Central Vacuums

[nleksan]

I know they are over advertised, but I must admit that I truly love my Dyson DC14, no "ball" gimmick (5200sq*ft house means ball vacuum = sore wrist/arm/shoulder). The newer models don't seem to have much of a performance difference as I used my Dyson on my family room floor for one pass, then used it side by side with my friends DC4x "Animal", and they both grabbed a miniscule amount of dirt on this second pass. Both vacuums were intensively cleaned prior, so they both performed at their peak. I would say the $550 DC4x picked up maybe 5% more than the DC14 I got on sale, brand new, for $180.
My home is about 75/25 carpet to hardwood, and I have three indoor cats and an Australian Shepherd who is an indoor dog, and my vacuum picks up everything! I am a clean freak, so the house gets vacuumed 3-5x per week.depending on noticeable dirt. Every single time, I have to empty the canister after finishing each floor! Occasionally I can get 2 floors, but for real the thing is a monster.
I always clean the brush after vacuuming (the agitator, or "spinning thing"), tap out the canister and the yellow part, then get as much stuck.dust as I can with a skinny duster. Keeps it working great. Once every 45-70 days I will wash everything out with water, either pressurized from faucet or garden hose. Sometimes I will use my air compressor to blow 150psi air through it which loosens stuff up too. Sounds tough, but it is actually quite easy to maintain. 2 years and the HEPA filter is spotless... The vacuum performs exactly as well now as it did when new.

For a neat freak like me, it is a dream come true. I have used other competing vacuums such as a.Hoover WindTunnel "Professional", but now that overpriced Hoover is my car detailing vacuum, at which it excels

I highly recommend a Dyson DC14. If you get it on sale, it can be had for under $200 and as OCD as I may be, the new models arent worth 2.5x the price for 5% better cleaning... Numbers dont add up.

Also, central.vacs annoy me. Idk why, I just do not like them. I would sooned use a nice 5hp 10gal shop vac with a HEPA main cone filter and a shop vac bag.

Also, my dust allergies have disappeared since I got the Dyson. Six months after that, I cleaned out all of my vents as I insulated them, and now 18mo later the vents dont have a hint of.dust. If you want to reduce dust, I would recommend something like an Aprilaire furnace filter system...awesome. It takes nearly 6mo to see ANY visible dust anywhere on the house, from cabinets/bookshelves to ceiling fans.

Hope this helps.
Sincerely,
nleksan

 

[OVERKILL]

This is the bad boy we've ordered:

http://www.aerusvacuums.com/centralvacuum/index.cfm

143" of lift (H2O). That's a heck of a lot!!!

My parents have one of these in each house and love 'em! And my personal experience with them has also been great. They have insane suction.

 

[OVERKILL]

For reference, Dyson doesn't list their inches of lift spec's, but some searching found it being ~100" for the large models. Very good for an upright for sure.

 

[SteveSRT8]

Removing particulate soils is not really related to inches of mercury lift specs.

More relative to cfm and velocity at the cleaning head.

And almost any real quality upright or canister vac will actually CLEAN the air as you use it, many filter to better than HEPA standards. This eliminates them from causing/aggravating any allergy symptoms.

Dysons are routinely available on Overstock for super cheap. Their main advantages are superior performance with no expenses as you never buy a bag, filter or belt in my experience. We own quite a few of them and they are wonderful for the ease of cleaning as stated above.

 

[OVERKILL]

Originally Posted By: SteveSRT8
Removing particulate soils is not really related to inches of mercury lift specs.

More relative to cfm and velocity at the cleaning head.

And almost any real quality upright or canister vac will actually CLEAN the air as you use it, many filter to better than HEPA standards. This eliminates them from causing/aggravating any allergy symptoms.

Dysons are routinely available on Overstock for super cheap. Their main advantages are superior performance with no expenses as you never buy a bag, filter or belt in my experience. We own quite a few of them and they are wonderful for the ease of cleaning as stated above.


Did you take a look at the link? I'd appreciate it if you did, then give me your opinion.

 

[SteveSRT8]

Looks like a monster to me. 13 amps draw is pretty stout, and it holds 9 GALLONS of [censored]!

I think it's a wow!

 

[OVERKILL]

Originally Posted By: SteveSRT8
Looks like a monster to me. 13 amps draw is pretty stout, and it holds 9 GALLONS of [censored]!

I think it's a wow!


Yeah, it is a pretty heavy duty unit. I'll let you know how it works once installed

 

[OVERKILL]

Originally Posted By: SteveSRT8
Looks like a monster to me. 13 amps draw is pretty stout, and it holds 9 GALLONS of [censored]!

I think it's a wow!


So, I've got it partially installed at the moment. Partially because I only have one jack active at the moment, and it is the one in the basement.

It is mounted in its final location

I've run the wiring to it, put it on its own fuse in the panel (I had a spare)

Installed two junction boxes, one with a receptacle, which powers both the unit, as well as a separate feed from this box that runs all the accessories through the "super jacks", which have power run to them for this purpose.

I've done the first run of pipe, glued, and tested.

And I've wired the switch feed into its junction box and to the unit.

Testing in the basement yielded fantastic suction. But that's to be expected with only 3ft of pipe run thus far.

The hold up was the death of both batteries for my cordless drill trying to cut through the floor under a wall to run the 1st floor jack. I found about 10lbs of plaster inside that wall too.... Somebody was busy.

 

[SteveSRT8]

Ha, you discovered the "joy of home ownership".

It goes on and on... I don't think you're EVER done with a house!