Home cleaning technology
Unsure if installing a central vacuum system is worthwhile? Here's one homeowner's experience.
Sandi Klatt always considered her 94-year-old brick Victorian as perfect, but its two flights of stairs made cleaning something difficult. "I tried for years to get a housekeeper," says Klatt. "But as soon as they recognized they'd have to move a vacuum cleaner up and down often; they'd head straight out the door."
Klatt and her husband, Paul, played briefly with the idea of purchasing a vacuum for each floor of their Denver residence, "but the idea of owning three machines was ridiculous." So, they decided to install a whole house vacuum.
A whole house vacuum, also referred to as a central vacuum system, is an appliance that absorbs dirt through hidden 2-inch pipes down to a 12-gallon canister in the basement. Rather than maneuvering a massive, noisy, portable vacuum, they easily plug a lightweight, 30-foot hose into selected wall outlets, which automatically starts the vacuum's two motors.
The vacuum system has a 185-cubic-feet-per-minute capacity-two to three times that of a movable, no dust-spreading, exhaust. "We appreciate it," says Paul Klatt, "and I never foresaw saying that about a vacuum cleaner."
A whole house vacuum ranges between $1,500 for a system, including installation. In Canada and Scandinavia, most modern houses have installed central vacuums, yet in the country, they remain something strange, in part because of the steep buying price.
Disposing of the paper filter bag once in six months, and changing the motor brushes once in three years is recommended.
Central vacuum systems have a longer warranty, whereas most movable ones last a year. Dealing with a larger motor, which is more durable compared to the smaller ones in portable machines, makes central-vacuum systems worth it.
Most people think central vacuums are only for modern houses, but they can be retrofitted to aged residences, as the Klatt's can verify. With the right experts, where there's a wall, there's a solution.
Our team spends one workday fitting about 100 feet of PVC pipe through walls, installing the hose outlet covers, and joining the low-voltage wires that signal the motors when to begin and end. The canister itself takes only 20 minutes to place on the basement wall. The rest is merely plugging its cord into an electric outlet. "I worried about the house being damaged during the installation, apart from one closet wall where the pipe shows, there wasn't any damage at all," says Sandi.
Easy central vacuum installation
Sandi can now easily clean two flights of stairs at a time. Although she's still looking for domestic help, her new housekeeper won't necessarily have to vacuum: "I’m having fun doing it myself,” she says.
You have to be cautious because unexpected things will go wrong.
Moreover, there are many stories of kids trying to clean water out of a toilet, broken pieces that damage the unit. Get an optional wet-vac attachment that stops debris from reaching the pipes.
If you're beside the motor, it can sound like a jet taking off. Their model is designed to be silent; mufflers can be in-cooperated with others if necessary. At the nozzle end, in contrast, noise is minimal in all cases. The Klatts' old vacuum used to send their yellow Lab into a frenzy, but now Sandi can vacuum around a sleeping dog without waking it.
In the field of central vacuums, there are three methods of collecting the dirt:
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