Vacum Systems

oldhead

Could some offer me some advice on them vacum systems like the BEAM system. Do they actually work well or is it just as handy to have a good hoover. basically are they worth the money.

Many thanks.

biblio

Place where I used to work had a central vac system in the offices, it seemed to work well, there was almost no noise in the area where you were vaccuming and there was no recirculated dust blown into the air.

It was integrated into the building whilst it was being fitted out so might be difficult to fit to an existing building.
Only problem with it was nobody would remember to empty the dust collection container or even know where all the dust went to!

gsxr1

I have built a few houses with them.

One of the people dont really use it as the say it is just as handy to run around the place with a dyson .

The other 2 swear by it.

The hose is very very long so it can span a good distance from the outlet. For this reason I dont think its handy at all. If fact I would say a hoover is easyer to pull around.

there is a noticeable reduction in dust in the houses as the main unit is mounted in a utility room somewhere.

I dread what would happen if the internal pipe work became blocked. If fact it would be a complete nightmare.

Hotwheels

Have the beem system, it was fitted in the house when we bought it, its very handy, powerful. And only needs emptying every now and then...

The hose is long, which is handy for hovering out the car, it got blocked once, but it was handy enough to clear once I traced the blockage. A trusty steel coat hanger did the job....

Its a good system in a big house, as you don't have to drag a hoover round from room to room...

I've no idea what it costs to install though...

Prenderb

I have a similar system, there are pros and cons.

Pros - Excellent inlet in the kitchen, you can just sweep to the corner and kick the hoover inlet and it magics it all away. You don't have to lug a heavy vacuum cleaner up the stairs, just the hose. There's no cord to trip over/get tangled around the cat/coffee table.

Cons - the hose is quite long because it has to be, but that makes it a pain to put away. Awkward to get at the bag because it's mounted under the stairs. It's quite noisy. You don't get to do the rewind on the plug cord - I always found that fun. It still doesn't do it itself.

It was installed in the house when I bought it, so don't know what it'd cost. As a retrofit I'd imagine it wouldn't be worth it, but in a new-build it might be.