okay.....

yes. I have hardwood floors and may not use the hose part of the vacuum much, but I installed pan-vacs by each door, in the bathroom and the kitchen. I will use those a LOT!!

Why not?

At least rough it in if you haven't drywalled yet. I'm actually installing it myself. Since the whole system is not in our budget right now, I'm just roughing in the inlets and piping to the basement.

Big yes from me. We have hardwoods and allergies. The central vac take all the dust OUT of the house. Any dust from the machine is in the garage. Plus, it is so quiet that I can vac while others are reading, watching TV, or sleeping. I was not sure about it in the beginning--it was on my wife's want list--but I love it now.

Brian

What system do you all have?

ABSOLUTELY!!! I had it in the last house -- lived there 6 years and wouldn't even consider not having it in the house we're building. We've been in an apartment since May and I miss it a lot!

We had a VacuFlo in the last house and were completely satisfied with it, so that's what's installed in the new house.

Arlene

yay.

Yay; Vacuflo Hide-a-Hose.

Yes, yes, yes, yes, YES! With Hide A Hose!

Oh yes. It's one of my most favorite things in the house. However, I have two vac pans (mudroom & kitchen) and I never use them. Evidently, I'm not much of a broom person. I'm more likely to get the vacuum than a broom to clean something up. I will use my foot every know and then to push something in but that's about it.

yay from me, but I have an Aqua-air, which gives me the option of spraying out hot water and vaccuming it right back up. That means I can't have hide-a-hose, but I can 'mop' the tile kitchen in just minutes without ever touching a bucket.

It also sends most of the fine stuff right down the drain, so I only change the mesh filter about once a month.

This is me...sitting in a dark corner like a mushroom...please shine the light for me!

I'm a couple of weeks away from closing in my walls so now's my last chance to change my mind and install a central vac.

I've never actually seen a central vac system so maybe I'm missing something.

Vision One: There's a few central vac ports in my house so I haul this hose from port to port and vacuum my house.

Vision Two: There's several electrical outlets in my house so I haul my vacuum cleaner from outlet to outlet and vacuum my house.

The vacum cleaner is cheaper, weighs no more than the hose and can be upgraded every couple years....

If it matters, my house will be all hardwoods with rugs and 3300 sq ft.

What am I missing?

Thanks for your enlightenment!

Ours is a Beam. Don't know how it compares to others.

Kangell, I was of the same opinion as you before we got one. Here is what changed my mind:

1. The central vac takes dust out of the house. For my allergy kids, this is a big deal. A standard vac blows a certain amount of dust/allergens out and around while it is being used.

2. It is quiet. The motor is out in the garage, so I can use it even after the kids are in bed, even in the same room, without waking them. With our schedule, cleaning often does happen after the kids are in bed or napping.

3. It is more powerful. Maybe I had a cheap vac before, but there is just no comparison.

4. It is lighter. You aren't lugging around the whole machine.

5. The wand is huge. I can clean my hard surfaces faster than I could with an upright or attachments. Our whole house is hardwood; our old vac did not do a good job on hard surfaces.

You're missing the convenience. There is simply no comparison between dragging/pushing a vac and moving the hose. Do be sure the hose ports are placed for YOUR ease and convenience (I'm not too sure what some of the installers are thinking about when situating).

As stated, the central vacs have a MUCH more powerful system. (And I speak as one who has used a commercial upright. CV is better.)

And the quiet is wonderful. I like being able to vac without bothering anyone.

I believe those who say that central vac is superior, but I'm not sure I agree with the previous poster about allergies and dust removal. ("A standard vac blows a certain amount of dust/allergens out and around while it is being used." DD has asthma, and while she sometimes needs her inhaler at other people's houses (even pet-free homes), we have a standard vacuum cleaner with hepa filtration, and she never needs it here. So that hepa filter's gotta be doing something for her.

I would give my right arm for a central vac!

True that HEPA filtration is better than a plain bag, but at least on some vacs is takes a couple filters after the bag to acheive HEPA standards. They need to be cleaned and replaced properly or you either loose power or loose filtration.

A central simply dumps the air outdoors: a neat and simple solution.

To Kangell: Re-read brianstreehouse's response again. I'd just repeat it.

Arlene

Thanks guys! Great information and I'll think about it. No kids and sound is not an issue, but the rest are great points!

Hmmm....

