false generations
Just came upon this thread, a couple of years late, lol. I see people attempting to justify their preferences for not having a central vacuum on totally false globalizations.
I think some people who are against central cacs have never had one one, but hear the false old wives tales. There opinions certainly should have less weight than someone who currently owns a competent modern unit.
The first central vacuum I heard of was from 1912, and that was in the Wright Brothers house (Hawthorne Hill) that I toured in my hometown of Dayton. The outlets looked much as today's with several on each floor of the home.
The power unit, in the basement looked quite different. It reminded me more if a water pump and pressure tank.
Since 1913 central vacs have come a long way. Hoses in 40 foot+ lengths, built-in wiring for the power head and/or hand power brush. Electrified, lightweight hoses that do not require a separate cord, with the vac outlet having a built in two pin 120 volt contact for the power head and low voltage contacts to turn the power unit off and on.
Central vacs can have sealed suction up to 208 inches, that no canister can even remotely approach. Nowadays vacuums are often rated in air Watts, although I prefer to know the individual CFM and sealed suction ratings, and central vacs can go well over a thousand airwatts (nothing to do with electrical watts, rating-wise.) canister vacs or upright vacs can only produce a fraction of that.
Best of all, Central vac can be exhausted to the outdoors so you gave zero recirculation of dust particles back into the home. Newer HEPA filters on canisters and uprights state 99.97% particle capture, which is wonderful. However, when vacuuming thousands of more micro particles means some, although few are still escaping back into the air. There is no 100 percent capture with any filter. Howeve, a central vac is 100 percent no return of contaminant particles. Recirculating vacuums often develop odors, central vacs return no odors back to the room. Zeri odors remain in the room after using a central vac
People speak of the inconvenience of a long hose, but fail to mention the inconvenience of a 30 foot electrical cord in a conventional vacuum and it's sometimes getting snagged and being run over by the vacuum. How about the inconvenience of tugging a canister behind you wherever you go, and if you only have one vac in a multi -stiry home you have to haul it up and down stairs, and the hose of most canisters cannot reach the length of many staircases, so you have to hold the canister or balance it in the steps.
Let's mention noise. Vacuums have come a long way in suppressing sound, and this is becoming a lesser issue. If you mount you central cac remotely (eg. garage) there is no noise but the air flowing. When using a powerhead on carpeting it is the same sound level as the powerhead on a canister, but you still don't have the vac motor sound so overall it is quieter than a canister/powerhead combination.
Basically, all four of the statements in the first post of this thread are false generalizations based solely on one's bias.
To contradict, newer hoses are not clumsy or heavy and I find are much easier to use than pulling a canister AND canister behind me. I can not only reach the entire length of a full length staircase, but also the landing and with an extension wand on the end, can clean the ceiling above the landing.
Winding a hose on it's holder in the closet is easy and I find it no harder than winding a upright or canister cord.
Central vacs rarely ever clog. Especially is you purchase one with a high sealed suction. My parents had a central vac (a Sears cyclonic from the mid seventies) and they never had a clog. I have put a central vac in all of my homes, except one, since I moved out on my own in the mud-eighties. I have had three clogs in forty years. One of then cleared by putting my hand on the end of the house and ketting the suction build up then pulled it off very quickly and it cleared itself, one clog was in the hose, so I turned the hose around and put the other end in the wall outlet, and the central vac pulled the clog out, and the most recent when I was cleaning out the garage with the central vac, I vacuumed up a large nail, and didn't realize it. It couldn't make the final turn in the elbow going into the vac, over the weeks that followed, dirt collected around the nail and eventually created a clog. I pulled the elbow off, took out the nail and clog with my finger, stuck the elbow back on and was right back in business.
If someone says clogging is a reason not to buy a central vac, then that is a laughable reason, as it rarely happens if you don't abuse the machine, which I do, I admit I use it as a shoo vac and hook the hose up to my sanders vac outlet when I do sanding projects such as drywall sanding, I love it for sawdust, and to clean the ashes out from my fireplace.)
As far as power used, that is another laughable reason to not use a central vac. Trust me you will never notice the difference on an electric bill. Some if the 120 volt central use less than many canisters anyway, as low as 10 to 11.5 amps. My current central units is 13 amps. Many canisters and uprights are twelve amps. Yes you can buy a two motor 240 volt central vac IF you love power, lol. Trust me in the long run you are never going to notice any changes in your electric bill.
There are several dust collection configurations, and I have had them all, bagged units, cyclonic, and Inverse cloth filter. All three work and none are messy if you think before you empty. Paper bag is fast to empty, same technique as an upright or canister. Cyclonic and inverted filter means you empty the collection canister.
No, as someone mentioned above it is NOT messy. You take the dirt canister off, put a trash bag over it holding the bag around the top of the canister to seal it, turn it upside down, wait about five seconds for dust to settle, take the trash bag off pull close it and place in trash. No muss, no fuss. For the inverted cloth filter, after emptying the canister/bin, as just stated, you place the trash bag around the base of the central vac, reach up through it and shake the cloth filter to clean it.
None is inconvenient to clean, and you only do it every several months unless you have collected a lot of sawdust or plaster dust. I like the cyclonic best as if I pick up broken glass and there is no potential cutting of the paper bag. If I break a glass in the kitchen, after I pick up the large pieces, I use the central vac to make sure every particle if glass is gone so one of my cats doesn't not get a glass fragment in the paws. I have never ripped a paper bag in doing so I, but in a cyclonic or inverse bag vac, there is zero chance as there is no paper bag. However, recently they have cone out with non-woven cloth central vac bags, and that should prevent any likelihood of bag cutting as well.
I am a vacuum cleaner fan period. I love canisters, uprights, hand vacs and central. They all gave their place and everyone had their preference and no bias against any of them. Personally, I won't have a hone without a central vac as they are:
Unequaled in power, extraordinarily convenient, zero recirculation of airborne contaminants, very quiet if mounted remotely, and very versatile as it can clean bare floors, carpet, pick up sawdust, plaster dust some units can be bought that pick up water, and they add value to your home when you sell it. Central are easy to repair and it is much easier, as a rule, to access the individual component should a repair be needed as compared to mist uprights and canisters.
In short central vacs have the abilities to make them powerful, quiet, versatile, convenient, easily repairable and in top off all this actually add value and marketability, to your home..
If you don't like them fine, but have your reasons based on reality and based from personal use and the newer designs rather than from second hand information, old wives tales and reference to central vacs of decades and decades ago.
