There are a lot of professionals that have access to built-in vacuum system materials and offer repair services. Professional electricians, plumbers etcetera are highly experienced in their respective trades. Just as often, they have limited experience with central cleaning systems. Nothing wrong with that, but for the same reason you might not have your dentist fill out your tax forms, hiring a specialist that only works on central cleaning systems will likely be your best value.

If you have been told that these systems are very simple, you were told the truth. However, certain things done wrong can really mess up an install or a service call.

For example, a plumber will have PVC glue on his truck. It just happens to be the wrong kind. Any vacuum joints glued with Schedule 40 glue will likely come apart in about ten years. If this happens in an attic or open basement, no big issue. Inside a wall or above a dry-walled ceiling, big issue. Not to pick on plumbers here, but they are often trained to use a “fish” to clear a drain which is about the last thing you want to try with a clog in a centralized cleaning system.

Find the full-time vacuum specialist in your area before scheduling that service call.

We love electricians that install vacuum systems during new home construction. It provides exposure to our industry and more people get to experience the benefits of what we offer.

However, the number of times I see installations that are not up to spec would indicate that the issues are not related to initial training of the installer, but lack of training at all.

The most common problem is the dreaded vertical run tie in. Here is what we see. A sweep tee glued inline with the horizontal run. This might make sense to a plumber, but to a dedicated vac guy this is a disaster.

How long do you think it will take for the vertical tubing to fill up with debris that has been vacuumed from inlets to the left?

This is how it should look. This way, debris from the rest of the system has no chance to fall down the tubing and clog the lower inlet. Additionally, the dirt from the lower inlet can likely make the turn to horizontal before the airflow stops when the system is shut off.

The average home will gather about 40 pounds of dirt a year. That means, if you are not removing that amount, it’s still in there somewhere. The typical central canister will hold approximately 50 pounds of dirt and debris. So you only have to empty the dirt bucket once or twice a year. Obviously, if you have several large dogs that shed or a dozen cats, you need to empty the machine will be more frequent. Same is true if you live on a farm or out in the forest or have a large family, more dirt will be coming into the home.

Most of the dirt and dust in our homes comes off of shoes as we walk in from outside. Obviously, dust can come through an open window and we make our homes dirty if we have a basement workshop and messes in the kitchen can be a contributor as well. Let’s stop and think about how they clean hotels and see if we can learn how to keep our homes cleaner without adding extra cleaning time to our busy schedule.

Hotels and most commercial businesses have an aggressive track off mats just inside the door. These mats are meant to “scrub” off and capture the dirt and dust from peoples shoes as they come in. Most of this dirt is removed within 150’ of entry. By walking that distance, the shoe is mostly clean. This is why the hotel will clean the lobby and check-in desk areas multiple times a day. They also clean the lobby carpet and elevators frequently as well. By doing so, they are able to get control of the dirt quickly and prevent a great deal of cleaning time on the second-floor carpets. A good hotel might only vacuum the carpet on the 7th floor once per week or even once a month.

Keeping these track off mats clean is the key. If a track off the mat is saturated with dirt and can’t take any more off of someone’s shoes, they will track it through the entire hotel.

Some people take their shoes off right inside the door. If you are not going to do so, a small area rug just inside each door is a great way to limit how far the dirt can travel into your home. The winning trick is to make sure to clean the “track off” mat frequently to be sure it doesn’t become ineffective by being saturated with dirt. Clean your entrance areas frequently and over time you will find your home becoming cleaner and easier to clean.

Most of our customers, after experiencing the benefits of cleaning with a central system will never go back to an upright or canister unit (what we lovingly refer to as “disposable” vacuums).

When they sell their home and move into another one, they will demand a central cleaning system. Often they will not make an offer on a home until we verify that we can install a system into the existing structure.

Retrofit jobs are more tedious, difficult and time-consuming. As such, they usually cost a bit more to do. We strive to install the system in a manner that, to the untrained eye would appear to have been installed during original construction.

I’ve seen retrofit installs where other people ran tubing inside closets and otherwise cut holes and left things a bit choppy and sloppy. It takes a bit of skill and some special tools to perform these jobs with elegance.

Retrofit installs have become our specialty and we truly enjoy the challenge of doing them.

Customers call with a symptom called “low suction”. They typically mean that their system is unable to pick up dirt well or at least not as well as previously. This can be caused by any number of things from reduced airflow, a clog, hole in the pipe, leaking inlet(s), bad gasket in the power unit, debris inside tubing runs, a hose that is plugged or scratched on the inside…just to name a few.

Often we are able to ask a few questions and narrow down the potential issues and determine if a service call is required.