I can absolutely attest to the reduction of dust accumulation. I have all concrete floors and 3 shedding dogs. I buy the cheap 30 day air filters and they look brand new for at least 3 months. They only start to get slightly light gray around month 4. Last house with carpet, pets, and no central vac I had to change the filter monthly and it was much much dirtier than month 4 in this house. The HVAC air filter is the biggest indicator of household dust management because that is something you can actually see with your own eyes.

DH is the biggest skeptic I know and wasn't happy during the build that I pushed for the central vac/hide a hose because he didn't understand the benefit. We've been here for a year and I've heard him say (completely unprompted) on at least 3 separate occasions that it was money well spent.

I have to say that I use my vac pan more than I ever thought I would and regret only installing one. For quick in between vacuuming touch ups, I use a dust mop and sweep it into the vac pan. So easy!

If I can help it, I will never be in another house without at least a central vac, but more importantly my hide a hose!

Mine's not what you would call *quiet*; quieter than an upright, but any of the non-motorized attachments (handle, wand, and any of the heads) cause very noticeable regular vacuum noise due to the air whooshing into and through them. The motorized heads, such as the carpet/rug head, are really quite noisy. Worth it, but noisy.

Have been reading this post to my DH and so his question is how much money are we talking??? What is an average cost for central vac? Our house is almost finished being framed so now is the time... we have 2 cats, hardwoods but rugs on the hardwoods and carpet in bedrooms. I use a Dyson Animal and Oreck now and the Dyson is great for carpet but not hardwoods and HEAVY.

Thanks for your help

I loved the concept of my cental vac,but would strongly recommend avoiding Dirt Devils. The one thing I didn't reserach the heck out of was central vacs and just trusted the builder. The vac picks up fine, but the problem is with the filter. It gets clogeed with dust and dog hair after a couple of uses. Nothing like emptying the container and having to manually pull the nastiness away from the filter. We've replaced the filter 6 times in 18 months. Avoid Dirt Devils at all costs!

hi all - i too am trying to decide on this., I think because i have the walls open - i will rough in.. My question is - how does a central vac compare to a dyson. We have a dyson animal ( + a German shorthaired pointer) and its fantastic. Will a central vac be ewqually as good. we are planning carpet upstairs and wood/tile downstairs

love to hear comments

I had a Golden Retriever in my last house -- He lived to the age of 13 and died December '07 -- and I'm still grieving. I'll be getting a GR puppy when we get settled into the new house. So I'll be back in the dog-hair business.

Goldens basically hang around all day and manufacture fur, so as to be able to coat your house with it. I LOVED my VacuFlo for dog fur. I had to empty the garage canister more often than dog-free people, but it was no big deal to do it.

Because the unit is in the garage, most of the noise was there, too, so often I just vacuumed Sam with a pet attachment -- thus avoiding the middleman, my carpet. I couldn't do that with my Hoover upright!

I've never used a Dyson, so I can't make a comparison, but I was very satisfied with my VF and would NEVER be without one again.

Arlene

Sassync - to answer your question regarding cost - it all depends on what system you choose and the size of your home. The HAH is more expensive than a traditional central vac system due to the larger power unit requirements, extra piping to house the hoses, and the labor to install the extra pipe. I got a HAH bid and a couple of traditional central vac bids and the HAH was twice as much. It ended up being about $1 per sqft (conditioned space) for the HAH and just under $.50 per sqft for the regular central vac (this was 1 1/2 years ago). Another reason for the higher cost for me is I have a pretty long one story home that required 2 50' hoses.

Before you make the decision, however, I would highly recommend getting some bids. All I had to do was email my plans to some installers and had bids back within a few days. You could always plumb for it now and buy the motor later. Ask for that price scenario as well when getting your bids. Make sure to request electrical requirements too so there won't be any surprises.

For me, the HAH is well worth the difference. While I love my HAH, I would be happy with a traditional central vac over a regular vacuum any day.

For those with carpet considering a HAH. I learned something recently that may be helpful in the decision making process. I never liked my Turbocat Zoom head from the beginning because it just didn't do a good job on my carpet area rugs. Save your money on the Turbocat and make sure to get the carpet/rug combo attachment with the bristles that raise and lower. It works much better for removing hair than the Turbocat, and there is at least $100 difference in the cost. An added bonus is I don't have to stop and change heads when going from rugs to the bare floor, I simply step on the toggle switch to adjust the bristles. I also love not having to untangle dog hair from the rotary head after each use like I used to with my canister vac.

