Alte Veste Academy Posted November 7, 2018 Share Posted November 7, 2018 We are having a new house built, and our builder offers the option of a central vacuum. DH really loves this idea. I am not opposed to it at all, but we are a big pet loving family (with fur tumbleweeds everywhere...you pet people know what I mean, LOL). I think about how our vacuum smells like our pets and worry that the smell will get stuck in the system and make our house smell. Is the vacuum system cleanable? It seems like it would be quite inaccessible. Anyway, I am interested in knowing if people who have had them love them in general. I am specifically wondering if those with pets found them to be problematic or awesome. I mean, from a strict perspective of helpfulness because we need to vacuum so frequently, it sounds awesome. The smell and maybe upkeep are what worry me. Thoughts? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carol in Cal. Posted November 7, 2018 Share Posted November 7, 2018 I haven’t had one, but my SIL does and it’s great—she can vaccuum day or night and you don’t hear it because the motor is in the insulated basement. Plus you don’t have to lug anything around except a hose and attachments. They never had dogs, though. Not sure how that smell thing works. But the exhaust is outside from the basement, so I’m thinking the smells would go there. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pawz4me Posted November 7, 2018 Share Posted November 7, 2018 We had one in our previous house. For most of that time we had four pets (two dogs, two cats) and I foster occasionally. I never had any trouble at all with the vacuum smelling. And even if it did the canister was out in the garage so it wouldn't have been a big deal. It had fabulous suction. Even though we had lots of plug in places (outlets? I don't know what they're called) I found the hose to be very cumbersome and aggravating to wrestle with. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mom2scouts Posted November 7, 2018 Share Posted November 7, 2018 3 hours ago, Pawz4me said: We had one in our previous house. For most of that time we had four pets (two dogs, two cats) and I foster occasionally. I never had any trouble at all with the vacuum smelling. And even if it did the canister was out in the garage so it wouldn't have been a big deal. It had fabulous suction. Even though we had lots of plug in places (outlets? I don't know what they're called) I found the hose to be very cumbersome and aggravating to wrestle with. We have a central vacuum and, while I like it, the hose annoys me too. I even tripped over it and broke my ankle once. I got interrupted while vacuuming and the hose is long and draped across the whole room and I tripped on it. Nobody really wants to roll it up and it gets left lying around or thrown in a corner more often than I care to admit. I love having the dirt and dust go out to our garage, but it's not nearly as convenient as I thought it would be. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mbelle Posted November 7, 2018 Share Posted November 7, 2018 I like it more than I like lugging a vacuum around. The hoses are a pain. If you can swing it get 2 or more. Hang them behind utility doors. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alte Veste Academy Posted November 8, 2018 Author Share Posted November 8, 2018 Thanks for all the replies. I have made all of the design decisions so easily, I'm a little flummoxed about why this is a hard choice for me. I can see myself doing a mom2scouts and tripping over it. I am notorious for leaving the vacuum cord out, so I can't promise I will do much better with hoses. We have to decide by Monday, and I think my decision may partially hinge on what other amenities we might have to give up price-wise. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ali in OR Posted November 8, 2018 Share Posted November 8, 2018 We've had ours for 16 years now and love it. I would always put one in any future home if we were to build again. Here in our neighborhood (built up 20-10 years ago), they plumbed every house for central vac but then the homeowners could decide whether to complete the system. So that's another option--put in the pipes now (and in-house connections) and buy the actual system later if you decide you want to go that direction. What we bought about 3 months after moving in was the unit in the garage, the powerhead, hose, and attachments. I don't remember cost--Vacuflo is the company if you want to google and learn more. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Denise in IN Posted November 8, 2018 Share Posted November 8, 2018 We built our house, and when I realized how many stairs I would be lugging a vacuum up and down (2 floors plus a basement!), we put in a central vacuum pronto. I love it and would not want to go back. However, I have zero experience with pets in the house. