Central Vac

[davebarnes]

Perhaps the hose for a central vac is a lot longer than that.

35 feet.
CentraLux - Maxiumum Cleaning & Out-Of-Sight Power | Aerus

 

[6miths]

We have one but would not be something I would pay extra for in a new house. Ok if it were there I guess.

 

[bluelight]

I coveted one for a long time after seeing a friend's central vac. When I lived in a colonial I had a canister vac for each level and shop vac for the basement. I would get the bottom 1/2 of the stairs with the main floor vac and the top 1/2 with the 2nd floor vac.
We're in a ranch now and I still have a canister vac for deep cleaning, but my everyday vac is a cordless Shark. It does such a good job and is so easy to use that it has become the main vacuum. I thought about adding a central vac when we moved here, but decided against it.

 

[braumeister]

I have not had a central vac, but wonder why its hose has to be heavy and awkward.

I use an attachment extension hose and wand all the time with my upright vacuum cleaner. It requires a small box to store after use, but is light and not too unwieldy. It's about 8-ft long. Perhaps the hose for a central vac is a lot longer than that.

Would it help to have more inlets in the wall, perhaps 2 per room?

You could certainly get by with a shorter and lighter hose that way.

In my case, I installed the system myself in an existing house. That was a bit tricky, so I only put in enough ports on each floor that let me reach everywhere with the 30 foot hose. I imagine that would be the thinking for most installers, but as you point out it's not really optimal.

 

[Surewhitey]

We have a super lightweight cordless Dyson for a year now and could not be happier. I thought I'd like a central system, but now I'm a cordless fan. We do a 1200 sq ft on high power on a single charge. Does a great job on the hardwoods & dog hair. Baseboards too.

 

[wmc1000]

We just replaced our corded Dyson of the past 12 years with a Dyson V10 stick vacuum. DW used the one our DD has and proclaimed it was so nice not to have to use and move a cord. After the 3rd hint I capitulated, of course I wasn't the one using it that often. Can't imagine DW would have been happy lugging around a big hose!

 

[ncbill]

There's one installed by the original owner in our place in the mountains but in ~30 years I've never known anyone to use it.

 

[SoClose]

I’ve been LOVING my central vac for the last 25 years! No nasty smell when vacuuming like a canister as the central vents outside, no electrical cord to tangle or wrap up. The hose is much easier to move around than a bulky vacuum.

My house is half 1/2 hardwood half carpet and it all gets vacuumed. my Electrolux central vac has a powered head for the carpets.

When at my snowbird rental, I so miss having a central vac.

Husband has an outlet in garage also, for sawdust and ........

Grew yup with a “tank” Kirby until my parents finally put in one,

 

[smihaila]

Central Vacs are a blast and a common theme in many Canadian houses, especially in 2-story houses.

We've been always using, and liking such system. Reasons: the central vac / motor is way more powerful, the noise is located somewhere, at distance, no dust feeling when vacuuming, no need to change a filter, plenty of connections in the hallways and the rooms, you don't have to carry a unit around, other than a hose with power brush (for those with carpets), etc. The hose wasn't too long.

We're kind of missing them here in the U.S. If I see one when house hunting, I would consider it a value-adding factor.

 

[travelover]

I don't miss carrying around that hose.

 

[Retired Expat]

Anyone have opinions on Central Vac - Pros/Cons - having a home built and it's offered as an option. We'll have all hardwood floors with just area rugs. Don't think it's worth it, but looking for input. Thank You

Our country house came with one and while we like it a lot , would not pay the height price of installing one. Pros: since the unit is in the basement it is quite quiet. The container holds a lot so no bags or much emptying. The hose is no heavier than our canister vac and seems to be longer than the cord on the canister unit and the suction is great. Wish it had some of those sweep in doors for quick clean ups.

So nice to have but usually not worth the cost.