Central Vacuum System (for your house)

[CalvinHobbes]

My parents are having a house built and the builder offers Beam Central Vacuum systems.

 

[0roo0roo]

check consumer reports

 

[Howard]

Yes, I have one.

 

[RbSX]

We found that lugging the hose around was a pain in the ass, it's expensive, poor suction.. pain in the ass to empty to vacuum bag.. so based upon my uncles observation we didn't get one. It was a good choice.

 

[akshatp]

We have one, and never use it. Paid a tankload to the builder for this "option" but to be honest it has maybe 1/4 the suction that our new Dirt Devil upright that we bought from Home Depot for $69.99 has.

Plus you have to plug in the handle/vacuum stick to the port anyway, so it turns out to be the same as plugging an upright into a wall socket.

Emptying works the same, except it all collects in the garage. This may be the only plus.

You can use your money towards a much better upgrade, for example concrete driveway opposed to asphalt. Or cherry cabinets in the kitchen. Or a granite countertop.

Good luck with your new home.

 

[Howard]

Originally posted by: akshatp
We have one, and never use it. Paid a tankload to the builder for this "option" but to be honest it has maybe 1/4 the suction that our new Dirt Devil upright that we bought from Home Depot for $69.99 has.

Plus you have to plug in the handle/vacuum stick to the port anyway, so it turns out to be the same as plugging an upright into a wall socket.

Emptying works the same, except it all collects in the garage. This may be the only plus.

You can use your money towards a much better upgrade, for example concrete driveway opposed to asphalt. Or cherry cabinets in the kitchen. Or a granite countertop.

Good luck with your new home.

Carpeted stairs are much easier to clean with central vacuum.

 

[moomoo40moo]

My parents have one in their house.. IMO not worth the money, just get a better quality upright

 

[CalvinHobbes]

Originally posted by: Howard
Yes, I have one.

Do you like it? Poor suction like the others have said?

 

[Howard]

Originally posted by: CalvinHobbes

Originally posted by: Howard
Yes, I have one.

Do you like it? Poor suction like the others have said?

I used a Bissell upright during the time my power head's belt needed replacing (complete slippage), and I didn't notice any increase in suction power. Also, seeing as it was a bagless, emptying it was a pain. If you go for a bagged upright, that shouldn't be a concern, though.

 

[Jzero]

Originally posted by: Howard
Carpeted stairs are much easier to clean with central vacuum.

Is that the only plus?

My aunt/uncle also had one in the house they moved into and they actually removed it.

 

[lukatmyshu]

Parents have had one for 20 years. I can't imagine cleaning their house w/o it. If your house is big enough to warrant it, its necessary imho. We have 3 hoses, all on different floors. So if you're in the kitchen and need to clean something up, you just grab the hose in the pantry. Secondly ... the hoses are big. The longest we have is around 30-40 feet. Lastly, those central canister is much easier to clean than another one. And, since the pump is elsewhere, it's quiet. So you can vacuum *while* someone is watching TV and it's not that big of a deal.

 

[akshatp]

Originally posted by: Howard

Originally posted by: akshatp
We have one, and never use it. Paid a tankload to the builder for this "option" but to be honest it has maybe 1/4 the suction that our new Dirt Devil upright that we bought from Home Depot for $69.99 has.

Plus you have to plug in the handle/vacuum stick to the port anyway, so it turns out to be the same as plugging an upright into a wall socket.

Emptying works the same, except it all collects in the garage. This may be the only plus.

You can use your money towards a much better upgrade, for example concrete driveway opposed to asphalt. Or cherry cabinets in the kitchen. Or a granite countertop.

Good luck with your new home.

Carpeted stairs are much easier to clean with central vacuum.

Probably true, however our Dirt Devil came as a three piece set. So the stick-vac works excellent on stairs

 

[timswim78]

My parents have one in their place. They spent a lot of money for it, and it is pretty awesome. The suction is great, and the thing only needs to be emptied once every year or so. Originally, they had the heavy and bulky hoses (from when they built their house in 1990), but they recently upgraded to lightweight hoses. They used to use it a lot more frequently when they had a dog and wall-to-wall. Now, they have all hardwood floors and hardly ever use the thing.

My house is small and has all tile and hardwood floors. Consequently, I have no need for a central vacuum.

 

[Howard]

Originally posted by: akshatp

Originally posted by: Howard

Originally posted by: akshatp
We have one, and never use it. Paid a tankload to the builder for this "option" but to be honest it has maybe 1/4 the suction that our new Dirt Devil upright that we bought from Home Depot for $69.99 has.

Plus you have to plug in the handle/vacuum stick to the port anyway, so it turns out to be the same as plugging an upright into a wall socket.

Emptying works the same, except it all collects in the garage. This may be the only plus.

You can use your money towards a much better upgrade, for example concrete driveway opposed to asphalt. Or cherry cabinets in the kitchen. Or a granite countertop.

Good luck with your new home.

Carpeted stairs are much easier to clean with central vacuum.

Probably true, however our Dirt Devil came as a three piece set. So the stick-vac works excellent on stairs

But you gotta lug the canister up and down, don't you?

 

[Howard]

Originally posted by: Jzero

Originally posted by: Howard
Carpeted stairs are much easier to clean with central vacuum.

Is that the only plus?

My aunt/uncle also had one in the house they moved into and they actually removed it.

Well, you can put off emptying the canister to months at a time (I don't even remember when I emptied it last, and I'm sure it's not full now). Plus, the hose is easier to move around than an upright or a canister. Third, the sucked-up air is exhausted into the garage or outdoors, which can be pretty important if somebody is sensitive to the quality of the air (filter might not catch all the dust/whatever). etc. etc.

EDIT: Oh yeah, if you have central, you can set up an automatic dustpan thing in the kitchen. It's awesome.

 

[HyTekJosh]

My parent's house has one but we never use it.

 

[vi edit]

My aunt & uncle have the setup that I've seen.

They have hardwood floors or tile in every part of the house. In every room they have these "kickboards" that you just sweep everything towards, and then kick it with your foot and a port opens up and activates the vacuum. Then you just sweep all the stuff right into it.

Pretty sweet setup. Obviously only works on solid surfaces (non-carpet), but it's incredibly handy and easy to operate.

 

[Howard]

Originally posted by: vi_edit
My aunt & uncle have the setup that I've seen.

They have hardwood floors or tile in every part of the house. In every room they have these "kickboards" that you just sweep everything towards, and then kick it with your foot and a port opens up and activates the vacuum. Then you just sweep all the stuff right into it.

Pretty sweet setup. Obviously only works on solid surfaces (non-carpet), but it's incredibly handy and easy to operate.

Yes, those are the automatic dustpans I'm talking about.

 

[drinkmorejava]

meh, we like it, we've had one for two houses now, makes the garage smell when you use it though

 

[Jzero]

Originally posted by: Howard

Originally posted by: vi_edit
My aunt & uncle have the setup that I've seen.

They have hardwood floors or tile in every part of the house. In every room they have these "kickboards" that you just sweep everything towards, and then kick it with your foot and a port opens up and activates the vacuum. Then you just sweep all the stuff right into it.

Pretty sweet setup. Obviously only works on solid surfaces (non-carpet), but it's incredibly handy and easy to operate.

Yes, those are the automatic dustpans I'm talking about.

That's pretty neat! My uncle's was an older system and it didn't have anything like that.