Hi all,
We have a Beam central vac, about 6-7 years old, that’s been nothing but trouble lately. It was fine for the first 4-5 years, then the hose went south. It was the old kind with the molded end, so when a wire broke inside, it was buy a new hose. The main unit has a light in it, that shows green, yellow or red (don’t know if all brands are the same). It was red, so I took it into the shop, they said nothing’s wrong. After looking at it again, the circuit board is bad. Hmmm. A few months later, the powerhead stops working because a wire broke where it goes through the body of the sweeper. Fixed that, now the new hose isn’t getting power from the wall to the powerhead.
This is rather frustrating, and I really don’t want to keep fixing this thing, so I’m wondering if anyone can offer some experience with the longevity of the various brands? I’m not impressed with Beam at this point. An online search didn’t come up with much, but I did read one woman’s review saying she had several brands over the last few years, which sounds strange, but begs the question: am I dreaming to expect this thing to last a decade or more? The immediate need is for the hose and the powerhead.
Sorry for the long rant, but I could certainly use some input. Thanks.
Froed
Replies
Our central vac has been in the home for 26 years with only the hose having to be occasionally replaced.
Thanks, Jeff. If I may ask, what brand is it, and how often is occasionally? Our newest hose we got 13 months ago, with a 12 month warranty. I thought maybe since it was so close, Beam would honor the warranty anyway. No dice. So much for customer support. Needless to say, I'll be avoiding Beam in the future.
Anyway, I haven't heard much about the longevity of central vacs. Talked to one guy who said theirs was such a pain, they went back to a regular sweeper. He didn't mention what brand, but I'm trying to find out if my experience is typical or the exception.
I was at an open house yesterday in a new build. I over heard the builder talking to his friend and he was saying "the central vac is a must have now....every one wants one until they use it for for a while...."
Just curious...is this really a convenience? You still have to have a hose and attachments. And doesn't it limit how you can position the furniture in a room. You can't block the vac outlet, right?
"....every one wants one until they use it for for a while...."
That's funny, but there is some truth to it. You're not dragging the sweeper around, but you are dragging a 30' hose. It's not as noisy as a regular sweeper, since the vacuum itself is in the basement or garage. You don't have to empty it as often, but the Beam has a light that flashes, which means you need to be aware as you pass by the unit, if you pass by the unit. So if it's in a corner where you don't go, or look, you'll never know when it's full. With a 30' hose, furniture placement doesn't seem to be much of an issue. If it's a new install, you can probably work it out okay to accomodate the furniture you have. Also, the outlet can be in a different room than what you're sweeping.
For me, with the aggravation we've been having, and the total lack of support from Beam, I'd go with a regular sweeper. Not to mention the difference in price. You can buy a pretty good sweeper for what the central vac and the piping installation cost.
I was hoping to find out what experience others have had with the different brands, to see if my experience is the norm or exception.
30 foot hose? Ouch? I guess you need one for these McMansions. But that leads me to another thought. How many people who buy a McMcansion are actually cleaning them themselves? Aren't more and more people having there houses cleaned by someone else while they themselves are at work?
A 30' hose lets you go room to room without having to keep plugging it in, but it can get pretty obnoxious. I think the shorter ones are about 25'.
As to your second point, I think some people (okay, most) buy McMansions for status, but they stretch themselves too thin getting there, so now they can't afford the maid. The ones that do have a maid probably aren't worried whether it's convenient or not. Just one cynics take on it...
My house was 30 years old when I bought it, and they put all the modern conveniences of the 60's in when it was built: central vac, intercom system, built in blender (right in the counter). The central vac had been removed when we bought the house, but the mice found the hose hookups to be convenient superhighways to get from basement to rooms in the rest of the house - so count a few thousand positive votes for central vac. I think that for the price one pays to have a central vac you could hire somebody to clean your house for years. By the time you've reached break even, your kids are old enough that they should be doing it.
As for the other conveniences: the blender still works but presumably the glass part was broken as we can't find it. Worse: I think the company (unknown) may be gone because I can't find a matching replacement so that we could actually use it. Instead we just periodically dig the crumbs out of the space age looking dial and use our Waring. The intercom wire had degraded and didn't work in most rooms - especially the shop where it would have been the most usefull. We ripped out the console when we needed to install a thermostat on that wall.
For me it really is a convenience. I never liked dragging around a canister vac. It was always getting caught on something, and when I doubled back around it seemed to always turn the wrong way and cross over the cord, tangling into a mess. And it's heavy to drag around.
