I've had a vacuumaid for 28 years since we built the house and have had no problems...we bought a summer cabin 5 years ago and after three years of putting up with a hoover upright splurged and put in another vacuumaid...its just so much more efficient.I'd prefer to never go back to a standard vacuum.

Central vacuum in this house when we bought it. I used it a couple of times & reverted back to my trusty old Panasonic, since replaced with a $5 Windsor vac from a rummage sale. Panasonic moved upstairs to eliminate lugging a vac up & down stairways. Getting out the hose & all the gizmos for the central vac was more trouble than grabbing the upright. And the hose weighs a lot, esp. if you have large rooms & need lengthy amounts of hose. Storage wise, the hose/ attachments take up considerably more space than the upright does.

I had actually lusted for a central vac until I had one. In practice, I decided the cons outweighed the pros, for me. I'm thinking about recycling the unit I have into a dust collection system for the workshop in the garage.

Our former house came with one (new) & we were so excited to have one. The power head kept breaking, the suction wasn't that great, and the hoses took up a lot of space. It was nice for stairs & vacuum noise was much quieter.

We didn't install one in our new home & I don't miss it. We now have a Miele canister which is very quiet & does a fantastic job of cleaning.

I had an Electrolux, now Aerus in my hair salon. It was great there with all of the hair. In my former home I had a Silent Master and they buyers are still using it. In my present home I have a Vacuflo 960. It's been 12 years and problem free. Go to www.builtinvacuum.com. There is a lot of info on that site. I have a hose and power head set up for each floor so I don't have to lug things up and down the stairs.

I love mine, it's a nutone commercial version (yes in my house). One of my neighbors installs them, security systems, in home theaters etc... he only puts in the commercial units.

I can watch dog hair slide across the floor for about 12 inches away into the head...

I have replaced the carpet head, but to be fair that was after about 12 years or so...

quiet, lightweight, and my kids can all use it with no problem, even the youngest!

I'm curious as to what nutone commercial version you are talking about ?? ? Nutone doesn't make any commercial versions of their central vac. Maybe they want some light commercial entities to use their vac, or perhaps they might call one residential/light commercial - but I seriously doubt they have a "Commercial" version. A) Nutone isn't really in that space and B) commercial entities generally don't use central vac's.

So just curious as to where you've found a continuous use rated central vac from Nutone ???

I loved my central vac, had Nutone. We are remodeling another house and the Beam man is coming Sat to put in the piping, I can't wait.

posted by: anthem on 02.06.2008 at 02:12 pm in Appliances Forum

I'm curious as to what nutone commercial version you are talking about ?? ? Nutone doesn't make any commercial versions of their central vac. Maybe they want some light commercial entities to use their vac, or perhaps they might call one residential/light commercial - but I seriously doubt they have a "Commercial" version. A) Nutone isn't really in that space and B) commercial entities generally don't use central vac's.
So just curious as to where you've found a continuous use rated central vac from Nutone ???

I went to the basement and found this on the vac... Advantage cv850.... when purchased ~12 years ago it was supposedly the 'best' they made with 2 or 3 stage motor... like I said dog hair slides across the floor from about 12 inches away...dust bunnies too if you let them get large enough! works great...

to each his own.... I like it

Our house came with a Nutone CV-450, which is smaller than the 850. Their ratings seem to be geared towards the size of house they'll be used in. My unit has dual motors, but it has a problem with a sticky power relay. When I pull the hose out of the wall, the relay doesn't turn the unit off. It's a $45 part that I can fix on my own, just haven't done it. I'm surprised at how much suction there is compared to the amount of hose and plumbing that it all goes through.

Despite its quiet operation and convenience, we've mostly used our Rainbow vacuum. The Rainbow is about 30 years old and runs quite well. I like that the dirt is collected in a pail of water. I don't look forward to having to change the bag on the central vacuum.

Our central vacuum didn't come with a power head, but I found that the Rainbow attachments and power head are the same size fittings. I'm going to sacrifice an old power cord for the power head, extend it with extra wiring and use it on the Nutone.

I've had mine for 16 years. It's a VacUFlo. I love it and am definitely putting one in my new house. I'm checking into a HideAHose that will take away the one complaint I have with a central system.

We have one in our house... came with it (built in 1978). It is a Pullman, which I don't think is made anymore.

We love it. Great for picking up light construction messes, broken glass remnants, etc. We don't use it for our area rugs (upright for that), but it is so handy for dust bunnies, spider webs, etc.

