Will Using a Central Vacuum System Help You Breathe Easier?

I would never have believed I could be passionate about a vacuum cleaner- but now wonder why anyone wouldn’t install a Central Vacuum System when they are building a new home? 

After pondering on this for some time, I have come up with 3 possible reasons.
#1) They had experience with or heard by word of mouth about the lack of suction in the original models.
#2) They don’t like cleaning out the dust filled canisters.
#3) You can’t take it with you.

I can’t imagine life without my Central Vac.  Oh sure, I do remember, distantly, those memories of lugging around the old Electrolux canister vacuum.  I even recall thinking that it worked pretty well.  But all that changed when a wonderful woman named Julia entered my life.

I was working at the time on a 100 home project in Toronto, Canada when I met her.  We were just at the pricing stage of the next phase of new homes, so her timing couldn’t have been better.  She sold me on the concept of the Central Vacuum System, and since we were building homes in the middle to upper price range, I thought it might be a good idea to at least rough it in to all the houses.   I have never looked back.

But even as I write this, we have just moved into a new (old) home without a Central Vac.  For the last 4 months I have been living life with the ‘8 lb. miracle’, and the dust bag has still not filled up. Now some people might think that is a good thing, but I am wondering where has all the dirt gone?  I know how much my Central Vac used to pick up, and now we are in an older, and even dustier home.  Unfortunately, I think I know the answer.  While the beater brush is doing a wonderful job making the carpets look freshly vacuumed, the colour of the carpet is actually changing in the high traffic areas. 

As wonderful as the incredible suction power of the Central Vacuum is, what adds even more value to me is all the vacuuming options I have.  Like the little stair beater brush attachment, and the sofa ‘duster’.  My husband loved being able to vacuum out his car in the garage by just hooking up the extra hose into the garage valve. And with the unit being installed in the garage, I can actually hear the phone ring while I am vacuuming.  I love the narrow tool attachment that allows me to dust under the fridge and around the laundry appliances.  And the brush tool for ‘dusting’ the window sills and baseboards is a real time saver.  (Well, maybe not.  It doesn’t get done very often now.)  And a personal favourite is the super-long-extension-spider-destructo-wand attachment.

We don’t suffer from airborne allergies in our family, but I have heard from users who love Central Vac’s for just that reason.  Since many homeowners install the unit in the garage, no dust particles whatsoever are returned to the air inside the house improving the indoor air quality.  While I don’t mind vacuuming, I do dislike dusting. 

The Central Vacuum units of today are available with a bag option for clean, easy removal of the dust.  And while we are at it, let’s debunk another myth:  you CAN take it with you when you go!  There is one warning however about using your Central Vacuum.  When you experience such incredible suction power, it becomes easy to believe you can get rid of almost anything up that hose.  But do not vacuum up the needles from your Christmas tree.  They can get tangled up in the corners of the piping and when the dust and fiber particles build up and compact over them you will develop a blockage.  You will probably need a professional to come and clean this out.  Can you tell I am speaking from experience here??

When you consider the rising demand for Central Vacuum, how much will it cost you when you go to sell your home, and your buyer is hoping for a Central Vac? If you are not sold yet on the benefits of a Central Vacuum System, you can always have your home roughed-in with the pipes and cover plates.  The unit can easily be installed in the future.  So what’s to say no to?  Invest in a Central Vacuum System, you’ll be glad you did.

Yours truly,

Irene