Do you have a central vacuum system?

cantdrv55 · 01-30-2007, 02:15 PM

Went to a home show this past weekend and spoke to a central vac vendor. I'd like to put one in my home, if they work as advertised. I have a tri-level, 2200 sq ft home. If you have such a system, please let me know what you think.

tabs · 01-30-2007, 02:23 PM

Retro fitting a home with Central Vacume...Ummmmm...I don't know...sounds like putting alot of holes in walls to install the vacume pipes.

when building a home...yeah

I had one in my last house..installed while building the house. I found it to be great picking up the loose crud in the house, but for doing carpets you need a vacume with a BEATER BRUSH....they sell BB attachments so I suppose that would cover that. However I still had the regular vac for carpets. With a 3 level home carrying a vac up and down stairs would be a real pain, or one vac on each level...mmmm

Dantilla · 01-30-2007, 02:49 PM

I like ours. It was installed during construction.

carambola · carambola's Garage

not that hard to install, even in a retrofit. common walls are your friends. there is the option of a 120v beater head to accompany the central vac. pull a single circuit when installing the pipe. the less bends the better. one last thing, go bigger than you think you need.

Dottore · 01-30-2007, 03:14 PM

Yes we have a Hoover system in the house that we love. The guts of the thing are in a distant room in the basement - and it's nice to have total silence when the house is being vacuumed.

GettinHeadStuds · 01-30-2007, 04:17 PM

From my experience, they work great. However, you don't want to be in the garage (that's where our vacuum was) when it is running. The ones we have had are L O U D.

dmcummins · 01-30-2007, 06:18 PM

We have had one in the last 3 homes we have had, over 20 years. The wife wont have anything else. It is noisy in the garage though. We have the beater head for the carpet. Its nice and quite in the house and lighter to push around.

They were all installed as new construction.

Jims5543 · 01-31-2007, 04:59 AM

We have no carpet in our home only tile and wood flooring. It works great for that.

When we had carpet it did not work well at all. My system was installed in the late 80's so maybe technology has advanced a lot but the carpet attachment did not work well at all.

We used our upright electrolux fo rthe carpet.

RickM · RickM's Garage

I installed a Vacu-Maid system in my house. I bought the entire custom "kit" from an Ebay vendor who owns a chain of vacuum stores. Great price and service.

Since I have a ranch the install was relatively easy with access through basement and/or attic.

For me the toughest part was planning the main pipe run and inlet placement.

1 - You want to have as much uninterrupted straight PVC as possible with as few 90 degree angles as you can manage. If you can use 2 45s as opposed to one 90 then go for it.

2 - You want to place your inlets strategically so you need as few as possible while enjoying full house coverage. You also strive to have those inlets as close to the main pipe run as possible.

Combining the two abovementioned factors will take quite a bit of thought.

Other factors to consider:

-The main vacuum unit should be plumbed as inline with the main pipe run as possible.

-Consider where you will run the exhaust pipe that comes off the main unit. This must be routed outdoors.

-Take into account the noise at the install location. You can box the unit in and/or utilize a muffler.

-Dedicated power needed near main unit.

With the package I purchased I recieved all the tools needed, inclluding an air driven "Turbo Cat" beater brush head. While it worked well I subsequently puchased a 120v powered unit. The difference is night and day. Now all the vacuum's power goes to suction with a very powerful beater brush. With the 120v units you have the choice of plugging into a neaby outlet via a pigtail extention on the hose or running power directly through the wall mounted wall inlet. I would plan for this right off the bat.

I would also suggest considering a bagless canister unit. No need for consumables with these vacuums.

Zef · Zef's Garage

Cyclo Vac installed during construction of the house...I put the vaccum in the basement.....

dhoward · dhoward's Garage

Vacu-flow. Very nice. Already in the house when we bought it. I ended up upgrading the motor unit though.
Watch out for socks....

gatotom · 01-31-2007, 10:20 AM

put one in during construction of my house over 20 yrs ago and it works great on wood floors and carpeting in the bedrooms. The only hassle with them are the hose length. You don't want a ton of outlets because they lose suction power but you don't want a 50' hose to drag around the house either.

My house measures 40'x30' two stories with a basement, the common wall for my heating and cooling system is real close to the center of house. That is were the vacuum pipes are so one outlet per floor, the less elbows the better and yes get a bigger unit than the salesman says cuz it will never overload and if you have a kid that's cranky, well, vacuum him up and less chance of clogging the line up.

onewhippedpuppy · 01-31-2007, 11:02 AM

In-laws put one in when they built their house a few years ago. Almost 6000 sq ft, and it does a great job. Put in the powered outlets that will run a beater head and they're great on carpet. The head for wood/tile works well too.

MRM · 01-31-2007, 11:54 AM

Our house has one that was installed during original construction. I've used it a couple of times. The hose is so big and heavy that it turns out to be easier, for me at least, to haul around a modern lighter vaccum than it was to drag the hose around.

Dottore · 01-31-2007, 12:03 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by MRM
Our house has one that was installed during original construction. I've used it a couple of times. The hose is so big and heavy that it turns out to be easier, for me at least, to haul around a modern lighter vaccum than it was to drag the hose around.

Had the same problem. Went to the dealer and bought a new hose. The new ones are very light.

MRM · 01-31-2007, 12:05 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Dottore
Had the same problem. Went to the dealer and bought a new hose. The new ones are very light.

Thanks. I'll look into that. I wondered what the fuss was about the first time I dragged that big heavy thing around the house.

dhoward · dhoward's Garage

Oh, one more HUGE advantage, everything exhausts outside. No stirring up dust or bypasiing filters to resettle.

azasadny · azasadny's Garage

We were going to install a central vacuum system in our home when we renovated it, but the $ ran out so we didn't. We bought a Bosch cannister vacuum with HEPA and it's the best vacuum cleaner we have ever used and it's light and relatively quiet. We have hardwood floors, oriental rugs and carpet and it handles everything we throw at it. I was going to buy a Miele but the model we wanted was made in China and the Bosch we bought was made in Germany. When I buy a German product, I like them to be made in Germany... Good luck on the central vacuum project!