They are useful anywhere you have hard floor surfaces and sweep .

If you need convincing why they are useful , then you probably don't need one .

The only person I know with a CV if my sister and she just mentioned to me a few weeks back that she regrets not putting access in the kitchen. That's all I know.

I regularly take a vacuum to the kitchen to get what I miss with a broom. Especially just prior to a good mopping (different than the quick mop and go). Would love a CV to make that step quicker.

We already had a central vac when we did our reno and as we were adding on to the house we had to change it as well and so added a vacuum pan in the kitchen at the same time. I though it was kind of silly but it turns out I use it all the time primarily for the cat hair and just all the bits and pieces. . I don't have one in the eating area or the bathroom.

We moved into a house with a central vac which I really like, except for quick sweep ups in the kitchen, because the hose is 35 feet. I purchased an extra hose long enough to reach most of the kitchen (much shorter than the other hose) and I keep it in the pantry. Much quicker to use than the long hose and I think more effective than a broom.

The vacuum pan is the best part of a CV! I did not love my CV in my old house so we chose to not put it in our new build. (I found the long hose cumbersome.). However, I sorely miss the vacuum pan in my new kitchen! I wish I would have just added that.

Yep, as Karen and mom point out, the benefit of the pan is that you can use the CV without the hose that can be unwieldy. That said, you'll own a CV and a broom, which seems a little silly, but there it is. Are you going to be sweeping the kitchen floor, or will your cleaning lady be sweeping the floor? I only ask because my sisters house with its many conveniences, don't make life easier for her, they make it easier to work for her.

BTW, if that's a foosball table in your plan, you need much more clearance around it than you've currently got. Best of luck with the house.

I just Googles CV with various combinations of words and I have no idea what you're talking about. What is CV? What's a vacuum pan? Thanks.

-Clueless CarrieB

CV is a central vacuum system and the vacuum pan is a little port, I guess, where you can sweep loose debris up to it and it vacuums it in.

dcward89 - Like a garbage disposal on the floor?

Kinda, lol...I don't have one but I think the pan is usually in the toekick area.

Carrie , did you google vac pan ?

Try that and click on the image tab.

My mother had a central vacuum system put in her house when they built. The only part she loved was the pan in the kitchen. She always used a broom to sweep in there and she was very amused by the sucker in the kitchen as well as liking that she didn't have to bend over with a dust pan. I never used it so I can't comment personally.

Wow. Cool! It's like sweeping stuff outside, but there's no lip, it sucks, and you don't have to open the door!

Oh my! I have missed so many comments. Thank you all so much for weighing in! Sounds like many of you think at least one vac pan in the kitchen would be worthwhile. We will have hardwood throughout the main leval, except the baths and laundry which will have tile. We do our own cleaning and sweep the kitchen at least once a day. I would be inclined to vacuum the kitchen fully before mopping. I also like the idea of getting a very short central vacuum hose instead of the vac pan/broom combo. Yet, that is one step more than the broom/vac pan (need to haul out hose and put in inlet and then put away). As per the comment on the fooseball table, we do have it in a similar space now and it seems to be working fine space wise. If it ends up being tight we can move it down to the man cave in the basement.

Anyone have experience with a vac pan in their bathroom? Anyone think two vac pans in our kitchen would be better than one (thinking one near stools and one on prep side)?

Carol

We added vac pans in our kitchen and laundry room. Thought about the bathroom but I decided to get one of those small plug in hand held vacs instead since I have storage space. We haven't moved in yet but I am most excited about the laundry room pan.

The laundry room is a good idea - thanks. Does you laundry room serve as a mudroom/family entrance as well? Our laundry area is separate from the mudroom. A vac pan in the family entrance area would be great.

Carol

Hi

Have you ever thought of or heard of " vroom vacuum " or " wallyflex "

Search both on youtube and you know what I am talking about.

If I were going to install a CV I would i stall these were there always alot of messes on the floor.

Thanks for those key words Iinus. They do look handy!

Carol

Vroom is a self contained appliance that requires its own electrical outlet in the cabinet and takes up valuable real estate there.

Plus you have to empty each vroom unit which is small.

Kinda deafeats the whole purpose of a CENTRAL vac system.

Thanks for that info, xedos.

Carol

I really wanted a vac pan in the kitchen, and finally got one.... almost never use it. Perhaps it is because it is in the kick so turning it on/off is a PITA for me. I find that it is just easier to use the dust pan.

