"The most informative vacuum cleaner source on the net..."1 800 479 VACS (8227)
"The most informative vacuum cleaner source on the net..."A tax free home improvement that will increase the value of your house by an amount that will cover the cost of the system, professional installation, all materials, and all the while making the life long chore of vacuuming twice as easy...? Good idea! You came to the right place...
Central Vacuum installation is not for everyone (but central vacuums can be!)... you must be somewhat handy if you are planning on installing a central vacuum. If you are used to 'DIY' home improvement projects and feel comfortable cutting into your sheet rock and doing some simple wiring, then set a weekend aside and start preparing. If not, professional central vacuum installation is readily available in many areas. And if not, most carpenters should easily be able to install a central vacuum after some quick reading. At Vacorama.com, we currently only install in the NY area. But when you purchase a central vacuum with us, if you can't install it, and we can't get there, we will help you find someone. Depending on where you live, a professional central vacuum installation can cost anywhere from $100-$250 per inlet. An average cost of a 'Do it Yourself' central vacuum installation is approximately $30-$40 per inlet. In addition to this quick online lesson, we include a 'How to' video with every purchase that covers everything you need to know to install a central vacuum. This video can also be purchase separately here... The video goes into great detail and is strongly suggested. In addition to that, we have kits and packages that include everything you need for your central vacuum installation from start to finish(glue, wiring, fittings, ect..) Everything is on our main central vacuum page... Not only will we give you everything, we are also here to help you plan and install your central vacuum. 1 800 479 VACS (8227)
Depending on the house there might be some additional situations you will run into during your central vacuum installation, but all in all, this is a pretty standard list of the tools you will need to complete the installation. I'm sure you can find all of them at your local hardware store. Like i said, this is an average list of tools, depending on your house and installation needs, you might need something more, or maybe even less...
First thing is to figure out how many inlets you will need to install your central vacuum. The rule of thumb: With a 35 ft. hose you can cover approximately 800 Sq. Feet per floor. So for Example, if you have a colonial style house with 2 floors and an unfinished basement, 2800 Sq. feet in total, with the first and second floor around 1200 each, you would need 2 inlets on each floor with the central vacuum unit and 1 more inlet in the basement... Also, if you haven't heard about automatic dust pans, you should definitely check them out, just a little add-on that you'll thank yourself for later on down the line...
A Garage is usually the best location for a central vacuum. It keeps it nice and quiet inside the house, and usually it's easiest to empty the bag with the garbage near by.
The basement is another good location to install a central vacuum. Some units vary in noise and messiness but it's generally good to put it near the boiler room incase you want to furnish your basement in the future. Also, placing the unit on an exterior wall is a good idea if you ever decide you want to vent the unit outside. Most quality machines won't need venting, feel free to contact us (1 800 479 VACS) with helping you pick out the right location/unit combo for your house.
A Closet is also another option, but only if there is no other alternative. It must be vented to allow air inside to cool the unit. If you plan on putting the central vacuum in your closet, you must use a unit with filtered bags. In general bagless units are very messy , and there are very few instances where we would recommend them. If the closet is the only option we suggest using a Silent Master or a Nutone for your central vacuum installation..
Attic - if your attic is easily accessible and you have no attached garage or basement you can install central vacuum in the attic. The one thing to remember with this method is it will take more energy to suck all that dirt upwards, so you must use a twin motor unit with very high CFM... Preferably a Silent Master S2 or Silent Master S5...
There's not much need to worry about materials. We've been doing these installations since the introduction of central vacuums and have put together kits that supply you with everything you will need from start to finish. They are all based on how many inlets you plan on having for your central vacuum. There are tow basic types, super valve kits and non-supervalve kits. There are few situations where we would recommend non-super valves, but they are cheaper. A super valve has an electrical romex box inside to house the 110 volt wiring lead needed to power the electric power brushes. The one thing to remember is that this system is going to be in your house for a very long time, even if/when you sell, once you install a central vacuum in your home it will increase the value of your house to a point that would even cover the cost of professional installation and all the materials combined. So an extra 20$ to always have the option of using electric powerheads is not so bad. We find that most people who don't start off with them, end up wanting them in the future. All in all, we will give you everything, glue, fittings, angled pipes, ect... As always we always suggest calling for free advice from our central vacuum installation professionals ( 1 800 479 VACS)...
This part can be tricky and is generally the hardest part of the whole central vacuum installation. The first thing you want to do is figure out where, in terms of convenience, you would like to install your central vacuum system inlets. Remember the rule of thumb, each inlet covers approximately 800 Sq. Feet with a 35 ft. hose. (TIP: Halls usually get the best coverage). Now you have to see if your locations are plausible. The one thing to remember is that you are trying to create the easiest path from your central vacuum's power unit to your farthest inlet. Most houses will have one common wall that you can use for most inlets. Every house is different and much of the planning depends on whether you have an attic, a crawl space, or both. Basically you are going to want to feed pipe down the most common wall. Another alternative is to use a pipe riser and see if you can feed it from closet to closet on the second floor. Like we said, this part can be tricky, feel free to give us a call for some advice, we'd be happy to help you out with your central vacuum installation... 1 800 479 VACS (8227)
Now that you know where you want to install your central vacuum inlets, and you think they are plausible, you want to feel them out with a 1/8 inch drill bit that is 16 inches in length. This way you are only making 1/8 inch holes if particular spots don't work. Use the bit to feel around and see if your walls have enough room inside them for all the PVC pipe and wiring you are about to put through for your central vacuum installation(about a 2 1/2 inch diameter)
Now, once everything feels right, with confidence, drill out the entire job with your 2 1/2 inch drill bit. Make sure to cover all the central vacuum installation inlets..
The next thing to do is see if you can put all the pipe in place. You are juts testing, you do not want o glue or secure anything yet. The pipes are light enough to rest easy on your wall interiors. When cutting pipes for your central vacuum installation, you are going to want try and go from inlet to inlet and leave about an inch before the back plat (for your Short 90's or Straight Tee's) Now try placing pipes everywhere there will be pipe, you don't have to secure anything yet, just make sure everything fits and that you will be able to properly install a central vacuum system.
TIP: this would be a good point to take the unit out of the box and test the wiring in your central vacuum installation. Once it appears to be working, put it aside and proceed with installing your central vacuum.
Attaching back plates for your central vacuum installation is a pretty self explanatory task. Just screw them in in the appropriate spots. To attach the back plate to the piping set up you have in your walls you want to use a short 90 degree elbow pointing downward into the hole. This is just good practice because if you ever vacuum something big up by accident, like a pencil, it's will get stuck in the elbow instead of the central vacuum unit itself, making it a much easier repair job.
This part of the job depends on what type of system you are using, what voltage, and what type of valves. All of our suggestions are on our main central vacuums page, along with the kits that will include everything you need (except tools) from start to finish...
If you've read this far and still feel pretty confident that you can install your central vacuum then you are ready.. We hope this DIY Central Vacuum Installation guide helped a bit.. This is actually meant o be more of a quick reference with tips for people who are about to invest in a kit and installation video.. The video is great and goes into much depth. Like I said every house is different, give us a call and we'll set up a package and price quotes for you, tailored to everything you need to get the job done, we'll even guide you through the process. 1 800 479 VACS (8227) or e-mail ron@vacorama.com
Thanks again for visiting Vacorama.com, Hope all is well.
The Vacorama Team