I installed a central vac in my dream home, which I lived in three years before a job layoff forced me to move. It is much easier to maneuver the hose than a whole vacuum cleaner. Also, about 15% of household dirt is fine enough to blow through a vacuum cleaner bag. With a central vac the exhaust goes outdoors. So you don't have that dusty itchy smell when vacuuming. The vacuum holds a lot of dirt, too. I checked the bag every few months, but in three years I had not yet filled it up.
Each floor of my home was 25' X 46'. On the top floor one outlet in the center hall allowed me to reach every corner, high and low, of every room from that one outlet. The lower floor had two because the layout required a more circuitous path for the hose. It did not limit furniture placement because the whole house was planned before it was built. I located the outlets in places, such as hallways, where no furniture would go. I also had a vac-pan in the baseboard of the kitchen by the side door. When I swept the kitchen floor I just swept it over to the vac-pan, tapped the toe switch with my foot, and sucked the dirt away. No dust pan, and I didn't even have to bend over.
The vacuum had much more power than a portable unit ever would.
I really couldn't tell you how often we replace the hose since each one lasts at least five years or more. The vac is a Nutone.
Even though we haven't had to make repairs to the vac, I wouln't install one in our next home. I just don't see the value it brings. I'd say we use the central vac 50% and a portable the other time. Convenience dictates use.
Jeff
I bought a 25 year old house 5 years ago that came with a Vacumaid central vacuum system. Never thought I'd like a central vac, but I really love it. My wife immeadiately loved the fact that she could vacuum while the kids were asleep. Even in their bedroom. We've never had any problems except the occasional clog. Like when my 5 year old decided to help clean up the mess I made ripping out some insulation during a remodel, that one was tough to clear.
Of course, ours doesn't have a power hose. Though I did just order a power head, but one that plugs into the wall. That's been the only complaint that without a power brush it doesn't clean super well.
With ours all the fine dust blows out the side of the house, and we only have to empty it twice a year or so.
Not sure if Vacumaid is even made anymore. Perhaps you could check Consumer Reports and other such groups to see if they've ever compared central vacs. I do know that new units sell fairly cheaply on ebay, often from ligitimate vacuum stores.
Hope this helps.
Thanks all for your replies. Aimless, sounds like the previous owners of your house were into gadgets, and the vote that counts is a "no." Sorry I didn't acknowledge your input earlier.
Jeff, I think my feelings are about like yours, except replacing the hose every five years just seems too much for something as costly as a central vac. Someone said something about the power of a central vac versus a regular one, but I don't think that's valid, since the regular one doesn't have all the plumbing to suck the dirt through.
Billy, I've never heard of a Vacumaid, but I'll check it out. The only clog I can remember is from a Christmas tree a couple years ago, and our dog makes sure we emtpy it a little more often just by shedding.
Thanks again everyone for your comments.
I got a Vacumaid four years ago as I started building my house . used it as a shopvac . I also used regular schedual 40 2"pvc pipe and fittings. I put vacinlets in every room and vac pans at every door and one for the kitchen counter. Buy the one with the most amp rating.
Hi Froed - I took a minute to read your post - I'd like to offer some information. To start out with, I've been exclusively selling central vacuums since 1997. I'll try to keep as generic as possible, even though I do have my druthers as to which brand I feel is the best. You are welcome to ask my opinion privately. In addition to selling central vacs, I have personally repaired them for the same period of time as well.
Its a shame about your equipment, as far as the main unit is concerned, are you the original owner and how long have you owned it? Most brands have at least a 5 year parts warranty, some are lifetime.
The equipment - hose, etc. - most people get 5-10 years of use. I've seen ten year old hoses look like new and one year old hoses look like they were used at the zoo!! Depending on the quality of the hose is the amount of life you will get out of it. Expect to spend at least $175 - $200 for a good dual voltage hose.
System wise - I have serviced 30 year old systems which are still working just fine - Your vacuum system should last just like any other major appliance - at least 10-15 years.
As far as the cleaning goes - the person who mentioned the Vacu-maid has the idea - to be most effective, your vac MUST be vented to the exterior of the home. This allows 100% dust free cleaning as opposed to pulling your vacuum motor around with you, and filtering the air as it runs. (Side note - many HEPA vacuums have a HEPA filter, but the body of the vacuum isn't properly sealed, allowing dust to escape anyway. - A quick check is to run your vacuum in front of a sunlit window - see if there is any dust.)
Suction wise - there is signifacantly more suction in a central vacuum, as the other person mentioned, in order to evacuate the pipes - the true test is to measure the amount of vacuum created at the business end of the hose or attachment with a simple water lift gauge - this tells the story.
