Vacuum Cleaners Discussions

Carmine,

Have you selected the C/V for your Daughter/SIL's home? (I favor MD for quiet performance and convenient dirt disposal) I was wondering what your take on C/V is? The #1 complaint, of course, is the hose. There are at present three solutions: 1) The hose Genie which stores the wire reinforced hose in a wall cavity between studs. 2) The Hide-a-Hose which stores the hose in the C/V tubing itself (but cannot use an electric p/n.) And 3) the new 'click' modular hose offered by M/D which looks positively brilliant. With sufficient inlets a 20ft hose is adequate for vacuuming all the major traffic areas, and a 10 or 15 ft section can be clicked in when needed. No more struggling with fiddly buttons to push while simultaneously pulling or pushing on a tube. I also saw online a coiled stretch hose in a reel. Pull it out and the C/V automatically starts. Instant clean up of a thousand tiny messes that are too small to bother dragging out a vacuum (or a big C/V hose) to deal with. If I were going to go to the trouble and expense of intsalling a C/V I would not stint on inlets, Vacu Sweep inlets, or the above mentioned at-the-ready-stretch hoses. A hose, tool kit and P/N on each level and a tool kit in the garage. If it is worth installing, might as well get the maximum convenience possible. Your thoughts, please and what would you select as as pn/ and tools all the way around?

Venson,

I am still dumping my Rainbow D4 after almost 23 (1986) years. It really is true...wet dust cannot fly...and I do have allergies. Were I to switch to a bagged vac it would be a Nilfisk or a Miele. Having a decent vac is important to me. And yes, zero operating cost was certainly a factor in my decision to purchase the Rainbow. But, not only has it paid for itself in savings on bags, but in not needing replacement. No readily affordable bagless vacuums can come close, and a basic bagged vacuum such as a Eureka or Hoover, even with the cost of bags would prove to be less costly than a cheap bagless, again because it does not need to be replaced. There are 40 yr old Hoovers and Eurekas still running. A Dyson will not last long enough to justify its purchase in either savings category, it just won't. Bagless is fine for small handheld and stick vacs because the bags are so small that the replacement cost becomes prohibitive. Without exception, all 'true' cyclonic central vacs have a protective screen over the motor, and it must be kept clean or it voids the warranty. 'True' cyclonics also require outside venting. The MD motor sits below the conical shaped cloth bag with disposable paper bag inside. It is a highly functional, quiet, power sustaining design, which eliminates the need for outside venting. The bag change is simple and sanitary. The bag of a vacuum cleaner has been proved to contain and encourage the breeding of not only mites but life-thretening pathogens. The cost of bags for a year is less than the cost of even one office visit to your friendly neighborhood MD. It's all a matter of perspective.

Thanks Venson, Trebor.  Saves me oodles of time and effort.  Dear daughter's house is over 3000 sq feet not counting a two car garage.  Two level with cathedral ceilings.  The house was new and repoed by the bank after 4 months of being lived in.  Part of the economic sunami here in LV in 2007.  Daughter and family have owned since June 2007.  The original deposed owner/security supposed to guard such things absconded with everything that wasn't locked down, including the CVS which is mounted in the garage w/o an outside vent.  The original owner is a church member of my daughter and SIL tho a different church.  He was shocked to learn almost a year after move in that all the appliances in the house went south.  Hence, our firm belief that the security guards may have been the culprits.  As they were for other houses in the same neighborhood/zip code.

With sufficient portable vacuums available and a grand daughter who enjoys doing vacuum penance for bad deeds, my daughter is not pressing me on the issue of the CVS, which I volunteered to cover.  Still trying for a dual deal: S7 for me and a CVS for daughter's home. I figure if I bundle the S7 purchase with the CVS for my daughter, I stand a better chance with the War Department to secure an S7 for myself.

Carmine D.

CarmineD wrote:
Best of luck Carmine.

Venson

Carmine,

If you get an S7 be prepared to push it yourself. While most people would not find it objectionally heavy, if your wife has been used to an 8 lb. Oreck I don't think she will transition easily to the S7. As to the matter of the CV, PLEASE, please, please do check the layount and the number of the inlets. Even if you have to call a professional installer to add more, it is worth it. You should never have to place the hose on top of furniture to reach anything, and now with the advent of the modular hose, you should be able to vacuum the major traffic areas with just a 20 ft. section, storing an extra 10 ft section up and down. In fact, I advocate complete separate tool kits/PN on each level, particularly if the carpet is very different. Central vac sare as much about convenience as cleaning power and filtration. If you are going to do it, go full tilt, even if your daughter says it is not necessary. She will thank you many times over after it is done, and all those little messes that are just a part of everyday life are gone in seconds. Do check out the VROOM. I'd do one in every closet and a base cabinet in every room, seriously.

Trebor

Thanks Venson and Trebor!

Carmine D.