There are advantages to each type of system.  Many people consider that bagging the dirt is a more old fashioned type of system and that it is better to empty the canister when it becomes full in the base unit.  When the canister needs to be emptied, a warning light flashes in the unit and you take the canister out to your compost heap, or trash receptacle and empty it.

However, this system does mean that there is certain amount of dirt and dust floating around while you are taking the canister out of the base unit and disposing of the contents.  If you are someone who suffers from dust allergies, you may be especially indisposed towards having to empty one of these canisters.  For this reason, you may prefer to simply take a full bag of dirt from the base unit and throw the dirt and bag into the trash, thereby having no dust escaping into the air. 

MD Hyperflow Central Vacuum Bags

Many of the modern makes of central vacuum bags are built to a very high standard and are strong and durable, so there is little chance of them becoming torn or damaged when you are inserting or removing them from the base unit.

Let us give 2 examples of bags for central vacuum systems that are presently on the market. 

· One example comprises a pack of 5 central vacuum bags, each of which holds 8 gallons of waste.  These bags fit many makes of central vacuum cleaners that use bags including Modern Day, Silent-Master, MD and Flo-Master units, once the total unit height is under 34 inches.  This product is called a Hyperflow bag and has a high specification with regard to filtering and air flow.  This product markets at around $18 online.
·  Another Hyperflow product comprises 5 bags which hold 12 gallons of dirt each.  The main difference between this bag and the previous product is the holding capacity of the bag.  This product markets at around $22 online.

Whether you install a central vacuum system that uses central vacuum bags or a canister, it is good to know that most of these systems only need to be emptied infrequently, perhaps once in three months.  When you compare this to a portable vacuum cleaner and think how often you have to empty the cleaner and replace the bag, you will realise that emptying a central vacuum cleaner is a much less labour intensive task.

Central vacuum bags are not to everyone’s taste.  Many customers favour the canister system and many manufacturers offer a larger range of canister models than models which hold bags.  However, for those who rather the bagged system of disposing of the waste from a central vacuum cleaner, there are still plenty of models to choose from.

Related posts:

1. A Laypersons Guide To A Central Vacuum System.
2. Central Vacuum Cleaners.
3. Central Vacuum Accessories.

Explaining how central vacuum systems works should not be a terribly difficult task to undertake.  However sometimes terms such as ‘cyclonic separation’ and ‘low voltage hose connectors’ get sprinkled about by manufacturers and by salespeople in central vacuum stores and this only serves to confuse people.  Here we hope to avoid any complicated descriptions and to try to explain about C.V. systems as simply as possible.

Central vacuums, otherwise known as ‘built-in vacuum cleaners’ or ‘ducted vacuum cleaners‘ operate on a different principle to mobile vacuum cleaners.  With a central vac system the motor for the vacuum and also the dirt storage area are moved to a central point and all of the dirt that is being vacuumed from the living area is transported to that point.

Central Vacuums Will Bring Fresher Air To Your Home.

This is done by having a network of PVC piping installed in the walls of your home.  Inlet points which are connected to this piping are then placed throughout your house and at these inlet points you insert a central vacuum hose which will allow you to vacuum that area of the house and which will suck any dirt back to the base unit.  A central vacuum hose is typically about 25’ to 35’ long, which gives a good range of movement to the person that is cleaning.

The base unit  (motor, filters and dirt collection ara) are usually stored in a service area within the home, be it a garage, attic or basement area, and there are several advantages to this that we will come to later.  Base units contain either central vacuum bags for collecting dirt or perhaps a canister.  When the system needs to be emptied a warning light will come on, indicating that it is time to take action.  C.V. systems are durable, have a long life span and central vacuum repair should be quite easily carried out, obviously depending on the problem and the system type.

Central vacuum cleaners have quite a few advantages over mobile vacuum cleaners.  Here listed are the main advanatages:

•    Because central vacuums have a larger fan and a more powerful motor, they generally have better suction than a moble vacuum cleaner.
•    Despite being more powerful, the fact that the motor is kept in a service area of the residence means that there is less noise in the living area of the home when the system is operating.
•    Because the base unit and filtration system is located away from the living area, no dirt is allowed to circulate back into the living area, which is a benefit to all of the family members, but particularly to allergy sufferers.
•    As the dirt bag or canister is much larger than that of a mobile vacuum cleaner, the system needs to be emptied far less often.
•    The manufacturers of these systems also bring in a large assortment of central vacuum accessories that help you to carry out a range of specific cleaning tasks.  Central vacuum parts are also easily available online.