I've never used a Dyson, so I can't compare the performance. I can, however, sit on my freshly vacuumed carpet area rug in black pants and not get any dog hair on me! Considering I have three Shelties - that is quite a test for any vacuum! :)

I have a Dirt Devil and two dogs. We vacuum a minimum of three times a week for the last 16 months and it has not clogged or messed up once. No problems what so ever. It is a very powerful cyclonic unit which, IMO, is a much better system, in any brand, than filtered.

YES!

I would have given up the security system and the whole house stereo for the central vac. The same company did all 3- truly wish I would have told them to forget the first two.

We have 4 dogs- live on a farm. LOVE the central vac. Only have carpet in 3 upstairs bedrooms, hardwood in the whole first floor but the mud/clutter room. Have a vac pan in the clutter room. When I groom the dogs I just sweep it into the vac pan.

In all honesty the hardwood floors would overwhelm me without the central vac.

An even better testament...we have a 20 year old vacuflo in my clinic - this is it's second clinic... moved it when we built a new clinic. It gets used at least once a day- about 6000 sq ft. never a problem and lots of hair and debris (vet clinic!)

Ditto what everyone has said about them. I also have a Vacuflow and it was so important to me that it actually could have been a deal breaker had we not gotten one.

Wishing I had one more vacupan in the Master Bath as well.

Can't beat it at Christmas time and getting all the needles!

I had a 20 year old vacuflo in our last house and absolutely loved it. After adult children moved in with pets, we actually had 2 dogs and 6 cats at one point, we may have emptied it more often but never had a problem. We're in temporary housing during building process and have a dyson. We're down to 1 dog and 4 cats, while the dyson is okay it just doesn't have the power of the old vacuflo. I can't wait to try out the new central vac in our new house! By the way, I have a bad back and as light as the dyson is, it's still heavier than the hose on a central vac.

One additional point to those sold on a central vac, but comparing the cost of HaH: I built w/trad c/v 4 yrs ago, and am THRILLED to find out about the Hide-a-Hose option! As for the cost:

In a two-story home, I bought a second set of hoses and attachments to keep upstairs, knowing myself well enough to realize I'd quickly grow tired of lugging hoses upstairs. At the time, it was well worth the extra expense.

But now that we're rebuilding, if I find the HaH truly is approx 2x the trad c/v, my choice will be a no-brainer. With the extra equipment for my second story, the HaH option should only cost about 25% more. Yea!

We are getting close to the end of our build and I opened up one of the HaH outlets and said to my wife, "Hey! the hoses are installed." She then proceeds to pull about 20 feet out before I can stop her. How are you going to get that back in without the power on? (Now I know the it's just unplugged so I go back and plug it in long enough to suck up the hose).

Love the central vac, NEVER use the vac pan.

My neighbors say that the one thing they hate about their vac pan is that it's located in a kick plate (under the sink where the installers love to put it). They say given a chance to do it again, they'd put it in a cabinet end where you can see and access it easily.

Absolutely!! Make sure to install the hide-a-hose. That is something we disregarded and are sad we did.

Weeeelllllll....

If you have mostly hard flooring, I think the wet/dry capability [scrub and dry the floor in one pass, without buckets or ever putting your hands in dirty water] is more useful than the hideahose.

But then, I have dogs, and no sod in the yard yet. The pups track in enough mud that I could grow daisys in the dining room by now if it weren't for the wet vac...

Hi all
My builder gave me a bid on a honeywell system. Are they any good and what options should I get for a house that will be all hardwoods? Thanks

Honeywell appears to be a solid brand. We went with Vacuflo because of recommendations on these forums. The hide-a-hose is probably the best thing you can do as an option.

We have hide-a-hose drops on each floor of the house plus a floor sweep in the kitchen. I also put a drop in the garage (my power unit is not mounted there) and two in the hangar (regular drops, rather than hide-a-hose). There is a drop typically right at the power unit (if not you can easily add one).

One thing my neighbor also said is to make sure the power unit is *NOT* some where you have to be with. His is in his basement workshop and it drives him crazy when he is working there and his wife is upstairs vacuuming.

