Dear SigForum:
I’m writing this for a friend, namely my wife who trusts SigForum advice far more than mine.

We bought a house with a central vacuum system. Previously we rented a house with one, and my wife wasn’t wild about it. We haven’t used ours, because we have 2 Miele canister vacuums with HEPA filters and a Hoover upright with a HEPA filter for carpets (in bedrooms only).

The existing central vac has its motor and can in the garage, with a bag of some sort but no HEPA filter. Since I plan to be working in the garage and am the one with allergies, my inclination is to toss the thing.

What my wife doesn’t like is having to get out the long hose, at least as much trouble as getting out a Miele.

We haven’t looked into robots, but it seems to me they probably are a replacement technology for the central vacuum.

My ulterior motive for wanting to get rid of the central unit is getting a couple of feet more wall space in a part of the garage where a cabinet would provide more utility.

I’ll add two things:
1. We don’t have stairs, which make canisters and uprights more difficult.
2. In all the threads about building a custom home, I have yet to have someone recommend a central vacuum, as far as I can recall.

We’re listening—-thanks!

Could the canister be relocated outside? Ideally, near where you keep the trash cans? Not usually too hard to pipe vacuum.

Personally I'd keep the central vac, toss the Mieles, and maybe keep the Hoover up with the bed rooms for carpet. It should be a simple job to extend the exhaust port pipe through a garage wall to outside.

I like central vacs because they're so powerful, quiet, and clean. After using one I'll never go back to conventional. Yeah there's the 30' hose but once out and connected it'll reach almost anywhere, and you're not having to drag a canister unit all around the house.

We could get a new bag for the existing unit, probably pay a couple hundred bucks to have it serviced, then give it a try.
Keep the advice coming guys—-and especially ladies if you would!

quote:

Originally posted by ridewv:
Personally I'd keep the central vac, toss the Mieles, and maybe keep the Hoover up with the bed rooms for carpet. It should be a simple job to extend the exhaust port pipe through a garage wall to outside.

I like central vacs because they're so powerful, quiet, and clean. After using one I'll never go back to conventional. Yeah there's the 30' hose but once out and connected it'll reach almost anywhere, and you're not having to drag a canister unit all around the house.

THIS. I doubt you'd need to have it serviced besides changing the bag or cleaning the filter. They're one of those things that either work or don't. If you remove it, save the unit as it's quite expensive to plumb a house for a cental vac and adds resale value.

My sister had a central vac system installed when she built near us and liked it. That is until we bought a robot. After seeing our's she bought one and hasn't used the central vac since.

quote:

My sister had a central vac system installed when she built near us and liked it. That is until we bought a robot. After seeing our's she bought one and hasn't used the central vac since.

That's very helpful, as is ridewv's comment.

One thing I've noticed is my wife does more sport vacuuming related to our granddaughter being over, that makes either the canister or maybe a Dyson handheld a better option?

I’ve never used the central vac in the house we’ve been living in for 23 years because the hoses are a hassle. We’ve gone through a few upright vacs until we ripped out all the wall-to-wall carpeting and refinished the hardwood floors.

No we have just a couple of area rugs that get a light vacuuming twice a month.

Would it be possible to route an exhaust vent from the central unit to the outside similar to a dryer vent?

quote:

Originally posted by .38supersig:
Would it be possible to route an exhaust vent from the central unit to the outside similar to a dryer vent?

...It should be a simple job to extend the exhaust port pipe through a garage wall to outside.....z


Yes quite simple, the most difficult part being drilling a 2 1/2" hole through the wall.

Just now prior to sitting down with a beverage to check the forum here I took the hose out of the closet, where it stores coiled up on its hanger, attached the wand with its 12" floor brush which hangs on the same hanger, and gave the living room, bath (where the cat's litter box is), steps up, and kitchen, a quick sweep. Then hung the hose and wand back up. It took all of 10 minutes. I know it would have taken longer for me to get a canister out, connect the hose and brush, plug it in and sweep up the same areas all while having to drag the unit behind, not to mention fooling with it on steps.

You could frame in the garage unit using HEPA furnace filters

So we pretty much have a bimodal response then.

We put one in when we built the house and haven’t regretted it. As I do the vacuuming, I’ve gotten the hang of running out, then coiling the hose. The filter is a basic blue fiber that I replace about once a year. I’ve never notice any dust leaking out of the unit.

When we built our house, I piped in a Central Vac system and haven't regretted it. Two ports on 1st floor, one near the front door allows us to reach the cars for cleaning. 1 on 2nd floor loft and one on the third floor.

Unit is in my boiler room and emits nothing, cleaning is easy, remove the throwaway bag that nests in a blue fabric bag with a sealing rubber ring around the top. I imagine the throwaway bag is damn near hepa.

The exhaust from the canister vacuums pollutes the room while the in-house exhausts it outside. Studies show that in-house will add xxx years to your life.

quote:

Originally posted by .38supersig:
Would it be possible to route an exhaust vent from the central unit to the outside similar to a dryer vent?

I did that by default on the few I have installed in the houses we built. Yours isn't?

The unit should have a suction hose port on the unit, great for vacuuming out the car and cleaning up the garage... if you are into that type of thing