Pre-plumb for Central Vac pipe during remodel

[vacuumboy12]

Hey folks- looking for some perspective here.

I'm currently renovating my ~1300sqft ranch house and have walls/drywall opened up to do electrical and plumbing work. I'm debating about installing 2" central vacuum pipe in the walls, and capping it in the attic for a future central vac install, as well as running low voltage wire for the signal, and a few 120V lines for super valves.

I've got a fully carpeted, 600sqft enclosed porch in addition to the house, as well as a 2 car garage. I've got a nice Sebo E2 as a "daily driver" but having a central vac seems appealing, especially seeing that I can set it up in the future to exhaust air outside. The house has some low-pile area rugs, hardwood, and sheet vinyl floors. For those who have central vacuums- Is it a worthy addition to your house? If your home didn't come with a central vac, do you think it's worth installing later?

 

[human]

I'd go for it...

I've never had or used a central vacuum system so I cannot really miss something I've never had. That said, if it's something you think you might want down the road, now would definitely be a good time to get the plumbing in place instead of having to tear back into the walls again later. I think it's safe to say that it would save you considerable time, money and effort when you're ready to install the system.

 

[thevacomaticiec]

Not   to mention it will add to the  value  of the  house you are remodeling  id  say  go  for it while the walls are down  but...  Do  make sure the unit  you are installing  has enough suciton  air floow  CFM   to moove the dirt from basement to atic . As  you  know  ,  nothing worse than having an underpowered   central  vac get a  sligtly  over size  unit  you  be glad you  did  .And 


  that way  it will have enough  hummpf  forthe job  and yo u can    pick  the  style  of hose  you   want  and  add to the  tool  kit  .

 

[gottahaveahoove]

If I were building or doing major work,

I think I's install central. I looked into HOOVER. There's one in Canada, but, I can't get it.
A few yrs ago, a collector was talking to me about installation. THat fell through. But,, I'm not ripping out 10' walls here anymore.

 

[centralvacs1928]

Definitely put the piping in, plan on two inlets to cover 1300 square feet (standard 30 foot hose gives you 600 to 800 square feet of coverage from each inlet). Optional would be a dustpan inlet like the CanSweep or VacPan for kitchen area, and/or a Spot/ WallyFlex for the laundry room.

You can buy the unit and hose set at any time - either new, or "period correct" vintage.

I love all my uprights and canisters, but to actually clean and pick up dirt, I really don't like using anything but a built-in vacuum. Once you've had one, it's hard to go back.

 

[gottahaveahoove]

Owen, if I ever were to,

you'd definitely be my consultant. Now, be on the lookout for a nice Hoover........... I know...

 

[centralvacs1928]

...you mean like this one?

 

[gottahaveahoove]

Sure

I saw a white one, but, that's not important

 

[gottahaveahoove]

great floor tool and hose

If you ever come across one, perhaps we can talk.

 

[n0oxy]

love central vacuums

If you have the walls open anyway, I would absolutely suggest installing the piping. Central vacuums are great, I use all of mine without pipes, attach a hose directly to them and the cleaning power you have is amazing. I agree with Owen, I also love my canister and backpack cleaners, and my Sebo Felix, but there is nothing like cleaning with a central vacuum. A 50 foot hose covers my entire apartment and I have at least one central vacuum unit in each room. And the number of attachments you can get is huge.
Mike

 

[vacuumboy12]

Thanks, folks!

Definitely cementing my decision to at least pre-plumb where I have walls open.

I've got the ability to add 'super valves' since I'm doing electrical work at the same time- I'll have one to my enclosed porch, one in my family room, and one in the hallway between my living room and bedrooms. I figure that the inlet in the family room isn't absolutely necessary, but having piping in the wall will make it easy to add a Wally-Flex for the laundry room on the other side. I think that a 40' hose will more than cover my house. Debating about adding a hide-a-hose later- we'll see how I feel about lugging the regular hose around.

 

[vinvac]

Like many have said here, it will add value to your home. Personally, I don't like central vac. I have used central vac in a couple of places. I find the hose to be cumbersome. Both units had air powered turbo cat power heads. Which I did not like. The one that had an electric power head option was much better.

Neither of them were installed correctly and I to bring my Kirby to get to certain areas.

Also both were cyclonic and no bags. Emptying that container was just as bad as dealing with a bag less vacuum. Perhaps if they were bagged units I would not have disliked them as much.

Like I said the hose was heavy and cumbersome and always caught around the leg of something. I just found the Kirby so much easier even if I had to change out to use the hose.

Both units did have nice tools which was a plus.

 

[vacuumboy12]

I agree on the bagless units, Vin. My sister has a Vacuflo central vac in her house, and it's gross to empty- even though it's out in the garage. I'm definitely spec'ing a bagged unit when I get to that point. (Even my shop-vacs in the garage have bags!) There's an MD distributor up in Vancouver, WA (just across the state line) and I'm hoping to purchase a unit from them.

I don't think the hoses are a big deal, as long as you can leave them on the hanger when you start vacuuming. Pulling them out of a closet and dumping them on the ground makes them unmanageable, in my opinion. I'm capping a wye fitting off of the main run to have the option for a hide-a-hose in the future, but I'd prefer the electrified inlets to vacuum my area rugs. I can certainly understand the convenience though, and may be tempted in the future.

My sister has inlets all over her house, and a utility inlet in the garage. The only unfortunate thing about her system, is that she's limited to a Turbocat, or CX1000. The Turbocat does a so-so job on the carpet, and I think she would be better served with a CX1000. She has the standard Vacuflo inlets that are smaller, and has a VacuFlo hose with the prongs to switch the power unit, rather than the standard low voltage hose with the contact ring.

 

[n0oxy]

hoses

It should be possible to swap those vacuflo proprietary valves for standard ones, then a hose with a cord could be used. I store my hose behind my couch, it fits nicely back there, it's not a big deal to pull out and put away. Bagless central vacuums are just nasty, there's no other way to say that, not to mention that you have to vent the cyclonic ones outside, and you have dust going through the motor with those as well, that's a good way to ruin a motor.
Mike

 

[cmbcool01]

Go for it

Convinced the grandparents to spend the money for the pre plumbing and wiring when they built the new house, absolute best decision, ended up that the company that the builder used only had a bagless option but everything was perfectly compatible for the company that ended up putting in our MD flow-master