We sell and install approx 400-500 vacuum systems a year - with about 30% of our installations in existing homes (no, you don't have to cut open your walls) and what I can tell you from experience are 2 things.
1 - in 18 years, our company has never been asked to remove a system - for which we offer a money back guarentee
2 - after installing a system in an existing home and cleaning a carpet that had been cleaned prior to our arrival by the old portable vacuum, I've already pulled out a vacuum bag's worth of dirt by testing the system in a 10' x 10' area.
I'll be glad to offer any other input from my experience - I hope this helps with your questions.
..after installing a system in an existing home and cleaning a carpet that had been cleaned prior to our arrival by the old portable vacuum, I've already pulled out a vacuum bag's worth of dirt by testing the system in a 10' x 10' area...
That just reminded me of a house I rented 15 years ago. The woman had white carpet (in a rental?!?) and provided a hoover upright vacuum for maintaining it. I had vacuumed with it (new bag) but it didn't seem to be doing the job, so I hauled out my ancient canister vac. You could hear all the stuff whizzing up into it. It was too bad when that thing finally died.
Isn't it amazing to see what a vacuum can leave behind? We run into it all the time with a certain 8lb vacuum - they have a great brush roll which grooms the carpet very nice, and if the dirt is very light, like cat hair, it does make it up the tube, but there is so very little suction compared to other vacuums that the heavier dirt gets trapped down in the carpet fibers.
Vacguy, thanks for your input. The unit is about 7, maybe 8 years at most, and we're the original owners. It's in the basement, but it could be moved to the garage easily enough, if necessary. Actually, we have plans to finish the basement, so that might not be a bad idea anyway, but I 'm getting off the subject now...
Replacing the original hose after 6-7 years wasn't too bad, although the bad circuit board thing kinda aggravated me. What really got me, though, is that we had the new hose exactly 13 months when it went south (1 year warranty), and Beam basically said "too bad." Now, maybe the shop we went through didn't have the clout to convince Beam that customer service can have an impact on future business. In any case, I'm not impressed, and I will remember.
Anyway, I seem to be ranting again. The original intent of my post was an attempt to find out a bit more about the various brands, so that I could make a more informed decision about what we'll replace it with. And I would like your opinion, so I'll ask you privately, as you requested. Thanks.
Froed - concerning the move to the garage thing.... you can certainly locate the can in the garage, for convenience sake, but if one exists, we prefer the basement for two reasons. 1 - its the lowest point in the home, allowing gravity to do its work, rather than making your higher level dirt first drop and then need to be lifted, and 2 - we are in the NorthEast, where winters can drop your unconditioned garage 30 degrees colder than your conditioned home, condensing the warm moist air in your home into a cold dry unit, sometimes causing buildup in the pipes and can in the garage. The basement is typically the same temp as the house - most folks will just locate the unit in a mechanical area when they finish their basement, another great spot is the unused wall area over the sump, if space is really limited.
P.S. by the way, if I'm not mistaken, I think that circuit board should've been covered by warranty - I know a Beam dealer, and I'll give him a call. As with any product it often comes down to the particular dealer and their attitude. You can have a great product, but if no one is there to back it up and something goes wrong, it does leave a bad taste in your mouth. Its interesting about your hose - that exact thing has happened a couple times to our customers, and I have to say, the manufacturer has been open to a two, sometimes three month extension of the warranty, provided it was an obvious defect. As you mention about customer service and future sales though, where the manufacturer hasn't extended the warranty, we have taken the product back ourselves and "eaten it" just to retain that one customer. It may take a year or two to get a customer, but you can lose one in a minute, and all their friends will know it.
Edited 5/3/2005 7:40 am ET by vacguy
I didn't think of the temperature difference, that's a pretty good point. It stays where it is.
I think the warranty on the main unit was five years, and I know we're beyond that, but I'm starting to wonder if the dealer isn't being lazy, and I'm mad at the wrong people about the hose. I think I'll try to contact Beam on my own, and see what they have to say. I'll let you know.
Thanks
I'm puzzled about this circuit board. I can't imagine why a vacuum needs one. The only things to turn on and off are motors, one at the vacuum and one in the power head if you have one. To do that there's just a switch and a relay. Maybe the reliability problem with the Beam is that it is needlessly complicated.
It's too bad Beam won't help. I hope it gets resolved soon.
Hi Wayne - All central vacuum units have some sort of relay or circuit board - Simple description is - the unit is plugged into your house current to power the vacuum motor, the circuit board has a transformer which creates 24 volts to activate the lo-voltage switch or relay which in turn tells the unit to remain off or on.
Thanks, that's what I thought, all there should be is a relay, nothing complicated or expensive.