Vacuum Cleaners Discussions

Hi,

Who thinks the day will come, and how long will it take, when the "vacuum cleaner" will generally be accepted as just a hole in the wall that we plug a hose into? No more cyclones, water baths or super-duper filtering for alllergy sufferers.  No thought over buying canister or upright and what warranty length is.  No more concerns about cord length or operating noise levels.  I'm not just talking central vacuum system but also of a possible change in our view of practicality.  The day is not that far away when our computers will also be our telephone and TV among other things.  Come to think of it they are now though not widely employed.  Does anyone feel central vacuum systems may one day be provided in apartment buildings and other multiple dwelling as a given as well as in individual private homes?

Thanks,

Venson

Hey Venson and Motorhead,

 

Since you guys like history – check out an early GE silent film called “The Home Electrical”, promoting "electricity" and a "civilized life".  I converted and uploaded it myself.  Runtime is over 11 minutes.  A central vacuum cleaner with a keyed switch is shown at minute 2:21.  Many appliances are shown, some with lots of potential danger, I cringed a few times watching this movie.  I do not know the films date, but if you do (or want to take a guess) let me know.

 

Video here (make sure to view in “original size” vs. small size)

 

DIB

Great video, I had no idea GE produced early centrals.   I have to say, after seeing all of these early electrical devices and the potential hazards they would have had (the electric shaving mug for example), I'm glad that we've come a long way from cloth wiring and exposed terminals.  Still a great step back in time, though, and definitely a lot older than I would have imagined.  I'm guessing it's from the 1900s?  Could be teens as well, at the very latest.

I used to live in an upscale rental apartment (about 8 stories) built in the 60's that had a central vaccuum system. The suction was very poor.

CVS are more popular now than they have been since 1949.  But...........portable standalone vacuums are here for at least another 100 years.   

Venson, in the USA, the non-electric carpet sweeper has been around since 1868.  Royal since 1905.  Of course, HOOVER since June 1907 when Spangler patented and then sold the rights to BOSS HOOVER.

Carmine D.

Hi Gail,

Although I have heard of central vacuums and even central refrigeration being installed as far back as the very late 1800s and early 1900s in certain luxury mutiple dwelling spaces here in New York, I have not heard about the extensive like use of central vacuums in later years.

This is a guess but the central system in your building back in the 1960s may have performed poorly due to the main source of vacuum trouble -- people. It would be very hard to monitor and maintain a central vacuum in an apartment building with many tenants. Careless adults and children finding fun things to feed "the hole in wall" can quickly lead to problems and maintenance expense for both building owners and maintenance people.

There are specialed central vacuums (bagged with highly filtered exhausts) being sold to individual apartment and condo dwellers but for all the building we've done here in the last several years central vacuuming supplied as part of the package in multiple dwellings has never been offered, at least to my knowledge. If it were, you can be assured already expensive rents and sale prices would be marked up even higher.

Anther reason may have been a badly thought out system. By the way what part of the country was you building in?

Thanks for sharing . . .

Venson

If vacuums had not become a disposable item, we might well be on the way to centrals being the norm. Centrals got a bad rep when shag carpet came into vouge. With only air-driven power heads (pre Turbo-Cat) they failed miserably. The earliest power nozzles had the cord clipped along the length of the hose. Central vac is an idea whose time has come again, with the technology now to provide better suction and airflow, lighter hoses and so many conveniences I predict they will catch on more and more as people realize they can be installed easily in existing homes. For the cost of, say, a Kirby, a CV can be installed in most any home, and plenty of Kirbys have been sold in 1200 sq ft homes. Most people have never even heard of central vacuums. Where is the national media advertising for central vacuums? Most people who were unhappy with a central vac had one that was 1) underpowered for the home 2) had a botched installation 3) were never shown how to vacuum with the long hose. One thing to consider is the eventual loss of some airflow over time due to scarring on the tubing walls. Hundreds of times I showed the need for a new hose on an Electrolux because the existing hose would not allow the machine to pick up all 4 steel spheres in the clear plastic cup. (This is airflow, not suction, the cup is narrower toward the bottom) With a new hose, viola! snap! snap! snap! snap! The sand and grit sucked up do wear away at the interior, which is way going one unit larger than the manufacturer suggests is a good idea. I think the FlowMaxGold tubing is an excellent idea. All virgin vinyl, 5' lengths to reduce the need for cutting, and to make it easy to feed into wall cavities, and flange ends to join lengths together without additional couplings.

While it's possible they exist in some places, I've never seen central vacs advertised as part of a new build or *anybody* here in the UK having them as part of their house.

It seems CVS are more popular in Canada than the USA.  With the housing market tanking, builders and contractors will look to reduce amenities, like CVS, to make new houses more affordable.  Once the economy turns around and heads up [years], more likely to see the extras added back to new homes.

Cordless technologies will cement portables and standalone vacuums as permament fixtures for the future.

Carmine D.

Carmine,

I think you are correct about cordless technologies. They may well be the future of portable vacs.

From a Canadian stand point, at least in our area pretty much any house that is being built gets a rough in for a central vacuum. It is generally no longer an option but a standard feature.

Dusty