If you are experiencing this symptom call us and we can review the handful of simple tests we can instruct you to perform. We may be able to fix the issue over the phone and save the service call.

In order to pick up dirt without bending over, two things are needed: suction and airflow. Let’s define these two terms as they relate to cleaning your home.

Suction – This is usually measured as inches of water up to a column. Picture a glass tube with 1-inch markings on it. The higher the better for cleaning purposes. We commonly see anywhere from 100 inches to 150 inches.

Airflow – This is measured in cubic feet per minute or CFM. Most properly operating systems will generate between 85 and 140.

When we combine these two we can clean well. If your system has a great sealed vacuum number (it’s suction) but very low airflow, the result is similar to dirt under a bell jar. You can remove all of the atmospheres and create a perfect vacuum, but it can’t pick up the dirt. Similarly, a lot of airflow with no suction is called a leaf blower. Great at moving dirt, but not going to pick it up.

To clean your home you need both and they need to work together

The power unit and the carpet power head are the items that need a bit of ongoing maintenance.

First the power unit. If your power unit has a filter, it likely needs to be replaced annually for both performance and warranty reasons. If you have a disposable bag unit, then replace it when full. The bags typically hold 40 to 45 pounds of household dirt and often last a full year. If your system uses a True Cyclonic filtration method, your power unit will require the guard screen to be clear of debris. This is typically a once per year task.

Powerheads require minimal ongoing maintenance as well. Most commonly, the roller assembly needs to be kept clear of hair and other stringy items that wrap around the barrel of the beater bar and can get jammed in the beater bar end caps and into the bearings. This is true if your power head is electric driven or air driven.

Most of our customers have True Cyclonic power units and air-driven power heads. They find that they have to spend about 20 minutes a year on maintaining their system and do it themselves.

There are several companies that make central cleaning systems that try to compete with VACUFLO. Those companies often have several brands each. This has led to the perception that there are a large number of options, but in reality, there are only a few after you peel the sticker off and look at the guts. The automakers are similar: Ford/Mercury, Cadillac/Chevrolet, Honda/Acura, etc.

Nothing wrong with any of that, it’s very common. The issues with built-in cleaning systems typically show up at the point of installation. For example, anyone with a truck and a tool belt can go to an electric supply house and purchase a canister, a toolset, and some tubing and market themselves as the best thing our industry has ever seen.

Most of these folks install a few dozen systems and then the grass gets greener somewhere else. The problems for the customer are related to lack of experience during the install and a focus on how to most inexpensively source the materials. This “race to zero” with respect to the power unit price and then making all the first timer mistakes ends up costing the end user twice the price of doing it right the first time. People say that you get what you pay for. The inverse is true as well. You don’t get what you don’t pay for…

If you didn’t pay for a professional install by an experienced tradesman, you won’t get it.

If you didn’t pay for a quality power unit with a lifetime warranty, well, you won’t get that either.

If I had $5 for every system I’ve seen where the install looked like it was the third one the guy did, it’d be a lot easier to get my kids through college. It’s a shame the metal recycling payouts for junked power units is so low…for the same reason.

There are many methods manufacturers have used to separate household dirt and particulate from vacuumed air in our homes. We are going to review the most common methods with a focus on the pros and cons of each. Starting with the least effective and working toward the best.

Permanent Bag/Filter – This is a cloth or paper bag style filtering membrane that remains in the power unit (centralized or disposable) and cannot be replaced. It was meant to remain in the unit for the full operating life of the
machine. Pros…you never had to purchase new bags for the filter, so it was less expensive Cons…the first, several ounces of fine particles loaded up the membrane and airflow was decreased by about 25% leaving you with, at best, 75% cleaning power for the remainder of the life of the unit.

Inverted Bag – Similar to above where the reduction in performance was permanent.

Disposable Filter – This method is very common and effective. Filter replacement is required annually for warranty purposes. Pros – full cleaning power upon filter replacement Cons – expensive over the life of the machine, have to deal with open dirt in a bucket and very messy when replacing the filter

Disposable Bag – This method to separate dirt from the air is becoming more popular all the time due to its cleanliness. A large bag (it also acts as a filter) collects the dirt and particulate matter. It holds about 40 pounds of dirt (about a year’s worth of cleaning) and is replaced as needed or annually. Pros – swapping the bag is a dirt-less experience keeping the area around the power unit tidy and clean. Cons – you will have to purchase bags over the life of the power unit.

True Cyclonic – This method is very effective at separating dirt from the air. It does send some small particles outside the home. Pros – no bags or filters to buy so the total cost of ownership is much lower.