<p>Just got a central vac. How on earth are you supposed to carry a 12 foot hose from one place to another–is there some trick to it? All I can think of is to wrap the coils around my neck–quite a sight!</p>
<p>12’ hose? No, no, no. Go and get yourself a huge long hose that can reach everywhere or almost everywhere on each level of the house. Plug in, vacuum, unplug. Coil around your arm when done and hang it on one of those garden-hose hanging thingies you can buy and attach to your closet/cellar wall.</p>
<p>I would never have put in central vac. But, voila, there it was in a house we bought a while back. Loved it.</p>
<p>Yes, 12 foot seems small, I think 25-30 feet is more like it. Mine is very light. I use it as far as it will reach, then tend to just drag one end to the next outlet. I used to coil it up and hang it on one of those hangie things, until I put this huge ceramic pot in my family room, and suddenly everyone started using it to put in the hose :rolleyes: Mine was already in the hose when I bought it. Liked it well enough to add connections to an addition years ago.</p>
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Yes, I’d say that was my technique as well. Must be what all the ‘professionals’ do.</p>
<p>have one in our home but have never used it…my housekeeper says it doesn’t work well…</p>
<p>We have a lot of hardwood and tile downstairs, and it works great on the dog hair. I use a regular vacuum on the rugs/carpet. We have 3 plus-in places downstairs, and I must be a professional because I use the above technique. We have a hanger behind the pantry door we use.</p>
<p>With the right carpet attachment, you can’t beat the suction generated! I have one for tile and one for carpet. And the central “trap” is huge, no dust inside the house as you run it Mine is in the garage.) And for the car, you can’t beat it either. If your suction is poor, have someone out to check it. Sucking with just the hose, you would be surprised at what can end up in the “drum” at the end</p>
<p>We have a central vac and it’s great. Make sure you get a longer hose that can reach the edges if possible. you might also want to get a couple of hoses if need be to avoid dragging it upstairs or something.</p>
<p>With asthmatics in the house a central vac is great since ‘no’ particles escape from the vac. It’s also nice to not have to change the bag very often and I agree with ‘sunny’ that it has very strong suction.</p>
<p>OMG–you’re right! It is between 20 and 30 ft. Someone told me 12 and I believed it. I guess I will learn how to drag it around without kinking it. The suction is great.</p>
<p>i’ve had two different central vacs. the nu-tone i currently have is probably much better than the other one…can’t remember the name. vacuflo? maybe? the only thing i really liked about the one i put into the house i built was that i had a little trap in the kitchen. you kicked the switch, and voila–it would suck away those crumbs! no dustpan needed.</p>
<p>be very careful with the hoses. they can tear up your woodwork if you’re not careful.</p>
<p>my cleaning lady prefers to use my upright vacuum–and so do i. the hose can get heavy and can mark up my woodwork if i’m not paying attention. i think you can by a “sock” for the hose attachment to keep from damaging your wood.</p>
<p>When we built this house, we’d had central vac in a previous house so I knew exactly what I wanted. The hoses are twenty-five feet and I just coil it up and sling it on my shoulder, like a fireman with a firehose. Not a problem, really. When I’m doing a room, I hit the end–hose fully stretched–then drop the vacuum end and go get the other end and move it to the next outlet. I start and end right next to the hanging area for the hose so I’m really not carrying it much, except up the stairs now and then.</p>
<p>It weighs less than my upright (and I had an Oreck, just because it was light).</p>
<p>We’ve been in here five years and there’s no damage from the hose to the woodwork. But we don’t pull the hose tight around corners.</p>
<p>OK, who’s been reading my mind? Never had a central vac until we moved into this house 18 months ago. Really like it, but what to do with the hose? Previous owner stuffed it into a lower cupboard, but what a waste of space. So, just use a regular garden hose hanger? Guess i could put it on the back of the laundry room door. And yes, watch out for the corners of the doorways. </p>
<p>Oh, and just yesterday I figured out what to do about the vac’s low suction – a problem that started recently. (Well, actually I googled it.) I knew to empty the canister, but didn’t know I had to clean out the clogged filter up inside the canister. Pretty dirty job, but it worked! (Wish the previous owner had left a manual!)</p>
<p>Ours came with a holder for wrapping the hose and a cloth thing with pockets for the attachments and poles.</p>
<p>I was so inspired after this thread I vacuumed today. My husband thanks you. That’s normally his job (and he likes it!) but he was at work all day.</p>
<p>maybe I should fire my housekeeper…</p>
<p>We have one. Came with the house. Works great. But I really dislike it, and don’t really see the point (I’d rather have a regular vacuum than mess around with a hose which is just as awkard). Fortunately someone we hire uses it most.</p>
<p>We lived in a house that came with a central vac… I liked it (although I rarely did the cleaning 
)…the previous owners purchased 2 additional hoses—one for upstairs, one for finished basement, so the lugging was minimized. Hmm…we have more pet hair issues now, and I’m the cleaning lady at this point…we have a massive crawlspace under our house. so access would not be an issue…anyone hazard a clue on how much it would cost to install a system in an existing house? Is it something that a handy H could do?</p>
<p>astrophysicsmom:</p>
<p>If there’s decent access it should be fairly easy for a handy H to install. The biggest thing is running the pipes in the walls or underneath the floor but this is made easier with a crawlspace. He might have to do a bit of drywall work. The pipes are just PVC and simple to put together.</p>
<p>Have one in my newly built (10 yrs ago) house. Hose is 25 feet, and I have one outlet on each house level but not basement level.It works best with what they call the “power head”…its a Vacu-Flo brand. Remeber to clean out that fliter head area once in a while and you’ll be ammazed how much better it will clean.
I have allergies and I’m thrilled with how great it works…I use a duster attachment on it as well. It came with a hanger type thingie we have behind the door to the basement stairs and a cloth bag that hangs from that to hold the attachments. I just sling the hose over my shoulders or sort of drag it around with me.I dont find that the hose marks up woodwork any more than hitting the walls with the old syle vac did.</p>
<p>Be sure to use proper vacuum pipe fittings with smooth transitions for the pipe runs. Most central vacuum systems require a low voltage wire run to switch the motor on and off. See [Central</a> Vacuum Fittings](<a href=“http://www.thinkvacuums.com/central_pipes.htm]Central”>http://www.thinkvacuums.com/central_pipes.htm)</p>
<p>cool. just another thing I can add to the multi-volume “honey-do” list…!</p>