If you’re tired of buying cheap vacuums that break down every few years and are willing to spend money on a buy-it-for-life vacuum, you might be a good candidate for a Miele. While their uprights aren’t much to speak of, their canister vacuums are the best on the market. We should know; we’ve reviewed dozens of them. However, even the most powerful canisters won’t do anything without the proper cleaning heads. If you only have bare floors in your home, all you need is a Miele with a Parquet head (stay away from the combination heads; they’re not nearly as efficient). But if you want to be able to tackle bare floors and all kinds of carpets (including soft, plush, and high-pile carpets), you’re going to want an electric brush head.

Today we’re going to review what many consider the best powered head Miele has ever sold, and one of the best powered heads on the market: the Miele SEB 228 Electro Plus Full-Size Electrobrush. Along the way, we’ll also list every Miele that ships with it or an equivalent powered brush head, as well as every Miele compatible with the SEB 228. To summarize our thoughts in ten seconds, this is the only head you need to clean every bare or carpeted floor you can buy for a home. Our full review is below, and you can buy the SEB 228 here. If you’re in Canada, buy the SEB 228 here.

Pros, cons, and key features of the Miele SEB 228 Electro Plus Full-Size Electrobrush

The SEB  228 electrobrush is an electric powered brush head for Miele canister vacuums. Made in Germany, it includes a 5-step manual adjustment lever for varying carpet heights. Level 1 is the lowest setting; you’ll use it for bare floors like hardwood. Level 2, 3, and 4 work best with low-, medium-, and high-pile carpets, while Level 5 is the highest setting, which you’ll most likely only need for plush and soft carpets. You adjust the levels by stepping on the right foot pedal on the brush head; the left pedal is to disconnect the cleaning wand.

The electric brush can be used in both powered and unpowered modes; as a result, if you want to clean bare floors without the beater bar (which is primarily useful for cleaning carpets), you can turn off the brushes and simply clean with air suction, resulting in less noise and wear and tear on the brushes and motor. The head features a large internal intake to reduce the risk of clogs and increase the efficiency of suction from the canister motor. The beater bar, suction, and adjustable height settings bring virtually every carpet pile, density, or thickness on the market within your reach. The cleaning path is 14 inches wide at the cleaning head.

Something particularly interesting about the SEB 228 is that it’s actually the same electric brush head sold as the Wessel Werk EBK 360 for central, or whole-house vacuum systems (e.g., that of the Prolux CV12000). There are a few cosmetic differences–the SEB 228 doesn’t include LED lights while the EBK 360 does; the EBK 360 is also available in white while the SEB 228 is limited to black–but the internal construction and functionality are identical. Both heads come from the same factory in Germany, and this is a good thing! It means you get almost as much cleaning power in a canister as you would from a central vacuum, and it’s much cheaper to buy a Miele canister–even one like the Complete C3 Cat & Dog–than it is to outfit a house for central vacuuming.

Which current Miele canisters already include the SEB 228 or similar brushes like the SEB 217-3 or SEB 236?

You’ll find the SEB 228 on a number of mid-to high-end Miele canisters. The cheapest is the Compact C2 Electro+. You can find an older version, the SEB 217-3, on the Compact C2 Topaz; however, since the Topaz has been discontinued, it’s typically going to be more expensive than the Electro+, which is currently one of Miele’s most popular canisters. Aside from that, the 228 is a much better brush than the 217-3, which struggles on high-pile carpets despite being an electric brush head. You’ll also find the 217-3 on the Classic C1 Titan and Classic C1 Delphi.

Higher up, you’ll find the SEB 228 on the Classic C1 Cat & Dog, the Complete C3 Soft Carpet, the Complete C3 Kona, and the Complete C3 Cat & Dog. You’ll find a higher-end version of the 228, the SEB 236, on the Complete C3 Marin and Complete C3 Brilliant, Miele’s most expensive vacuums. The main difference between the 236 and the 228 are that the 236 comes with LED lights.

Which Miele canister vacuums are compatible with the SEB 228 electrobrush?

All of the vacuums in the section above are compatible with the SEB 228; the main requirement is for the vacuum to have originally come with an electric brush of its own; if it does, it’ll have the necessary electric connectors to power an electric brush head. If it doesn’t, you’re unfortunately out of luck. Many years ago, Miele included electric connectors on nearly all of their canisters, making it possible to upgrade later from a combination tool or turbo head to an electric head; they took that option away a few years ago and it’s unlikely to return. The good news, at least, is that if you have a vacuum that shipped with the SEB 217-3 head like the Titan, Delphi, or Topaz, you can breathe new life into it with the upgraded SEB 228 head without paying for an entirely new vacuum.

How well does the SEB 228 clean bare floors and low-, medium-, and high-pile carpets?

The SEB 228 is one of the best options out there for tackling every floor you can conceivably install in a home. You’ll be able to clean every bare floor on the market, including hardwood, engineered wood, vinyl, laminate, ceramic tiles, porcelain tiles, marble, bamboo, and concrete. When it comes to carpets, you’ll breeze through both residential and commercial carpets like Saxonies, berbers, cut and loops, and friezes with ease, as well as soft, plush, and high pile carpets that other vacuums simply won’t be able to cope with. It’s a buy-it-for-life vacuum head, and frankly, the only one you need in a vacuum.

Why buy the SEB 228?

In conclusion, if a Miele canister is one of the best cleaning investments you can make in your home, the SEB 228 is one of the best investments you can make in a Miele. It’ll give you the power to clean any floor easily, and is particularly adept at tackling carpets of every pile and style, including soft and high-pile carpets that just about any other vacuum besides central vacuum units will struggle with (and even those only succeed when paired with electric heads like the EBK 360). Our only suggestion would be to consider buying a Miele canister that already includes the SEB 228 so you can take advantage of additional features tied to the canister itself like HEPA filtration or a longer operating radius.

You can buy the Miele SEB 228 electrobrush here on Amazon. The cheapest Miele canisters that ship with it are the Miele Compact C2 Electro+ and the Miele Classic C1 Cat & Dog. The best all-around Miele is likely the Complete C3 Cat & Dog.

Canadians can buy the Miele SEB 228 electrobrush here on Amazon. To buy it bundled with a canister, the cheapest options are the Miele Compact C2 Electro+  and the Miele Classic C1 Cat & Dog. For a high-end do-everything Miele, we’d recommend the Complete C3 Cat & Dog.

If you find our research on PMC helpful, you can follow our efforts to keep maniacally reviewing home cleaning tools by shopping through our links above. We promise to keep fighting the good fight against every horror children, animals, and grown, yet messy humans can inflict upon a clean home.