Over the past 25 years, I’ve installed a handful of central-vacuum cleaners. I think they are the best thing since indoor plumbing, and they’re easy to install. Although I have installed the conventional systems, I’ve come to prefer a different setup: shop vacuums instead of the typical centralvacuum unit.
The first time I did this was out of necessity. The central-vac units are pretty expensive, and I couldn’t afford one. But now I install shop vacuums as central vacs for other benefits. For example, by using a standard shop vac, you have a choice of much larger holding capacities. The central units hold a small bag, and unlike a shop vac, the bags have to be replaced. Shop vacs have reusable filters and a canister that you simply empty periodically.
A shop vac can also be disconnected from its central location and used as, well, a shop vac. If you’re short of space, you don’t need two units.
To make this system work, I install the central-vac tubing system, minus the power unit. For that, I use one of the more powerful shop vacs rated at 4-1/2 hp, 5 hp or 6 hp and with a 6-gal. or larger canister. To make it turn on and off at the appropriate time, I wire in a standard fan relay. That’s it. The vac is every bit as powerful (and noisy) as the standard units, but cheaper and more versatile.
J. Kaye, Phenix, VA
