Central Vac Survey

[mattl]

Let me throw another question out.  Perhaps I'm mistaken but I feel a heavy vacuum does a better job of digging in to the carpet and getting deep dirt out.

 

I little background.  Way back when we got a Hoover Dial-a Matic, and it lasted for many, many years.  It is a heavy unit with a beater bar brush.  It always did a good job.  When it got long in the tooth I replaced it with a hard body Panasonic upright.  used it for years, but it was mostly plastic and not as heavy as the Hoover.  Several years ago I redid a house and had 200+ plus yards of plush carpet installed.  You can imagine the amount of fiber that got pulled out of that.  I was using a cheap Bissel hard body vac, and in minutes the disposable bag would be full.  There was a local Kirby shop that always had an older Kirby on sale for $25, so I picked one up - the kind with a fabric bag.  Easily empty the bag filled with fiber on that unit.

 

Ok, now to the point.  When I rented out the house -market crashed so I could not sell it- I brought the Kirby Omega home.  I started using it occasionally and was amazed how much loose fiber was pulled out of my 8 year old carpet.  I don't think it was a function of increase suction, if anything the Panasonic had more, but the fact that the heavy Kirby pushed deeper into the carpet than the lighter Panasonic.  I picked up a classic Kenmore canister vac with a power head and tried it out and it seemed to just glide across the top of the carpet, I don't think it got anywhere as deeply into the carpet as the Kirby.

 

I would think the power head on the central vac would be similar to the Kenmore power head, not like the Kirby or even the Panasonic, true?

 

[combo52]

WHIRLPOOL CENTRAL VACUUMS

Barry do you remember the WP central vacuum called the Jack-pack that used water to filter the dirt before exhausting the air outside?. When you turned it on the reservoir filled with a few gallons of water and as soon as it was turned off the loss of suction allowed the container valve to open which let all the dirt and water go down the drain into the sewer. This system also allowed you to vacuum up any quantity of water, and if the container got to full it would just shut down long enough for the excess water to go down the drain. And it also came with a flip over attachment that allowed you to scrub floors and then flip it over and suck away all the dirty water.

 

[turquoisedude]

I have to chime in on this one...  We have central vacs at both our homes (a 3 bedroom apartment-style condo in Montreal and two-story house down in Ogden) and I despise them both!!    I think it is probably due to the way they were installed - in the apartment in the city, the central vac takes up most of the guest bedroom closet, is not vented to the outside, and I find it really awkward to empty.   In Ogden, the vac unit is in the basement and the hose ports on the first and second floor are in such incredibly inconvenient spots that it is difficult to use the blasted thing.   In Montreal, I am now test-driving a vintage Electrolux AP100, but I don't think I would go so far as removing the central unit.  Down in Ogden,  I use a compact Kenmore 'Magic Blue' vac upstairs,  a good old-fashioned 'beats as it sweeps as it cleans' Hoover in the main living area and the central vac for the basement...

 

[bwoods]

Matt,

I have often felt that way, too....that the weight of the motor pushed the beater bar more deeply into the pile. Hence uprights dig deeper than canisters.

There was only one canistaer in Consumer Reports that got as high marks as uprights (even with the powerhead) and that was the Electrolux Oxygen. So I think maybe its not only weight, but design, too.

When I put a central unit in my present house, (a Eureka) I bought the Electrolux powerhead that was on the Electrolux. It honestly cleans every bit as well as my Hoover WindTunnel. I think the superior suction of the central vac, pull the powerhead down into the carpet pile and gets the same overall results as if you had extra weight on top of it.

Upright vacuums have more air flow (CFM-cubic feet per minute)but usually lower sealed suction rates (inches of suction measured by water lift.) This extra sealed suction on central vacs is what really pulls the dirt up through the carpet fibers.

John,

Yes! I remember those short lived central vacs that could suck up water. Never saw one in person but thought they were cool and a greata feat of engineering.

Paul,

It sounds like due to shortsideness son the installer (or maybe cheapness) you weren't able to fully utlize or enjoy the benefits of a central vac.

Properly installed, and with one of todays super-powered units with a competent power-head, I think you would be a believer!

 

[mark_wpduet]

My aunt and uncle built a new home that was finished in 1975. They had all Kenmore appliances (even the trash compactor) all yellow and a Kenmore central vac. In the 80s I remember helping my cousins clean and using it. I remember not liking it very well. Some areas it wouldn't reach as the hose wasn't long enough. I don't think it had a bag. Just filled with dirt in the canister in the garage (which was also yellow)

I'm sure they are much improved today.

 

[kenmore71]

When my parents built their "retirement" house about 3 years ago my mother was insistent that a central vac be installed. I have used it on a number of occasions and have to say that it's pretty nifty!

I think that after 40 years of dragging a Kirby Omega Classic around a 2 story farmhouse with a finished basement she wanted retirement to be easier!

 

[daveamkrayoguy]

After my "youthful dismissing" as "MYTH":

Well, somehow my "discovery" of hearing of "Central Vac's" was a FOR BETTER OR FOR WORSE comic, where one had been given as a gift...

Really, they are probably to most homes as AUTOMATIC DISHWASHERS were to the wealthy, upper-class...

-- Dave