We like it so much that we had it added onto / revised during our recent renovation. We added a "VacPan", which is an under-counter slot that is activated by a toe-kick switch. Simply sweep the crumbs in, and "whoosh"... away they go.

Is it worth the money? I don't know. Since we already have one, it is certainly worthwhile to upkeep.

I grew up with a central vacuum and found it a lot easier to use than lugging a heavy freestanding vacuum. I just installed a unit in our new house and love it. My kids can use the hoses easier than pushing a heavy vacuum - and the new perk? VACPANS! I have gone overboard on the vacpans, but I love the ease of sweeping up crumbs, hair and dirt in the kitchen, bathroom and mudroom. My vote is a positive one!

I have an Imperium central vacuum and recently we added the Hide-a-Hose. It's a retractable hose that goes up into the wall when you are finished vacuuming. The one thing I didn't like about my central vacuum was putting the hose away and now I don't have to.

I put in a VacUFlo when we built this house 6 years ago . . . persuaded by a friend who's had one in every house but one for 30 years -- and they moved out of that house because they couldn't retrofit a VF. Allergies drove them out.

We're now building again, and the VF is one of the non-negotiables. We'll definitely have one again . . . same brand, with Dust Pans -- and now they even have hoses that retract into the wall!! I haven't had a moment's problem with it and it happily suck up everything I ask it to, including my Golden Retriever's shedding -- the ultimate test. I love it and highly recommend it!

We have a Hoover central vac. Same vac in our old house too. It has A LOT of suction - picks up everything! Much lighter to carry the hose than a full-size vacuum. We installed this ourselves.

We have a Nutone CV-450. It is a great vacuum. We have mostly straight plumbing runs. Having lots of turns and bends can affect the volume of air moved through the system so the straighter the pipes, the better it will perform. We also had the relay problem, as did my parents with their Nutone. The relay that I received, under warranty, was a much bigger relay. Perhaps Nutone has recognized a problem and taken steps to correct it. I would use the same vac if I built another house. The ease of use and the cleaner air quality are great benefits for me.

We just looked at a house that was WAY ahead of it's time with a central vac system installed in 1914. This is the system...and it still works 93 years later:

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Does anyone have an estimate as to how much it would cost to install a central vac system into an existing house? approx. 6000 sft house/2 stories? and are the hide-a-hose ones that much more? would love to have that, but this might be one of those things i have to fight for....

Ours was about $1,000.00 for the unit and tools. I installed it myself as I was the builder. Our house is about 4800 sft, 3 levels, 8 ports. The floor plan allowed me to place the ports so the lines were very straight. This simplified installation and made the unit operate more efficiently. I was told by installers to figure about $75 per port for installation (new const). The simpler the layout, the less labor involved, and hopefully the less $ too.

For those that have Hide-a-Hose in more than one location, do you feel the convenience outweighs the extra price? Also, were you limited in the locations of your hose storage? And last, any issues with moving parts breaking in the port that render the system unusable? Thanks!

Hi. I'm customer service at HideAHose. As far as price, while it can be somewhat more expensive than a "non-hideahose" installation, the price becomes more manageable because you don't have to install as many inlet valves.

Personally speaking (I have one in my home!), I think the convenience of not having to lug the hose out of the storage closet, makes it worth it! We haven't had any issues with inlet valve that would make the system unusable. You can view a video demonstration at www.hideahose.biz

We have Drain Vac in our current home and it has been great but for our new home I'm going to look into the VacUFlo. I love the idea of HideAHose!!!

In the video they show inlet valve in the middle of wall next to light switch. Does anyone know if it has to go that high or can you have it lower? That's the only thing that would keep me from looking into it further.

We have one HideAHose on each of two floors, 50 feet of hose each. The system was about double of a standard unit, in part because a much stronger motor is needed in order to retract the hose(s). The motor in our house is built for a 12,000 s.f. house, and we're barely 2500! So, yeah, lots of power/suction.

It's pretty straightforward, and seems *unlikely* to break down; the attachments are awfully sturdy, and the hose is very flexible, and, on it's surface, very soft. Little to go wrong here.

The inlet valves (one on each floor) are about 3' off the floor in our house. It's what was suggested on our walk-through with the vac guy, and sounded fine to me; I'm unlikely to get younger and happier about bending down below knee level  however, the cover is paintable, and ours is pretty invisible.

In does a great job, is *pretty* quiet (much quieter than a regular vacuum) and the HAH is really, really, neat. Tough, well-made attachments. I'm absolutely delighted.

Hope this helps someone! Kate.