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

Permanency: If you are ever going to move, upgrade or rent out your home, you will most probably have to leave your lovely central vacuum system behind.  You could take it apart and bring it with you, but there would be a lot of holes left in the walls by the time you were finished.

Hose Lenght: The lenght of the hose can be an issue, as it is designed to be able to reach quite a distance.  Thats great if you are doing a regular vacuum, but a bit of a nuisance  if you just want to whip out the vacuum to clean up that bit of popcorn you spilled on the carpet.

Expensive Extra: A central vacuum system is not a problem if you are at the building stage, with carpenters, electricians and plumbers on hand,but if you are talking about putting it into a existing home, you are calling out these tradesepeople especially, and this can run up the installation costs considerably.

Manufacturer Longevity: Try to pick a trustworthy manufacturer that has a proven track record, otherwise, when you need additional accessories or replacement parts in the future, the company may not still be around.  It is easy to find manufacturers with a good reputation Vacom, Nutone, Hayden, Vacuflo, Eureka – oh why did I start, now I’m going to insult somebody by not mentioning them !

Central Vacuums. Image courtesy of www.cuttingedgehe.com

Location of  base unit: You would think that the obvious place to locate the base unit would be in the basement (if you had one).  However, with some systems, by the time the power of suction reaches the upstairs, it can be very much reduced.  So a better place to put it is on the ground floor.

Base Unit Bags: It can be difficult to purchase base unit bags in your local shop – order them by the box from a supplier so you don’t get caught out.

Accessories / Attachments Storage: Some of the central vacuum systems come with a heap of accessories (yippee !!), but it can be difficult to find a suitable location to store all of these in a convenient place and remember, they do need to be accessible for when you are vacuuming.  Also you will need to have some sort of trolley / container to carry all of them upstairs and downstairs with you.

So, no doubt the benefits of a central vacuum system still far outway the central vacuum disadvantages, but there is no harm in looking at things from every angle.

Related posts:

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