it runs on a cord, it has no battery to run down, and the 30 ft cord lets you cover a large room before you change outlets. At just under 15 lbs it is easy enough to push, but carrying it up and down stairs will take some effort. The sealed HEPA system keeps fine dust inside the machine instead of blowing it back into the room, which helps people with allergies. Kenmore's page does not give the bag size, noise level or warranty length.
Pick up to three. You get a page with just those, side by side, on the subjects owners raised.
What keeps people happy after the first weeks is how light it is and how easily it moves around furniture. One owner bought it as a placeholder while deciding on a pricier Sebo or Miele and ended up liking it enough to stop looking. Another has had it for months and still loves it. An owner who also has the Kenmore 600 rates the BU4050's cleaning very good, but points out that the 600 has height adjustment and better tools.
The adjustments are about rugs and the bin. Owners learn which of their rugs it can handle, since thick pile and rubber-backed rugs can stop the brushroll. The bagless dust bin is a clear sore point, and owners compare it unfavourably with bagged machines. Some never settled in with it at all: one returned it after repeated jams and weaker suction than their old Shark, and another replaced it with a Sebo upright.
Owners who have had it for some months report that it is still running and they are still happy with it. The failure that comes up is the power head (the floor nozzle assembly), which is the part carpet and pet owners buy it for. One owner's power head stopped working entirely about two months after the one-year warranty ran out. They could not find a replacement part anywhere for months, whatever customer service told them, and they blame the light plastic build for it not lasting.
There is not much long-term evidence here. Most accounts come from the first few weeks or months of ownership, and the clearest report from beyond the first year is that single power head failure. Build quality was raised too rarely to judge, so these accounts cannot tell you how the BU4050 usually holds up over several years, or how easy parts are to find in general.
From 4 owner accounts that said how long they have had it. Own one? Add how long yours has lasted.
Nothing with a clear majority yet. Owners who raised these subjects were split, or too few to judge.
Counted from the owners who raised each subject, not from everyone. A subject is judged once at least 4 owners raise it.
6 more subjects came up from fewer than 4 owners each, which is not enough for a fair reading. To see how it stacks up, compare it with another machine.
The same owner, asked again at each point. Fills in as owners answer.
Two questions: how long you have had it, and anything you would like to say about it. Then we ask again as it ages. This helps our mission.
More in upright, canister and stick vacuums: Sebo D4, Dyson v11, Miele C1.
Among the 4 owner accounts here that gave a duration, 2 described a failure. Parts named most: power head, power head/floor nozzle assembly.
Before you buy one used, ask the seller: how old it is, whether it was ever repaired and by whom, and whether any of the parts above have been replaced. Ask to see it run. A receipt tells you the warranty start date; most makers honour the term only for the first owner.
Public discussions we read and summarised in our own words. Nothing here was submitted to Still Kicks.
Counted from public accounts by people who said they own it, and summarised by Still Kicks in its own words. Not a manufacturer claim, a lab test or an estimate.
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