More Central Vacuum Information

Central Vacuum Customer Referrals and Recomendations

We love our customers...They are lots of fun and they make it easy to do our job.  Today we got this request from one of our email customers..."Debra Johnson did a great job servicing this order. Someone buy her a beer!!"  Read on to hear what customers have to say about our team of experts...

Thank you and I'll get to your people in a week or so when I finish another project I'm in the middle of. The reason for this response is to let you know, and the company president if you wish, that your attitude and response to me was the best and most courteous I've heard on the phone in a long time. Thank you for helping make my day and I hope yours is a great one...

As far as the service with Central Vacuum Store, I was very impressed. You
guys have been very helpful, and that is much appreciated. On the vacuum
itself, it is absolutely wonderful. My wife has alpha-1 antitrypsin, which
is a terminal lung disease. Because of this she really cannot take the dust
produced from a regular vacuum. She hardly even knows it is running except
for the slight noise.  We are both absolutely grateful for the service and product that is
provided...

I want to thank Debra White for her extraordinary customer service! I had a problem with my purchase and she expeditiously handled the problem. Thank you...

We installed the vacuum system last week. It is really great. Thank you very much. We will probably order another one for our other house. Your salespeople were great to work with and the delivery was quick and easy...

Let the Party Begin!

This year we are celebrating our  60th Anniversary at Central Vacuum Stores.  We have a special page we've put up on our website to let you join the party.  There's our 2008 company picture and a few congratulatory letters from some of our vendors.  We even have a letter of congratulations from Charlie Crist, the governor of Florida.  I went to high school with Charlie.  In fact, in the 10th grade I ran against him for Class President.   Charlie won, and that's why today he is Governor and I am writing this blog!

We are also featuring a special give away for our customers.  Starting May 1, every day for the next 60 business days we are giving away a $60 Central Vacuum gift card to our 60th customer.  So visit our party page here.

Beam Central Vacuum: Be Sure to Read This Before You Buy

ATTENTION:  If you would like to buy a Beam on the Internet, it is going to get harder beginning May 1, 2008.  In an effort to build a stronger dealer network and cut down on unauthorized Internet companies selling their product, Beam has placed some restrictions on their dealers who sell on the Internet. 

Because Central Vacuum Stores is an Authorized Beam Dealer, from now on we will only be allowed to ship Beam power units and attachment sets within 100 miles of our physical location.  For us, that's Tampa Bay.  If you are outside of this area, give us a call at 1-800-221-8227 and we will help you locate a Beam dealer in your area.  If there is no Beam dealer in your area, we'll  call Beam and get authorization to sell you Beam products.  If you run across anyone selling Beam central vacuums and they do not have bold text explaining Beam's new policy, then they are not an authorized Beam dealer, and you need to be careful. Take a look at our Beam pages with the bold text Beam now requires on all authorized sites. Consider this, a Beam product purchased from anyone other than an authorized dealer may not have a factory warranty.  Don't take that risk...If you buy a Beam make sure you buy from an authorized dealer.  Are you wondering if this is just hype or really true?  Here is a copy of Beam's new Internet Policy, direct from Beam Download beam_internet_policy20081.pdf

If you just want to buy a central vacuum on the Internet, we have products equivalent to Beam central vacs, manufactured by the parent company of Beam.  You may want to look at this Electrolux PU3900.  See it now on out site.

Central Vacuum Motors can be Replaced

The heart of a central vacuum system is the power unit.  Typically, a motor in a central vacuum power unit will run anywhere from 7 to 10 years, depending on the type of motor.  We have seen units with Lamb Ametek motors that are still running strong after 20 years.  We sell an Imperium central vacuum unit that has a Lamb Ametek motor with a motor interrupter and replaceable carbon brushes.   This particular Imperium central vacuum power unit could be like the Energizer Bunny, it just keeps going and going, as long as you replace the carbon brushes. 

Replacing a central vacuum motor is not extremely difficult.  We put together a very simple how to article.  You can find it in two places:
On  our website
On eHow.com

This is by no means a comprehensive explanation, but we believe it gives customers the basic idea of how to go about changing their motor.  Of course, if you run into any difficulties you can call 1-800-221-8227 and our technical experts will be glad to talk you through the project. 

On our website we have an easy to use motor replacement interactive tool that will help you find the correct replacment motor for your system.  Again, if you need any help just give us a call at 1-800-221-8227.

Central Vacuum Sponsors Triathlon Team

Today Central Vacuum Stores was the proud sponsor of a mixed relay team in the St. Anthony's Triathlon in St. Petersburg, Florida.  The members of the A (for Ambrose) Team were:
Swimming one mile - Dawn Ambrose Long (our oldest daughter)
Biking 24 miles- Rachel Ambrose (our daughter-in-law)
Running 6 miles - Micah Ambrose (our youngest son)

Our daugher Faith (pictured on the left) also participated in the triathlon, swimming with another relay team.

4500 people participated in the St. Anthony's Triathlon.  Faith and Dawn were initially worried about the water temperature.  Being native Floridians, 74 degree water sounded frigid to them.  However, it was windy and the water was quite choppy, so the water temperature was the least of their worries.   They both said it was the hardest they have ever had to swim.  By the time Rachel biked and Micah ran it was a typical 85 degree Florida day, and they said that it was pretty hot during their events.  All in all, it was  a fun morning and they say they are ready to do it again.