Interesting comment, sherri -- thanks for the warning. Sorry yours is a PITA to use. Maybe if the vac pan had been placed near the baseboard around a panty it would have been easier to turn on/off? I wondered about having one near our pantry run (left hand side as you enter kitchen from hall/foyer). Anyone seen one installed in the baseboard area of a wall? Are these easier to use than the toe kick ones?

Xedos: I know that the "wroomvac" takes up some cabinet space but not that much. There are 2 models, one that are a stand alone unit like a normalvacuum and the other model that you connect to your CV system. I agree if you have the stand alone unit it has a small container but connected to the CV you can vacuum til the CV is full.

Why I sudgested these 2 accessories to a CV is because I do not like brooms at all, all that sweeping is sturring up dust in the air and that is one of the ideas of having a CV not to get in the air. I do not own a CV my self but have used a few in my time. In Sweden were I live I can not get a CV with powernozzel powered by elektricity and not just airdriven.

Why not have one of those outlets with the hoze built in the wall, then you just need the extension tube and floornozzle, those dont take any moore than a broom to store. There are different ones, one that you pull the hoze out your self and on that you push a button on the handle. Think those damn clever.

Linus - got a link for that CV Vroom ?

I wasn't aware that was in the marketplace.

In a bath vanity the stand alone can take up half the floor space and if a remodel where the ptrap isn't centered then you might get zero storage. A vac pan takes up zero storage space in a sink cabinet.

I'm just throwing it out there as a data point for people considering either.

I agree with Sherri. I love my CV with hide-a-hose, but I never use the vacuum pan in the kitchen. It is under the toe kick, which makes it more difficult to see what I'm doing. That isn't what deters me, though. More importantly, my hose is nearby, and it's easy enough for me to pull out the hose to vacuum (instead of getting a broom.) I also feel the HAH is more thorough in cleaning than a broom.

Hi Carol,

We had regular CV with vac pan in our old kitchen and I used the vac pan a lot.

We have CV with hide-a-hose in our new house, vac pan in the kitchen. I have only used the vac pan in the kitchen once, probably because there is a gel mat in front of it now. If I'm cleaning enough to move the mats, I am cleaning enough to be using the hide-a-hose. I am a big fan of the hide-a-hose -- don't know whether that would be an option for you.

[edited: ditto lolauren]

Good luck!

Thanks for the above comments. All very helpful.. I have plenty more information to ponder, and some more alternatives to the vac pan for quick cleans. I do think those hide-a-hose features are wonderful. We did decide against them as we had very few interior walls to hide the hose in. Our project is a whole house rebuild/addition. We are currently using our old central vac canister. My 18 year old son just installed the CV tubes and connected them to the old canister. We will likely need to buy a large canister soon (now that the house is much larger), but it is nice during the build to have some sort of vacuuming capability.

Carol

I greatly miss having CV and it is one of the few things I dislike about our current home. My fantasy is a vac pan in every bathroom -- I shed hair like an aging collie -- and a vac pan near every cat litter box. In the kitchen? No question, yes. Know that others envy you!

Thanks MizLIzzie for your vote and suggestions. Would you put two vac pans in our kitchen? It is too early to envy us now as the current living conditions are not nice. We are rebuilding this house ourselves so lots of sweat equity involved (and $$$ too). Currently our family of 6 is living in the house under construction. There is no drywall, limited insulation, no finishes, limited heat, no beauty, comfort or convenience what so every. We live in cold Canada too which makes it worse. When it is done perhaps envy, but not yet LOL.

Carol

If it were my space, I'd put a vac pan in the kitchen toe kick, probably near the prep sink. And a vac pan in the living space, located near the stairs. With our many pets, and people going up and down, we get a lot of dust and hair near the foot of the stairs.

Thanks MizLizzie for those suggestions on where to locate the vac pans.

Carol

Ontariomom did you decide to put the vacpan in your kitchen?

My question that I still have when reading through this is, if given the choice of a vacpan in the kitchen or an extra HAH outlet in the kitchen, which would be preferable? Maybe personal preference? I'm needing to let my husband know (owner builder) at this point what I want and I'm not sure!

extra HAH outlet!!!

We are planning on one vac pan in the kitchen -- not yet installed. We did not upgrade to the HAH, but that would be a wonderful option.

Carol