What's involved
A
central vacuum system consists of:
- A power unit
- Ducting or pipe work
- Inlet valves or sockets
- Cleaning hose and accessories
- Optional Accessories
The power unit is located in the garage, utility room, basement, under the stairs or even in the loft.
The ducting or pipework is 52mm dia PVC which goes from the power unit to the further most inlet valve with branches off to all the other inlet valves. The ducting is concealed within the fabric of the house in the same way that other services are concealed. In a conventional property the ducting will run in the insulation layer under the ground floor screed whereas upstairs it will probably run in the loft space and drop down in cupboards or stud walls to the valve or outlet position. A low voltage signal wire runs with the ducting from the power unit to each valve.
The valves or outlets will be located at the same height as the electrical sockets in the house. There aren't many and they are unobtrusive with a range of styles and colours available. A typical valve will be white in metal or plastic and be the same size as a power point. In addition you may want a ‘vacusweep‘. This is rather like a letter box at floor level. Instead of getting the hose out to clear the breakfast crumbs from the kitchen floor you activate the unit with a foot switch and sweep the crumbs into the slot. Hey presto, all gone!!
The cleaning hose is flexible like the one from a standard cylinder vacuum cleaner but longer, from 6 metres up to 15 metres, the standard length being 9 metres. This hose plugs into the wall valves or sockets and in doing so automatically switches on the vacuum. Your hose is 9 metres long so you don't need a valve in every room. A 1500 sq ft house may have one valve in the hall and one on the landing. A 3000 sq ft house may have 2 valves downstairs and 3 upstairs depending upon the layout of the rooms. Larger houses and offices can have many more. Hotels can have hundreds of outlets.
On the end of the hose you will have the standard cleaning tools that you get with any vacuum cleaner. A dual purpose (for carpet and hard floor) floor brush, a crevice tool, dusting brush and upholstery brush. You will vacuum the house in the normal way but with the added advantage of more power than a conventional vacuum unit. In addition to the standard cleaning tools there are accessories such as power and turbo brushes. These have revolving brushes for both upholstery and carpets and are useful if you have animals or fabrics that need extra cleaning power.
There is no getting away from that fact that you still have to do the cleaning but it will be far less stressful without the noise, you will not have to clean as often to maintain your usual standard of cleanliness because there is no recirculated dust (check it out when you are vacuuming in a sunfilled room). There will be no smells from accumulated debris in your bagged or bagless cleaner. Smells cling to all surfaces, some more than others. Your home will be much fresher.
Installation of a vacuum system can be very straight forward. Any competent tradesman or DIY person can do it. Our installers are doing it every day so will probably complete an installation in a faster time than most other people can. Their standard of workmanship is very high so we can guarantee the integrity of the ducting system. See our installation manual. (link 7)
Can these systems get blocked? Yes, but this most unlikely in normal circumstances. The telescopic vacuum wand has a diameter of 25mm, this runs into a 35mm flexible hose (link 9) and then to a 52mm duct (link 10). If anything likely to cause a blockage is sucked up, the chances are that the blockage will be in the narrowest part of the system, namely the wand. If a blockage does occur in the main run this can be removed by vacuuming out from the nearest point from the blockage.