As you see, a C.V. system operates on a simple principle of removing the dirt from the living area and depositing it in a service area of the home.  It is not a difficult system to operate and while it central vacuum installation can be carried out on most homes it is easier to install a central vacuum  system while the house is under construction.

Related posts:

1. The Benefits of a Central Vacuum System.
2. Central Vacuum Systems
3. Central Vacuum Accessories.

Central vacuum cleaners are now becoming more accepted as a feature being offered by builders in high end, new build schemes and which are also being considered a necessity in one-off houses being built by couples that consider a good cleaning system to be a priority. With there being more central vacuum systems on the market, and given that we are in recessionary times, the price of C.V. systems is becoming more reasonable and customers that are good at driving a bargain are finding suppliers more willing to negotiate on price.

Like an automobile, there may be many models and styles on offer in the marketplace, but the basic operating idea remains the same.  When it comes to central vac installation there are 2 basic systems, filtered and cyclonic.

Filtered systems do pretty much what the label says – the central vac cleaner uses a filter to clean the air that the central vacuum cleaner has taken in, before it passes the motor and is re-released into the environment. This system works well, and does ensure that the motor is protected, but the filter does need to be kept clean and replaced regularly.  If you allow dirt to build up in the filter, it will effect performance over time and may eventually lead to damage of the system.  Do not let this fact put you off purchasing a filtered system, the same reasoning would apply to giving your car an oil change and if you don’t do that at reasonable intervals, your car will suffer also – it is just good maintenance.

Illustration Of A System For Central Vacuum Cleaners. Courtesy of www.robert-thomas.de

A cyclonic system is the opposite to a filtered system, in that it uses force to separate the dirt and dust from the air.  As the dirt spins in a cyclone-like action, the air pressure forces nearly all of it into a bag, or a canister.  There is usually a small residue of dirt, between 2% and 10% depending on the efficiency of the system, that does not get removed from the air when you are vacuuming, and this gets put through a second filter.  This is why central vacuum manufacturers claim that they can get 100% filtration with a system working at peak efficiency.

However I think it is always good policy to ensure, where possible, that your C.V. system, be it filtered or cyclonic, is vented to the outside of your residence.

All central vacuum cleaners are very strong and claim very good filtration, but whereas your regular vacuum is mobile (and follows you around), a central vacuum is stationary, is usually located in a store, attic, garage or basement and therefore is in an ideal position to be vented to the outside (if the containing room has an exterior wall), thereby guaranteeing that all of the air that enters the vacuum system is expelled to the outside.  C.V. cleaner base units can even be located in a metal carport.  If you do locate the base unit in a carport, venting to the outside would not be necessary.  Carports are relatively simple to build and you might even consider erecting one for the purpose of holding the base unit for the central vacuum system.

With both filtered and cyclonic central vacuum cleaners there is the option of a bagless system (canister), or a bagged system. The decision here is whether you would rather clean out the system manually when it is necessary, or would you prefer to take out a sealed central vacuum bags.  Personally I prefer the bagged system, and if you suffer from dust allergies of any type, you should seriously favour the bagged system.  The bags also make the whole cleaning process more hygenic and do provide an extra filter of sorts when the system is operating. 

Many people find the cleaning of a canister to be a dusty task, even though a central vacuum cleaners will hold a lot more dirt than a regular vacuum and will need to be emptied only infrequently.

