It seems pretty straightforward in a framed house. I'd like to increase my offerings to clients and wonder if there's more to it than fitting pvc and routing it thru the house.

My client who asked for it has it in the current house he's in and it's been trouble free for 24 years.

Thanks for all input...

We do CV because it falls under the 'low volt' umbrella. Since we do tv/tel, security, cctv, etc for builders (so we can get our foot in the door and sell multi room audio, control systems, and theaters) we also do cv. It is easy, just get a can rated for 35- 40% more square footage than the house and you will always be fine. Drilling the holes sucks, and you won't profit much form it alone, but if it helps you get builders or increases your appeal as a one stop shop for customers then it is profitable indirectly.

I would first call around and see what the going rate for CV is in your area. Here in chicago, its not economically feesable for an AV company to do Central Vac. Last place I worked did it on a limited basis, but we could not compete with the companies that specialized in it that were paying their pipe guys $8.00-$10 an hour with no benefits.............

The concept of Central Vac is also very strange to me... For the price of a CV system you could put an Orek XL on every floor of your home (Amd most rooms in some cases) and then not have to lug around the goofy 30+ft hose kit....

Very Strange..........

The biggest advantage to the central vac is far more power, more suction, and all the bad things leave your house. HEPA filters and all the other stuff aside, if you suck dust and allergens into a bag stored inside your house, they're still inside your house. If you suck them into a canister in your garage, that is vented to the outside, then you get the kooties outta the house altogether, AND...you have to empty it about twice a year!

my .02

avdude

good point
Some people are more sensitive to this than others I bet. (You know, our clients who are like "above" having a single living bacterium in their home!)

That sounds like Monk!

That's got to be one of the best shows on TV!

Been doing CV for the last 15 or so.

Have always used the M&S AirVac units. Not that they've always been the best, but they have been good to stand behind the product when there was some problem units over the years. And yes, that's important. Your reputation is tied to the manufacturers equipment, regardless of how well you do the install.

I think the CV sales and installation business is better in some ways than the theater, multi-room audio, etc.

Think about it. You install this thing, and most often, never have to come back and tweak, come back and explain how to turn it on, etc, etc, etc.

No money in it? Surely you jest!

No, I don't jest . . . and don't call me Shirley!

We actually have fun doing them, use the Dirt Devil here and have had no problems. But I've got a great story for you,,,

10yrs ago, were roping this house and the owner asks if we know how to do CV. We being the young dumb and full of ,,,, whipper snappers we were, we said it would be a snap. So off we go to our local Home Depot, slap about a shyt load of PVC and connectors onto our truck, and off to the races installing the pipe into the framwork. Just getting to the end of the plping, we go to a store that sells CV equipment to get the plates and caps, return to the house to throw them on REAL QUICK. OH SHYT, they dont fit. After 3 hours and a swaray of different lubricants, a hell of alot of cusing and kicking, we call the CV distributor and asked "WHAT THE F**K CONNECTORS DID HE SELL US?" It took 1 minute for him to so nicely and politely tell us we were the dumb asses of the year, ask us how much of the correct pipe and fittings he could have ready for us, and if he could share our story with your on candid camera.

Sorry so long, I still laugh my ass off when I think back to that glorious day. Have an awsome day!!!

I do CV cuz the 800 lb gorilla custom installer in the area dosen't. I get clients that won't use him because they don't want to deal with multiple vendors.

I also make money on it and its easy to do.

I have CV companies here that are cheaper than I am but customers use me because I present myself as a professional, same reason they use me instead of Sears for custom install, its not all about price. I do a better job and am more knowlegeable.

Today the one I saw pre, pre, not prewired, pre tubed also had 110v going to each receptacle. What's the deal there? Now I've got to call Larry to wire each one of these?

the 110v powers the brushes on the handle.


There's also supposed to be a low voltage wire run to every outlet. This triggers the vacuum.


I did 2 central vacs with the company i used to work for... I left them partially because i hated doing central vacs, especially for a company that didn't know how to DO central vacs!

What you saw (with the electrical wiring at the outlet) was probably a Hayden SuperSystem. That system has both high voltage (120) and low voltage (24) running through the hose. The high voltage runs the beater brush and the low voltage triggers the unit.

And yes, the electrician must connect the wiring (generally).

Reminds me of a nice story.....

One of our local "village idiots" ran one of these systems for a builder I know (who thought he'd save a buck by using the VI), only to cause the electrical inspector to turn down the entire house wiring. Seems the VI had used high powered outlets with 14ga wiring, and had connected them to electrical outlet that had 12ga wiring.

Yes, the "system" had to be completely redone. The builder fired the local VI, and paid me to fix it. Very, very expensive lesson....

OR, it could have been a Beam System, Frigidaire, AirVac, M&S or Eureka...even Dirt Devil, as they ALL have valves available (although they call them different things) that allow for 120VAC and low volt at the same outlet! Keep i nmind almost ALL of the CVS pipe, fittings, and valves out there come from the same Canadian manufacturer, and for the most part, they are COMPLETELY interchangeable!

avdude

They really are a very nice little J-Box, but a real bitch to retro!

And yes, in most local, an electrician is required to assist in the install, as he has to wire the 120VAC, or pigtail them out of the closest outlet (wire fill permitting) and then assist in trim-out as well.

avdude

And that Canadian manufacturer is apparently Hayden Manufacturing. And the SuperSystem is OEM'd by Hayden for all those other companies you've mentioned. That's why I said it was more than likely a Hayden SuperSystem that had been seen.