Where to Buy >
Central Vacs 101 . Find the Right System . Healthy Home . Testimonials . CFT Story . FAQ
Find the Right System
Get the right central vac and you’ll wonder how you lived without one.
Today, there are more than 20 companies selling various central vac systems to consumers, and refinements in design and technology have elevated the product offerings to new heights of performance, convenience and availability. It might seem like a stretch to the uninitiated to say that one’s home vacuum system can be life changing, but some central vac owners love their systems so much, they wonder how they ever cleaned their homes without them.
Central Vac Shopper’s Checklist: Know What to Look For
Not all central vac systems stack up feature by feature, and quality can vary widely. How to choose the right system for you? Here are some things you need to look for:
- Cleaning Performance and Powerhead Units
- Ease of Use and Maintenance
- Noise Level of the Unit in Operation
- Ease and Dependability of Installation
- Importance of Indoor Air Quality
- Availability of Parts and Accessories
- Manufacturer’s Warranty and Track Record
- Customer Satisfaction Testimonials
- Short Term and Long Term Cost Considerations
- Environmental FriendlinessThe Essential 10-Point Guide to Central Vac Selection
1. How Much Cleaning Power Do I Need?
2. How Easy is it to Use and Maintain the
Central Vac System?
3. Is the Central Vac System Quieter than a
Portable Vacuum Cleaner?
4. What about installation? How difficult is it to find
reliable installers? Can my existing home be
retro-fitted for the system, or can it only be used
in new construction?
5. Can a Central Vac Really Improve Indoor Air Quality?
6. What Kind of Accessories are Available and How Easy
is it to Purchase Them?
7. Does the Manufacturer Offer a Warranty?
What Kind of Track Record Does the Company Have?
8. What Do Their Customers Have to Say?
9. What are the Short Term and Long Term Cost
Considerations of a Central Vac System?
10. Is the System Environmentally Friendly?1. How Much Cleaning Power Do I Need?
Consider your lifestyle. Every house gets its share of dust, tracked-in dirt and lint that must be eliminated. Add in the activities of a busy family life; a pet or two; allergies or respiratory ailments; messy hobbies; square footage of the home; lots of rugs and carpet; dusty locales and seasonal weather changes; and cleaning needs escalate proportionately. You’ll want to choose a central vac system with adequate power that not only lifts the dirt from surfaces but removes it completely from your living space so that it does not recirculate in the air, a common problem with portable vacuum cleaners. VACUFLO systems remove 100% of vacuumed dust, dirt and allergens from your home.
The CFT Difference. "CFT" stands for VACUFLO’s patented Cyclonic Filtration Technology. CFT is an exclusive, dual filtration process designed to deliver maximum power every time you vacuum. Bags and permanent cloth filters can clog quickly and reduce airflow and vacuum power. But Cyclonic Filtration guarantees the highest sustained cleaning performance because it removes dirt from the airflow without restricting vacuum power.
back to top
Here’s how CFT works:
There are three criteria of cyclonic separation as defined by the Dictionary of Physics: high-speed rotating air flow, a conical container, and downward motion. Only VACUFLO’s CFT meets all three.
Why is that important?
Because Cyclonic Separation starts the moment vacuumed dirt travels through the hose and enters the power unit. Dirt-laden air spirals downward along the inside of the unit, picking up speed and forcing 96-98% of the vacuumed dirt into the dirt canister. The remaining fine dust particles are pulled upward with the airflow and are either exhausted outside True Cyclonic units or trapped in a high-efficiency pleated filter cartridge Filtered Cyclonic Units. Less than 5% of the dirt is exposed to the filter or exhausted outside. Time after time, your home gets the deep down cleaning it needs without expensive bags or increasingly dirty filters that affect efficiency and performance.
Compare CFT to permanent cloth filter systems:
-Cleaning performance diminishes rapidly as the permanent cloth filter becomes clogged with dirt.-Airflow forces 100% of all vacuumed dirt directly against the permanent cloth filter—no cyclonic air path or separation is achieved. The result is dirtier filters for greater clogging potential and diminished vacuum power.
-Debris doesn’t fall from the permanent cloth filter until the system is turned off. This helps to unclog the filter, but a dirt film remains—reducing original performance.
