Replies

1. 
   hammer1 | Jul 25, 2005 10:56pm | #1

   Have you priced the central vacs? I bought a new Symplicity canister vac last month, $700 and the central vacs were almost the same price, installed. Good vacuums are expensive but they make a big difference in cleaning.

   Beat it to fit Paint it to match

2. 
   JohnSprung | Jul 26, 2005 09:50pm | #2

   Consider putting in the pipes and wires now, and leaving the pricey central vac unit for later.

    

   -- J.S.

    

1. 
   budgee | Jul 27, 2005 12:40am | #3

   good advice.

    

   Thanks

2. 
   4Lorn1 | Jul 27, 2005 01:54pm | #4

   You might consider substituting a common, and much less expensive, shop vacuum for the purpose built ones. The controls are easy to rig, an icecube relay and, depending on the system, a transformer mostly. Easy enough ahead of time to rig a four location switch controlling a receptacle outside. Even handier if you make it switch the bottom half of a duplex and leave the top for yard, driveway use.Of course a shop vacuum is going to be noisier. But this is countered by my second suggestion. Don't position the vacuum inside the house, not even the garage. Build a small lead-to shed roof and put it outdoors alongside the rest of the mechanical units, AC compressor, gas and power meter.This takes a lot of pressure off the filtration needed. A unit inside needs a HEPA grade filter to keep from redistributing what it sucks in. Outside you only need enough filtration to keep the largest particles from smothering the grass. And the finer the filter the more the unit has to fight against, the more frequently the filter needs cleaning, given similar surface area, and the higher the cost of the filter.Also consider the consequences of a ruptured filter. A Vacuum inside means a big cleanup job with fine dust everywhere, a PITA even in a garage where you know the dust is going to track in. Whereas if the unit is outside you clean up the mess with a rake and a quick spray from the hose if your picky.A mid-price shop vac has about, possibly more suction than most whole house units I have seen. If the shop unit gives up after a year or two your not out much seeing as that it is about a third, or less, the cost of the normal unit.

   Of course if you don't like the result it is simple enough at any later date to change out to a regular unit. Just change out the adapter. Easier if you didn't glue it in place. Slip-fit is fine.

1. 
   slfinney | Jul 29, 2005 07:28pm | #5

   Every once and awhile i'll read a discussion of using shop vacs as a substitute for an expensive central vac set-up. Can you shed some light on the relays involved? What is an ice-cube relay, for example? Could the same sort of contactors used in boilers and furnaces also work? I would expect the shop vacs would need a pretty stout contactor  - any suggestions?

   Thanks

   Scott

3. 
   Stuart | Jul 29, 2005 10:41pm | #6

   I knew a guy once who did something like that in his kitchen: in the corner of the room, they cut a hole in the floor and built some sort of simple bracket so a small, rectangular Rubbermaid wastebasket would mount in the hole, in between the floor joists and hanging down into the basement. Then, he had a hinged, stainless steel hatch fabricated so it was flush with the finished floor to cover the thing. The hatch had a little semicircle cut out on the edge so you could flip it open with your finger. When they swept the floor, they would flip up the hatch and simply sweep everything into the wastebasket. When it was full, they could pull it out and dump it.

   This maybe isn't a very good description, but it was a pretty neat feature. The hatch was unobstrusive and they didn't need to fool around with a dust pan.

1. 
   hacknhope | Jul 30, 2005 12:04am | #7

   I'm with you.  Here's my attempt at the non-powered version.  Just need to figure out a lid that can be opened without stooping. 

1. 
   mladensk | Apr 08, 2012 10:25am | #8

   Built in floor dustbin

   HI, I was just doing a search and came across your old post regarding a built in floor bin to sweep into.  It appeared that you had built this but there was no picture or info.  I was wondering if you did in fact do this and if so, could you share your thoughts and if it is working for you, your instructions.  Thanks.

   Susan

1. 
   IdahoDon | Apr 08, 2012 06:03pm | #9

   Since the post you replied to is 7 years old you probably won't get a response from them, but it is and interesting idea.

   I don't think I'd be able to commit to a hole in the kitchen floor, but I have seen something similar put into the toe kick area of a cabinet.  A swing out door was used with the push to open/push to close concealed hinges such as you'd find on an entertainment system.

   Of course in that situation the dirt was collected and emptied from the basement side.

1. 
   DanH | Apr 08, 2012 06:25pm | #10

   My uncles once drilled a hole in the floor of their mother's kitchen, under the ice box, so they wouldn't have to carry out the melt water.