Central Vacuums
 

Hi,

I live in a townhouse and want to purchase a central vacuum but I am not sure which is the best company to go with to buy the vacuum and to do the install. Let me know who you guys recommend. I'm trying to stay away from Sears and Canadian Tire.

Thanks

I assume the townhouse is already set up for central vac and you just need a canister installed and hose/powerhead? If so, try Best Security - they are a Beam dealer and do a lot of them.

If not pre-wired (for lack of better term), best to get a Dyson or something. They clean a lot better than any central system. That said, you may as well go that route anyway IMO. Hauling around the hose is as much of a pain in the ass as a vacuum cleaner and believe me, Dyson's have a lot more suction than central systems. I hate to state the obvious, but more suction = cleaner carpet.

Beam is a very good company. There is a brand new set on Craigslist at the moment for a Hoover set for $399. This includes canister, power head, and all attachments.

You'll need to assess how many square feet your apartment is, carpet or hardwood.

Install is easy if the rough in is done. You'll just need to add the canister which YouTube will help.

If the rough in is already done you can DIY the canister install pretty easily, in most cases it would take less than a half hour even if you had to go through the directions.

Yep place is already setup for the central vac..lol. I really hate hunking around an actual vacuum cleaner on three floors. I will check out best security

You may hate having to lug an actual vacuum around the house, but trust me... I have central vacuum in one of my places and I hate it even more. The hose, provided you get a decent one, and the end attachments needed weigh even more than a decent Dyson or Hoover.

Fsy - see if you can just buy a canister. The powerhead and hose can be bought separately for about $150. I recently replaced my 17 year old Beam power head and hose with a no-name brand power head and hose.

I bought mine from these guys: Allegro Central Vacuum Systems Inc. (in Ontario). These guys do white-label for other companies.

Good point...

My parents have a central vacuum (CV) at their ~4000 sq ft home, and I use a Dyson canister (as opposed to upright) at my ~2700 sq ft home. I prefer using the Dyson - its suction is just as strong as the central vacuum. Although you have to pull the canister around, it is on wheels. The Dyson hose itself is lighter than a CV hose for sure.

Hmmm never considered Dyson because of the cost but right now with a central vacuum its almost the same. Will have to look more into the Dyson

Why are you guys doing all this lugging around? Either get the system where the hose retracts into the wall or just buy multiple hoses and keep one on each floor.

Love my CV, but if it was not built into the home when I bought it I would not pay to put one in. A Dyson is the way to go if its not already plumbed into the home.

I have hoses on each floor of the house. The retractable ones take up valuable real estate in the walls, so it's stored in the equivalent of the utility room on each level. The "lugging around" comes from having to wind it all back up afterwards and putting it away.

What's so valuable about the space inside the walls?

Open concept home with closed foam spray on the exterior walls, a fireplace on one inside wall, and all plumbing inside the other. The central vac inlet was the only thing we could fit inside the remaining space.

:okay:

I wonder if you could put it in the floor? Or perhaps under the base of a cabinet?

In-floor heating nixes that idea :( :lol

Fuck man, at this point I'd say under the sink but you probably have some fancy ass levitating sink or something.

:lol

The company we contract out our vacuum work to uses MVAC and CYCLO VAC. I can get you in touch with them if you're still in the market.

http://m.costco.ca/Husky-Sprint-Cent...100125501.html

That's the central vaccum that we bought for our place this fall. It's a great system, it's strong and works fairly. Having the long hose is a little but we're getting used to it. Most of our place is plumbed already so I installed it but had to create a new run for a "kitchen sweep".