What do I do now?
Do
one of the follow 3 things:
2. Send in your drawings.
3. Give us a call for advice on 01684 899 017.
Do It Yourself
To do this you will first need to design the system. Central Vacuums are very straightforward to design. Please read our comprehensive DIY manual which illustrates how to design and install your own system.
You will need the following items:
- A vacuum power unit
- Ducting (pipework)
- Inlet Valves
- Floor sweep (vacusweep) - optional
- A hose set
- Accessories (optional)
Designing the System (See also our DIY manual)
Cut a piece of string at the same scale as your drawing, 9m long. (This will be your flexible vacuum hose!). From the furthermost corner of one of the rooms (the lounge for instance), measure back this 9m allowing for furniture, beds etc, to an internal wall. Mark the location of your first inlet valve. This valve location will then cover other rooms as well. Do this until the whole house is can be reached by the hose.
Now choose where you are going to locate the vacuum power unit. This would normally be in the garage, utility room or basement, but can be in the loft or a cupboard. Make sure that where the unit is located where you have access to an outside wall or void under the floor where you can vent the exhaust to. Compact models are available should you prefer to locate your vacuum unit in an understairs cupboard or an area that is restricted for space.
Mark on your drawing your proposed route for the ducting (which is 52mm external diameter rigid PVC pipe). This should be adjacent to the walls on the ground floor. Try and reach all the valve locations using the least length of pipe. Keeping your ducting to a minimum will maintain the power of the vacuum system and will make installation quicker and easier.
For the first and second floors the pipe will need to rise in a Soil Vent Pipe box or a service box or within a built in cupboard. If you have TJI joists then the ducting can run in either direction in the ground floor ceiling otherwise you will need to take the pipe to the loft or eaves space and drop down in the stud walls or built in cupboards to your valve locations.
Inlet valves are normally positioned at the same height as an electrical socket but you can of course have it at whatever height you want. If you have a wheel chair or have difficulty bending then you want the valves at the height that best suits you.
VacuSweeps are commonly located in areas of the property where there is regular mess created by dust and crumbs. Lifting a discreet flap simulatiously opens the VacuSweep and activates the vacuum system. When running, dust and crumbs are simply brushed effortlessly into the VacuSweep. This option is ideal if you do not wish to get the hose out to vacuum a small area on a regular basis. A VacuSweep is easily located into the plinth of a kitchen or skirting of a boxed section. It is not easy to locate into the skirting of a solid wall.
It’s easiest to order ducting in kit form because then you don’t have to worry about the sort of connectors you need. Kits come with a variety of fittings that suit the majority of installations. You may have some surplus but that’s better than being short because you had not allowed for something. You need a starter kit which covers 3 inlet valves and then an additional add on kit for every other inlet valve. For every 10 inlet valves you should have one starter kit because this contains solvent cement and additional fittings.
The model of power unit you need depends upon the amount of ducting you install between the power unit and the furthest inlet valve on the system. If a power unit spec sheet says it is good for a 75m run this means dead straight and you should deduct 1m for every bend or fitting. Be on the safe side and choose the next size up if in any doubt.
There are two types of bend, by the way, a sweep elbow and a sharp elbow. Sweep elbows are used everywhere in the system except for the final one behind the inlet valve where a sharp elbow must be used. This is because if you vacuum up the likes of a pencil, it will stick there and you can easily get it out. If it gets past this bend it will continue on until it gets to the bucket (hooray!).
Designing a system is as easy as that!
Having designed your system you can price it out and order the materials online or by phone.
Just remember, you are going to need:
- One power unit (or more if more than one person is going to clean at any one time and then you will need to divide the system to suit the method of cleaning).
- Ducting consisting of a starter kit and add on kits.
- Inlet valves. One for each location. You may want brass for the downstairs and white for other areas. Decide before you start installing because the backing plates for inlet valves have to match the particular make of valve.
- One hose set (you may want one for each floor and one for the garage). The hose set does include basic accessories.
- Accessories (optional). The ‘turbocat’ is excellent for carpets and the ‘rugrat’ for upholstery particularly if you have animals. These have rotating brushes driven by air power and will remove hairs and dirt more effectively than straight vacuuming. If you have lots of hard floors then you should have the hard floor brush.
That’s it!!