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Suzanne in ABQ Posted November 8, 2018 Share Posted November 8, 2018 (edited) My bff had one, and I spent a whole lot of time in that house, so that's my experience. I liked that the actual vacuum was down in the basement/garage, so you couldn't hear it. I liked the hole in the floorboard where you could just sweep all the kitchen crumbs and they'd just vanish. I hated the 2-in diameter hose that was about 30 feet long that you had to hold coiled over your shoulder while you vacuumed, and took an entire closet for storage. Edited November 9, 2018 by Suzanne in ABQ 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zimom Posted November 8, 2018 Share Posted November 8, 2018 7 hours ago, Suzanne in ABQ said: I hated the 2-in diameter hose that was about 30 feet long that you had to hold coiled over your shoulder while you vacuumed, and took an entire closet for storage. Dumb question, does the hose have to be that long? I'm trying to picture a home with a central vac. I guess if you had a 30 foot long room??? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pawz4me Posted November 8, 2018 Share Posted November 8, 2018 (edited) 1 hour ago, ZiMom said: Dumb question, does the hose have to be that long? I'm trying to picture a home with a central vac. I guess if you had a 30 foot long room??? The ports/outlets aren't typically in every room. In our former house, for example, in the upstairs area we had a port in the master bedroom and two in the hallway (IIRC). The upstairs was about 1800 square feet, so the hose had to reach a looooong way. Thus it needed to be quite long. I don't know what would be involved as far as cost or logistics to add lots of ports during construction. We coiled our hose up and stored it in a laundry basket. Edited November 8, 2018 by Pawz4me Typo. Sigh. 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pen Posted November 8, 2018 Share Posted November 8, 2018 Have it vent to outdoors if possible. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Suzanne in ABQ Posted November 9, 2018 Share Posted November 9, 2018 10 hours ago, ZiMom said: Dumb question, does the hose have to be that long? I'm trying to picture a home with a central vac. I guess if you had a 30 foot long room??? Vacuum cleaner cords are typically 25 feet long, so 30 feet isn't that much longer. But the hose is just so much more unruly than a cord, and takes so much space. 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alte Veste Academy Posted November 9, 2018 Author Share Posted November 9, 2018 Interesting turn the poll has taken! Very helpful! I wish our builder did offer the pre-install for adding it later. We are doing that with home theater wiring and a soft water system to save money up front, but they don’t offer it for this option. So that means we have to weigh it fully against other nice-to-haves on our already long list. Thanks again for all the help! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
easypeasy Posted November 9, 2018 Share Posted November 9, 2018 My parents had one in one of the houses they built. They both loved it (but, interestingly enough... they didn't add it to the next three houses they built... so I dunno!). I, on the other hand, hated the thing. lol When I would visit and "help" clean up after my kids had run Cheerios amok or something, I hated having to lug the heavy (to my wimpy self) hose around to vacuum. I found it cumbersome and reeeeeally annoying to the point of crankiness. I much prefer only having to maneuver a skinny, flexible power cord with my regular vacuum cleaner. I'd much prefer a nice cleaning-supplies closet on each floor of the house, with a vacuum upstairs and downstairs (or one end of the house and the other end of the house if I had a large house). 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alte Veste Academy Posted November 9, 2018 Author Share Posted November 9, 2018 Just now, easypeasy said: I'd much prefer a nice cleaning-supplies closet on each floor of the house, with a vacuum upstairs and downstairs (or one end of the house and the other end of the house if I had a large house). This is where I am personally leaning at the moment. Buying another vacuum for the second floor would be way less expensive...or giving the kids the old one for the second floor and buying a super nice vacuum like a Miele for the first floor would even cost less! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
easypeasy Posted November 9, 2018 Share Posted November 9, 2018 2 hours ago, Alte Veste Academy said: This is where I am personally leaning at the moment. Buying another vacuum for the second floor would be way less expensive...or giving the kids the old one for the second floor and buying a super nice vacuum like a Miele for the first floor would even cost less! This is exactly what I would do. Buy a super nice one for me to use - and give the kids the old one that works perfectly fine but doesn't exactly make me happy to use... ? (another negative to the full-house one is that there is no way my kids could have wielded that enormous hose as quickly/efficiently as they were able to use a regular, upright vacuum... and I needed their help keeping up with the vacuuming!) 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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