Ducted Vacuums

[silentC]

Excellent. Thanks for the feedback all. I found out last night that a friend of my Dad's used to install these things and he still has contacts and has offered to help install it, so looks like Mrs Silent (jnr and snr, they both want one) will be wrestling with pythons in the near future :eek:

[Gumby]

Mrs Silent (jnr and snr, they both want one) will be wrestling with pythons in the near future :eek:

Way too much information !

[savage]

silentC, we have had cheapies and top of the range cleaners, the cheapies are just that, the top of the range are not much better, we bought a Kirby which was excellent when new, but over time it became just another vacuum cleaner. It did have a good, not great shampoo system, but when it broke it was going to cost nearly as much as we had paid for it to get fixed so we cut our loss and tossed it out. When we moved in to this place it had a cleaning system and the hose reaches everywhere we want it to. It is a Valet system, a bit on the noisy side but the unit is in a "utility" room and the door can be closed when in use, I asked about blockages and was told it depends on how the piping is installed. If it is installed with 90 degree bends you are asking for trouble, the best way is nice curves in the piping as this allows free movement of debristo be swept along with the airflow. I feel if this system was not in the house when we bought it I would get a Dyson, as the nature of it's construction is very efficient and has been thought out over several years before going into production. I saw a show on how it came about and it was very interesting to see the chap who designed it and he was honest enough to even explain some of his failures and how he continually when back to the drawing board to over come them until he ended up with what you see today. My opinion, if you can put a system in (during reno work or re-building) good, but if it is an after-thought get a Dyson.

[Cobber]

I just sucked a big spider into the ducted vacumm at my parents house. Good way of getting rid of spiders. I have been thinking about getting it in my extension which is just started. Cant afford it right now though so will have to make room for it somehow. My question is if anyone knows what sort of room I need to make...the extension will be double storey. I might be able to run it up the stair cupboard into the linen cupboard maybe. Does anyone know the right way of allowing for it.

cheers

Cobber

[silentC]

Best place for the unit is outside, that way you don't have to put up with the noise and you don't get microscopic dust recirculated through your house. Ours is installed on an external wall under a fairly wide eave so it is protected from the weather but they are weather proof (if you buy the right one). We ended up with an Aussie Vac because my old man has a mate who sells them. We got it at cost and installed free. The wife loves it.

[journeyman Mick]

.......................We got it at cost and installed free.................

Now if only you could get it to work by itself.......

Mick

[silentC]

That's what the Roomba is for!

Yes, we have got one

[journeyman Mick]

So if you've got the little robot, why do you need the ducted system, or doesn't it get used now?:confused:

Mick

[silentC]

We got the Roomba last year. He still gets used a bit but the problem with him is that you have to get everything that he might choke on up off the floor. We came home one day and he had passed out after strangling himself on the phone cord. Poor little bugger's battery had gone flat trying to untangle himself.

[journeyman Mick]

We got the Roomba last year. He still gets used a bit but the problem with him is that you have to get everything that he might choke on up off the floor. We came home one day and he had passed out after strangling himself on the phone cord. Poor little bugger's battery had gone flat trying to untangle himself.

It's so hard to get good help nowadays isn't it, sigh........


Mick

[GraemeCook]

First, a disclaimer. I have never owned a ducted system so I know little about them and have no biases.

Now, I have noticed that ducted house systems are basically the downsized and civilised sibblings of the workshop cyclone system. The cyclones seem to have much more grunt.

Would it make economic and practical sense to use the cyclone as the core of a ducted house vacuum system ???

Cheers

Graeme

[Groggy]

First, a disclaimer. I have never owned a ducted system so I know little about them and have no biases.

Now, I have noticed that ducted house systems are basically the downsized and civilised sibblings of the workshop cyclone system. The cyclones seem to have much more grunt.

Would it make economic and practical sense to use the cyclone as the core of a ducted house vacuum system ???

Cheers

Graeme

Graeme, the house systems are low-volume high-velocity whereas the shop units are high volume low velocity (relatively speaking).

The former is good to pick up small objects from a localised area whilst the latter is designed to pull a large amount of air, which contains dust, to pass through a filter.
The HVLP would not be suitable to vacuum carpet but may suffice if you had wood floors. How you would duct it into the house is another matter entirely (4" ducting). You may even have to go over 2hp to maintain sufficient suction over the longer distance.

[silentC]

I think it comes down to the design of the cyclone. The Dyson vac is a cyclone design and it's possible that it could work as a ducted system. The ones we use for collecting dust from machinery in the workshop probably wouldn't work very well as Groggy points out.

[Groggy]

Perhaps something to point out is the 'cyclone' is simply a separator, it does nothing to increase the efficiency of the collection system other than to ensure the filters are kept clean longer (thus keeping the unit near optimum efficiency longer).

It can be argued that by inserting the cyclone into the system you introduce friction and back pressure, and therefor loss. The most efficient systems go from the impellor direct to outside without filtration. Once you add filters, cyclones, ribbed flexible pipe, connections, shunts etc your system deteriorates markedly.

[Cobber]

Thanls - do I need to do anthing special though for the building or will this happen later on...I thought it would be easier to get it set up now rather than later