CENTRAL VACUUM SYSTEMS
by John Bower
Published in Greenkeeping

If you were to look at your carpet through a microscope, you would probably be disgusted. Ten million microorganisms per square foot could easily be staring back at you, perhaps more. Many of these tiny creatures are harmless bacteria that fall off our skin. Others are mold and mildew spores. Still others are dust mites.

Of course there is a lot of other debris in carpeting too: bits of food, flakes of dead skin, small particles of soil tracked in from the outdoors, pesticides from your neighbor's lawn tracked in with the soil, and who knows what else. If the outside of your house was painted with lead paint, you have probably also tracked in lead dust. This "house dust" is even composed of bits of carpeting that have broken off, pet dander, and fur.

When you walk across this conglomeration, the smallest, lightest weight particles get stirred up and start floating around in the air. They can remain suspended for up to half an hour. If you are allergic to any of the debris, you can easily start sneezing, coughing, wheezing, or even have a full blown asthma attack. Children can be more quickly affected simply because they are shorter, and their noses are closer to the floor. A very normal thing for children to do is to put their hands into their mouths. Now just think about what their hands have been in contact with when they were playing on your carpet.

Dust mites are one of the most allergenic things found in carpeting, but even though they are microscopic in size, they are too heavy to float around in the air when they are stirred up. But, like all living creatures, mites "go to the bathroom," and their droppings are much smaller than they are. Those droppings are very easily stirred up and found floating in the air, and that is typically what you react to if you are allergic to dust mites! Even if you aren't allergic to them, it is a pretty disgusting thought to be inhaling something like that on a regular basis.

Conventional upright and tank-type vacuum cleaners have such poor filters that the very small particles pass through the filter and are blown around the room. There are specialized portable vacuums that use a water filter that work much better, and there are vacuums with extremely high efficiency filters that asbestos workers use, but these are fairly expensive.

I have found that one of the best vacuums to use is a central unit with an outdoor exhaust. They usually are far more powerful than portable models, and even if some small particles get through the filter, they will be blown outdoors and not in your face.

Many doctors recommend removing all the carpeting from the house of a severely allergic person, and some people who aren't allergic are preferring to have hardwood or ceramic tile floors instead, simply because they are inherently healthier. Even without carpeting, a central vacuum system makes a lot of sense. There is still dust in such a house and if something like a dust mop is used, it will just stir the dust up. A much healthier alternative is to use a central vacuum to suck it up.

There are many different manufactures of central vacuum systems, and they are available in several sizes. Typically, there is a canister that contains a motor and a dust collecting bag. It will have a 120 volt electrical connection, an inlet and an outlet pipe, and a low voltage connection. The canister is usually mounted in a basement, utility room or garage.

The flexible hoses are 7m - 10m long, and there are a variety of cleaning attachments available. Some manufactures have a power head with a rotating brush that is powered by the air rushing through the hose.

The inlet pipe and the low voltage wire on the canister are connected to one or more wall plates. When the hose is inserted into a wall plate, the low voltage circuit is activated and the vacuum motor is started automatically. With the long flexible hoses available, an average house may only need 2 or 3 wall outlets if they are located with a little forethought. While such a long hose can seem like a snake at times, it is easier to use than dragging around a portable vacuum.

The outlet on the canister is simply piped to the outdoors. A few manufacturers have an indoor exhaust with a sound reducing muffler, but a model with an outdoor exhaust is probably a healthier and quieter choice.

The plastic piping required is usually a different size than the standard PVC material used for plumbing drains, so it must be purchased from the vacuum supplier. Metal piping is sometimes available for situations where the fire code requires it.

For homeowners who are hypersensitive to the smell of plastics, the metal piping may be a good alternative, and sometimes metal wall plates are available instead of the usual plastic ones. For chemically sensitive people, I have had good luck using the plastic piping and wrapping it with aluminum foil. Such individuals may need to let the flexible plastic hose air out for an extended period until it loses its odor. This may take as long as a few months.

My first recommendation is to have some floor covering other than wall-to-wall carpeting in a healthy house, but I realize that not everyone will want that option. So, if you insist on carpeting, my recommendation would be to clean it with a central vacuum. It can't do a perfect job, but it is a definite improvement over most portable models.