I just checked with our builder re: brand of central vac; he told me it was Beam, and that the HAH is not an option with that. Brianstreehouse, do you like your Beam? I'm wondering if this is one of those things I should just let go (and be happy I can even have a CV), or one of those things I should go back to the builder about, kicking and screaming...demanding a Vacuflo. I

Or, by "roughing in," could I go back later and pick the brand I want? I really am green when it comes to knowledge on this subject!

Thanks for your thoughts...and sorry to hijack this thread. To the OP, I've never personally owned a CV (I currently have a Dyson, which is nice), but every friend of mine who has one swears by them, particulary the vacpans (we all have lots of kids and crumbs!). So I know I'm going to have to have one; now the question is, do I have to have a HAH?

Hide a hose cares not who provides the power unit. Perhaps what he is saying is he's selling Beams and he's not an authorized H-A-H dealer.

You can easily change the power units after the fact. THey're more or less interchangable.

The plumbing for the HAH is specialized. If you want that, you practically have to install it from the git go.

Like I said, we were willing to negotiate the power unit manufacturer but the H-A-H was a non-negotiable item for us.

Here is a quote from my builder regarding the HAH--
"They can get the Hide-a-hose, they just don't recommend it. They say that the way it it coils back in the wall is by suction, and they have a tendency to get hung up, which damages the hose. In some cases, they have had to cut out the wall to get the hose out and repair it."

I am having a difficult time believing that this product would be so heavily in demand if it causes this much trouble.

Has anyone had this happen to them??

Forgive me, ronnatalie...I just posted this last message the other day in a flustered hurry after getting an email from my builder. I didn't stop to say "thanks" for your comment and to follow up with a question or two.

So with this new information from the builder (and the Beam installer), and if I understand your post, I should be able to put in the HAH with the Beam, then change out the Beam to something more powerful, like a Vacuflo, afterward. (I'm assuming the issues the installer has with the HAH has to do that Beam is not powerful enough to properly suck the hose back in the wall?)

Or am I totally off here? I haven't researched this like everything else I'm having to make decisions on, so I could be way off in left field.

Thanks for patiently reading my garbled posts, and for your help! :)

jencjudd: Your builder's response from the central vac installer clearly indicates improper installation techniques. It sounds like the installers either are not using gradual sweeps in the tubing, or the power unit is undersized. I can't even imagine how in the world a hose gets "hung up" with proper installation. LOL! Are they using an oversized pipe diameter?! There are no sharp turns (not supposed to be anyway) in the piping. Here is the proper translation to their response: "The HAH takes extra time and effort to install and I actually have to use my brain to figure out the configuration for a main trunk line and still have enough piping for hose housing that doesn't interfere with the trunk line. I have a much larger profit margin on Beam CVs.". I'm sure at some point they will also throw in my favorite phrase....."I've been doing this for 30 years....". Can your builder use a different installer? This one wouldn't make me feel very confident. : /

Sigh...I figured as much. I don't know if I can convince the builder to use a different installer. This builder has been given me a headache already with changes I want to do "outside of program." And yes, it is supposedly a "custom" build.

I'm concerned about this whole thing, because to me, the HAH is a no brainer...who wouldn't want that, instead of lugging around the tubing? And yet, your point is very valid; would I push to have this installer put it in, since he doesn't seem to really know how HAH is supposed to work? Then I go back to thinking it might have to do with the Beam not being powerful enough to suck up the hose...in the which case, as ronnatalie mentioned, I could switch out the unit for a Vacuflo or something. Right?

Sigh...I'm back to my original quandary: should I just let this go and be happy to be getting a CV, or demand something that might be botched and have a world of headaches later?

Well, I'm happy to report I have an update and my builder is looking into an alternative installer who would be more confident with the HAH. So I'm crossing my fingers!

Thanks SO much for the advice; I sounded like I knew what I was talking about when I told the builder my opinion, which is way more than I would have been able to pull off if I hadn't had this forum! :)

I'm glad it is working out for you.

Absolutely a YES! I did Vacu-Maid (unit in garage) and Hide-A-HOse system. I love it! One unit and I did 50' hoses on 1st, 2nd and Basement. Just did an outlet in attic and garage so I have to attache hoses to them. Love the Hide-a-Hose system.

Yes. Roughing in Monday; Vacuflo, no hide a hose, no vac pans.

I would consider installing the outlets higher on the wall to keep out of little hands (about 3' from floor), but I don't know if that is practical, if I would hate it later.