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1. Water Filtered Vacuum Cleaners – The Story So Far
2. A Laypersons Guide To A Central Vacuum System.
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Most of the major manufacturers realise that supplying accessory components that compliment their vacuum system and make the cleaning task easier for their customers, can only be an advantage, one of the many advantages to central vacs.  Some central vacuum accessories carry out very specific tasks, which can help to extend the life of your furnishings, carpets and flooring.  If you have a prized red area rug in your home for example, you do not want it to become damaged by being cleaned with excessive force.  So lets have a very brief look at some of the different accessories that top manufacturers of central vacuum systems are offering with their models and which can be purchased at central vacuum stores or online.  This is by no means an exhaustive list, simply an effort by us to provide you with a flavour of what is on offer with some of the more popular central vacuum models.  For this brief snapshot survey we simply went looking as an ordinary potential customer would, to see what accessories might be readily available to purchase if we were to go with a certain central vacuum system.

Affordable Central Vacuum Accessories and Systems

Beam produce a range of central vacuum accessories which include vacuum brushes, nozzles, central vacuum hoses, various hose socks, sound mufflers and floor tools. Their car care kit includes a 30 foot hose, a dusting brush and an upholstery brush.  Their mini-vac set is useful for computer keyboards, air vents and other small and inaccessible places. They have crevice tools, hose socks and vertical blind cleaner attachments.  The folks at Beam have a very large and impressive list of accessories and cleaning supplies.
Eureka have a kit with an impressive list of attachments some of which include a 35 foot hose (or 30 foot, depending on the model), quick connect wands, hose storage bracket, crevice tool, upholstery and carpet nozzle, dusting brush and a handy caddy.  Not bad, but they seem to consider that kits are the way to go.

Electrolux again seem to be big into kits and as an example, one such kit includes an electric power nozzle, a turbo hand-held power nozzle, a rug floor tool, a dusting and upholstery tool, a crevice tool, extension wands, a parquet floor brush, an attachment caddy and a hose hanger. This is quite an impressive list but the items only seem to be offered in a kit and we are not sure can they be purchased individually, if that was our preference.

Broan / NuTone produce a central vacuum ratcheting wand, upholstery tool, pet brushes, dusting brushes, soft bristle brushes, and current carrying hoses.  Maybe the people at Broan / NuTone won’t be best pleased to hear this, but we do not consider their range of central vacuum accessories to be neither large nor very interesting, or maybe they are just not advertised properly. A separate seach as to what NuTone had to offer did not come up with much, except to promote their natural bristle hardwood floor tool, which looked great and their hoses also looked impressive, but we are looking for accessories and lots of them – and they just did not seem to be there. We don’t know why.

The folk at Vacuflo have it all laid out very well and offer such central vacuum parts  as turbo powerheads, for when your carpets need aggressive cleaning action, self adjusting powerheads, puppy powerheads (for budget driven choices), various length hoses, hose socks, light ‘rugrat’ brushes for stairs, adjustable mops, vac pans, dust mop tools, etc.  The display is impressive and individual items are plain to see and easily accessed.

Lindsay Manufacturing produce such central vacuum systems as VacuMaid and AstroVac and these models have a great range of accessories including electric kits, quick clean-up kits, air powered kits, garage kits, accessories and tools for stairs, tools for dealing with pet hair, cars, etc.  Various wands, hoses and hose socks, all available and easily researched.  We are impressed!

Hoover central vacuum systems have crush proof hoses of various lengths, hose socks, car detailing kits, garage and patio kits, various brushes and crevice tools, different nozzles and tools for floors, rugs, pets and stairs, installation kits, attachment kits and lots more.  We find this to be an impressive list of accessories.  Good on you folks!

We really like MD Manufacturing’s offerings also – manta dust mops, central vacuum bags, centra mops, crevice tools, pet hair brushes, pet hair grooming brushes, lint and hair brushes, telescopic wands, hose socks, kits coming at you from all directions – TurboCat zoom kits, TurboCat attachment kits, Stealth kit, BlackHawk kit….. Wow! What great names! We had fun looking at all of these.
That is just a flavor from us as to the kind of central vacuum accessories that are out there for central vacuum systems.  If anyone wants to make a comment on this article, please feel free.  If anyone has come across some interesting, funny or even downright strange central vacuum accessories, why not pass them on to our forum.  We may even feature them!

Related posts:

1. A Laypersons Guide To A Central Vacuum System.
2. Central Vacuum Installation Issues.
3. Some Disadvantages of a Central Vacuum System