Central Vac

[stiles watson]

I really like the idea of the central vac. Not having to store the Oreck or pull it out of the basement when needed is great. Not all things are perfect though. The Oreck was a great light weight vac that is easy to move about over any kind of surface.

The central vac is harder to manage and is more difficult to push around. The long hose is somewhat heavy and requires both hands to stretch it out and hold it at its extreme position when doing the back of the bedroom. The brush has no action. It doesn't rotate. and the vacuum is not as strong, so it doesn't clean as well.

In preparation for returning to the Montana in what I hope to be near rather than distant event. I did a thorough cleaning of the unit. Dusting everything, mopping the tile, vacuum everything, cleanng and disinfecting the water closet, cleaning the A/C filters and repairing the ceiling fan (a screw came out that held the blade on, the other one was loose, i.e. poor quality control again) in about 2 hours.

I think the Oreck would have been faster except for having to get the hand held unit out to use a crevice tool at the edges. So speed wise, I guess it would be about the same. Storage is much less with the central vac. This is just my comparison. It is not a complaint. I am sure not going to haul an extra vacuum around.

[BB_TX]

We don't have central vac. My wife bought a small vacuum (I think maybe Oreck) that the handle will come off with the push of a button. She keeps it in the short shallow cabinet under the television for easy access. She likes it, so that makes me happy.

[richfaa]

Many of us use a beater bar type brush as the OEM brush is about useless.Helen likes the central vac and it was her option. I don't like any kind of vac.

[Exnavydiver]

Stiles, we got the same vac on our 340BS and having two labs, one that sheds 4 times a year(for three months at a time). We needed a power head for the vac. When we ordered the rig we asked that they not put the vac in so we could have another cabinet but that didn't happen. So I did a Google for Intervac and came up with this web site.. http://www.intervacdesign.com/ look at the accessories page and you will see a nice power head that works great. it has a 7.2 volt battery and charger and it all stores in the bag with the rest of the goodies. We have used the system about six times in the last 4 weeks and are still using the original bag. It is FULL of hair and a fair amount of sand and dirt. I had used several central systems in houses in the past and was very underwhelmed. They just didn't seem to have the power that a good upright had. But since we have been using this system (yes the hose is a pain in the bedroom) we are very pleased. Having been in the flooring business for a fair number of years I know that dirt kills carpet and that if even cheap carpet is vacuumed regularly it will outlast good carpet that isn't cleaned regularly. The carpet in the rig is not the best, but it is nice at the moment and I hope to keep it that way for as long as I can... Dave and Betsy

[Steve and Brenda]

For short trips the central unit is fine, when we're at a site for more than a week the Dyson model 14 dog hair killer tags along.

[stiles watson]

That $170 price tag is a bit stiff, but if it works.....maybe. Thanks for the tip.

[Parrothead]

Since we don't have pets our needs may be different. We have loved the central vac and once we got a beater bar, love it more. We purchased the Shop-Vac beater bar for $25. We also have a Dust Buster which we use for small pickups. We hung it at the edge of the island.
Happy trails.....................

[bncinwv]

Stiles,
When I was looking at Wally World for the Ozz recommended beater brush (that I never did find) in the sweeper bag aisle I found a beater brush with a dog hair upholstery attachment for under $30.00. So far we are pleased with it. It is not large and easy to store in the original bag. It is powered by the suction, not power. Food for thought but we can tell the difference with the dog and cat hair in the rig.
Bingo

[TexasTraveler]

Hey Bingo, where did you find that beater brush. The one from Intervac looks real good, but its real expensive too.

[snfexpress]

We tried the beater bar from Intervac. Didn't get the hair up, probably because our lab sheds just twice a year, but for 8 months at a time. We store the Oreck upright in the entry closet and the handheld in the basement. Left the central vac attachments in storage for the new owner of our 3400RL.