-Permanent cloth filter systems cannot be restored to like-new condition once dust and dirt are embedded in the filter. Coatings like GORE-TEX and Teflon help reduce embedded dirt, but do not eliminate it.
Choosing a Power Unit. Choose the power unit that best meets the needs of the square footage of your home. VACUFLO power units are engineered to match a home’s square footage. VACUFLO True Cyclonic and Filtered Cyclonic power units are available for homes up to 18,000 square feet.
Choosing a Power Brush. The power brush is the part of the vacuum that will be cleaning carpeted areas and rugs. You can choose between a turbine (air) powered brush or an electrical powered brush. The type of power brush you choose will probably depend on personal preference. Many customers prefer the turbine powered brush for its effective cleaning capacity, lighter weight, and economical installation. The turbine powered brush also offers quieter operation than the electrical powered brush.
2. How Easy is it to Use and Maintain the Central Vac System?
No More Clunky Cleaning Machines. Do you remember climbing out of your car to lift a heavy garage door-- in the rain? Or stretching a phone cord across the kitchen through the bowl of applesauce while you tried to reach the oven before your pot roast burned? Certain modern conveniences, like automatic garage door openers and cordless phones, bring a degree of ease into our daily lives, leading us to wonder how we lived without them. Yet most of us continue to lug heavy, cumbersome vacuum cleaners around the house, straining our backs and nicking the woodwork without question, never mind the messy and expensive vacuum bags that need endless replacing. With a VACUFLO system, you simply attach the end of the hose to the intake valves located throughout your home, and go.
For the ultimate in convenience, opt for the VACUFLO Hide-A-Hose model. You’ll never have to move or store hoses again. Up to 50 feet of hose are concealed within the wall (one 50-foot hose can cover 1800-2200 square feet). Pull out the length of hose you need, attach your remote-controlled handle and vacuum. When you finish, the suction from your VACUFLO power unit pulls the hose back into the wall and out of sight. Then you simply carry your handle to the next inlet and repeat the process. Vacuuming has never been easier.
A range of VACUFLO accessories make whole-house cleaning easy. Once you make the switch to the right central vac system, you’ll wonder why you waited so long to make this necessary chore less time consuming, strenuous and awkward. People who loathe vacuuming more than any other household task love their VACUFLO system because it is nearly effortless to use, convenient and powerfully effective!
No Messy Bags to Replace, Just a See-Through Canister to Empty Every Few Months. We’ll Even Send an Email Reminder. Vacuum bags are expensive and messy to constantly replace. The average U.S. home collects 40 pounds of dust each year, enough to fill 25-35 vacuum cleaner bags). With a VACUFLO unit, you’ll have a canister located in the basement, garage, or utility closet near the power unit. The canister is see-through, so you know when it needs to be emptied, but even if you forget to look, as a VACUFLO customer you’ll get a courtesy email every three months to remind you to empty your canisters and clean the screen inside it. When the canister is full, you snap it out for easy removal and disposal of the contents. VACUFLO maintenance is a breeze.3. Is the Central Vac System Quieter than a Portable Vacuum Cleaner?
Who Needs More Noise in their World? When you choose your central vac system, you shouldn’t have to trade performance for noise level. Some central vacs are so loud they sound like four portable vacuum cleaners running at the same time. Ouch. The VACUFLO system is so quiet, you can run it while your child (or spouse) is napping.
4. What about installation? How difficult is it to find reliable installers? Can my existing home be retro-fitted for the system, or can it only be used in new construction?
Choose the system backed by quality installers located nationwide. The performance of any central vac system can be adversely affected by improper installation. When you choose VACUFLO, you have the peace of mind of working with a nationwide organization of over 300 certified dealers who install central vac systems as part of their core business.
Both new construction and retro-fitting are easily accomplished by quality dealers, often in one or two days. Because they are skilled and trained in central vacs, not only are the systems properly installed; VACUFLO dealers approach each job with the consumer’s convenience in mind, as opposed to the installer’s convenience. That means you’ll get to work with a dealer who designs a schematic layout of intake valves based on cost, optimal performance and how you plan to use your system, with an attention to detail you’ll appreciate every time you vacuum (no valves installed behind doors or other inconvenient spots, for example).5. Can a Central Vac Really Improve Indoor Air Quality?
