Central Vacuum Installation
About three years ago, we undertook a major renovation of our home, removing a load bearing wall to open up the living room, transferring the kitchen to the far side of the house, and installing new flooring throughout the ground floor. During that remodel, I agreed to acquiring a central vacuum system, saving money by installing the system ourselves. This was not just any system, either, but an Imperium 7800 Cyclonic unit, complete with "hide-a hose" runs that would store the hose in the pipe runs.
That was three years ago.
In my (feeble) defense, we did try to get started a few times, running the start of pipes downstairs. The biggest hurdle was running the 2inch PVC up to the second floor, an idea we eventually simply abandoned since we couldn't find a wall cavity that ran upstairs such that we could install the pipe. However, I finally got into gear and we now have a function vacuum.
First off, a word about the hide-a-hose. The idea is to run an isolated section of pipe long enough to hold a 30, 40, or 50 foot hose, then simply store the hose in the pipe when not in use. In order to make the turns, we used electrical conduit rather that standard PVC, which had a larger turn radius and helped the pipe move through the wall.
After the hide-a-hose runs are complete, then can be joined with the rest of the system and a single line runs to the unit. The biggest problem we had was that our basement has a suspended ceiling, so we could only fit so much up there to maneuver into position, but we eventually got there. The Imperium is two pieces, the motor and canister, and is vented to the outside.
Thankfully, we didn't have to drill through the concrete foundation to get outside. The final part of the run is raised to hopefully be above the snow line and a mesh cap installed to keep critters out.
If you are thinking about a project like this, here are some tips that may help:
- Don't use the pipe hangers to secure the low voltage wire. Even though they seem light enough, the weight of the pipe can compress, strip, and even short the wire. Use wire straps (still TBD as of these pictures)
- Cut the hole to the outside slightly larger than needed, and fill the gap (all the way around) with steel wool. This will discourage mice and other rodents from exploiting the entry point.
- Plan the run, then plan some more, then think about it for a day and plan again. You do not want to be redoing hundreds of feet of PVC pipe because you forgot about an HVAC return or support structure.