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) states that indoor air pollution is America’s most serious environmental health problem. The American College of Allergists reports that 50% of all illnesses are caused by, or aggravated by, polluted indoor air. Poor indoor air quality can be caused by several factors: today’s more tightly sealed housing construction, synthetic building materials and furnishings, and chemically formulated household products. Since most people spend 90% of their time indoors, indoor air quality can affect health, safety and comfort, especially in children and the elderly. VACUFLO eliminates 100% of vacuumed dirt, dust and allergens, creating a healthier home, unlike portable vacuum cleaners, which recirculate portions of the dust and allergens they intake. Your home will look better, smell fresher and offer cleaner air with a VACUFLO system. In fact, University of California Davis School of Medicine found that allergy sufferers’ symptoms can be improved up to 61% when using a central vacuum system. According to the U.S. EPA, using central vacuum systems that are vented to the outdoors can significantly reduce dust mites, pollens, animal dander and other allergy causing agents from your home.
6. What Kind of Accessories are Available and How Easy is it to Purchase Them?
VACUFLO central vac systems offer accessories for every cleaning need in your home, basement, garage and workshop. Particularly popular is the installed Vac Pan, which at the flip of a small switch on a baseplate, opens up an intake slot that allows you to brush or sweep everyday debris like crumbs or pet hair directly into the automatically activated vacuum system. Perfect for high traffic areas like kitchens, the Vac Pan allows for quick cleanups without even having to get out the vacuum hose.
All VACUFLO accessories can be easily purchased through our network of over 300 certified dealers or direct from the manufacturer via this website.7. Does the Manufacturer Offer a Warranty? What Kind of Track Record Does the Company Have?
VACUFLO central vac systems are manufactured by HP Products, an American company in the vacuum system business since 1955. Our customers and dealers know they can rely upon the stability of our company when they need installation, additional or replacement parts and accessories, or in the event they need to activate their Lifetime Limited Warranty. Before you decide on which central vac system you’ll buy, research the history and warranty provisions of other companies and their products.
Our Lifetime Limited Warranty is the most comprehensive warranty in the industry. VACUFLO covers ALL permanently installed components. This includes the canister body, dirt canister, motor, circuit board, on-board inlet valve, motor brushes, tubing and fittings, low-voltage wiring and inlet valves. VACUFLO’s warranty also carries an additional one year of labor coverage on Filtered Cyclonic units, and True Cyclonic units have three years of labor coverage.8. What Do Their Customers Have to Say?
Read for yourself what customers and dealers from all over the country say about their VACUFLO central vac systems.
9. What are the Short Term and Long Term Cost Considerations of a Central Vac System?
Cost is an equation of quality, time, energy and materials. While the initial cash outlay of a central vac system may be greater than that of a portable vacuum cleaner, the long term costs can actually be lower in the long run. There was a time when a good vacuum cleaner was a solid investment that lasted for years. Today’s portable sweepers seem to be designed with obsolescence in mind. Even if you spend upwards of $500 on a quality portable vacuum cleaner, you are still dealing with the weight, inconvenience and bag cost that go along with it, as well as the prospect of replacement at some point. A VACUFLO central vac system, on the other hand, is an investment in powerful performance, significantly cleaner indoor air, and convenience that will most likely last the life of your home, and even increase its resale value. As one home builder quoted, “When prospective clients come through my homes, the two things they comment upon most are granite countertops and central vac systems.”
10. Is the System Environmentally Friendly?
Quiet, Clean and Suitable for Green. Because the VACUFLO central vac system reduces noise pollution and significantly improves indoor air quality, many consumers opt for the VACUFLO system when building “green” homes, or those that adhere to strict environmental standards in order to maintain the least impact on the environment.
In fact, VACUFLO is proud to participate in the Environments for Living program. This program establishes stringent requirement and performance criteria levels based on building science principles. The Diamond Level of this program helps builders construct homes that are more durable, with superior water and energy efficiency and a higher level of personal comfort and indoor air quality. Central vacuum systems like VACUFLO are required in select homes as part of the Diamond Level. Both the Environments for Living program and VACUFLO strive to create healthier homes, increase comfort and enhance a home’s resale value. The Environments for Living program is a building science initiative sponsored by Masco Contractor Services.
1.800.822.8356 . 330.875.5556 . 512 W. Gorgas St., Louisville, Ohio 44641
© 2007 H-P Products, Inc.