I saw some amazing things.  Among the most significant were two double amputees that finished this triathlon. Seeing so many people pursuing health and fitness was inspiring.  Yesterday as part of the weekend events, St. Anthony's sponsored a smaller sprint triathlon.  Our Shipping Manager, Nancy, and our Web Project Manager, Cathy, participated in that event. I'm hoping that next year we can have even more employees swimming, running and biking in the two St. Anthony's Triathlons.  I thought our customers might enjoy some of the pictures I took today.  If any of you participated, let me know...I'd love to hear from you.

First Photo - Faith and Dawn's wave  entering the water
Second Photo - Faith and Dawn on the final leg of the swim
Third Photo - Rachel immediately after the bike 
Fourth Photo - Micah at the finish line.
Fifth Photo - Nancy sporting her trophy from the race
Last Photo - Cathy waiting for the race to begin

Beam Central Vacuum Kick Sweep and ZoneVac as seen on Oprah

Today on the Opray Winfrey Show she highlighted the Home of the Future.  I'm not a big Oprah fan.  If I watch Oprah I can't help but obsess over whether or not Stedman will stay with her...and if she will lose those extra pounds!  I do know that lots of our readers probably are Oprah fans, so let me tell you about two of the products you saw today. 

The Beam Kick Sweep is an add on to a central vacuum system.  It is installed in the baseboard of your home and when you kick it with your toe it activates your central vacuum system and allows you to sweep the dirt into your system.  This product has many different names in the industry, but is generally referred to as a VacPan.

The Beam ZoneVac is a small central vacuum system that mounts under a counter or in a cabinet.  You can also add a vacpan to the product.  Electrolux owns both the Beam company and Eureka.  Eureka has been making this product for quite a while, under the name Yellow Jacket.  Beam has now added it to their product offering and they are calling it the ZoneVac.  This product is ideal for folks that live in small homes, apartments, condos, or lofts.  If you already have a central vacuum system, it is still something you might want to think about in a kitchen or bath. 

You can see both these products on our website.
Eureka Yellow Jacket (Beam ZoneVac)
VacPan (Beam Kick Sweep)
Central Vacuum Stores WebSite

Is Vacuuming a Pain in the Neck?(or Back)

When I was in high school Hoover came out with a self-propelled vacuum cleaner.   I remember because I used to sell them.  The idea was to offer a vacuum that was easy to push for folks suffering from back and shoulder pain.  Unfortunately, self-propelled vacuums weighed so much, it kind of defeated the purpose of being self-propelled.  When customers objected to the weight they told us to tell people to plug in the vacuum and turn it on before they took it out of the closet so they could use the self propelled feature to back it out....that is the honest to goodness truth...and now you understand why the Hoover Company has lost significant market share and is owned by a Chinese company.

Well, the good news is, central vacuum systems are much easier and lighter to use than traditional vacuum cleaners.   However, if you vacuum improperly you might still find yourself experiencing back and/or shoulder pain.  You can hire a maid, which is a short term solution, but you might want to also consider strengthening your body.

Last year I found a company called Real Health.  They are located in the Tampa Bay Area.  After the most thorough assessment I have ever had, they prescribed a series of exercises and stretches for the many aches and  pains I lived with on a daily basis.  Today, almost a year later, I am amazed at the difference their program has made.  They looked at my weaknesses and developed a plan that included corrective and strength building exercises. 

Neil Habgood, the owner of Real Health, has been kind enough to write a short article describing an exercise that will be beneficial to those who have difficulty vacuuming.  I really wanted to give our customers this information.  I think it might really help some of you.  If you live in our area, Neil has also included a gift certificate for a free assessment.  Take a look at Neil's article and visit his website to learn more about what they do at Real Health.

Download vacuum.pdf
Real Health Website

Central Vacuum Pet Tools and the Flying Dog

Central Vacuum Systems Vented Outside Add Green Building Points

I have really mixed feelings about all this "green" stuff.  Some aspects of  "green" living seem to be very legitimate, and other angles seem, well frankly, bogus.  But whether I like it or not, I think it is here to stay with us, so we need to sort out what is true and what is hype.  In the latest copy of the NAHB green building standard, on page 73, section 902.10, you will find that builders, hoping to accumulate green points, get 5 points for a central vacuum system exhausted outside. There are a couple of interesting things to consider...first you only get the points if you vent that system outside.

Having been in this industry for several decades, I firmly believe that unless it is impossible, every central vacuum system should be vented outside. This is the only way to guarantee that you are not venting dust back into your home. If you have ever had a central vacuum system or been around a home with a central system that was not vented outside, you know that after a couple of years the system begins to smell like dust,your animals, or dirt. When you vent outside this simply does not happen. We used to have a system in our home that was not vented outside.  We also had an Irish Setter, who was sweet, but smelly. When you would turn on our un-vented central vacuum system our entire garage would smell like Rusty. After Rusty went on to the squirrel hunting ground in the sky, he was never far from us...all we had to do was turn on the vacuum and we could smell him.  So if I were judging, I would say a central vacuum system vented to the outside really will improve the indoor air quality of a home. 

Secondly, if you get your hands on a copy of the entire green building standard it is obvious that a central vacuum system might be one of the very easiest, and least costly ways to accumulate five points. If you are considering a green building project, a central vacuum system is really an important component.

Understanding that living green is extremely important to many of our customers, we created a "Living Green" page to help them determine which products on our website are the best green choices.  Take a look if you are interested.

Green Central Vacuum Information   

Central Vacuum Hose Help

Customers are often confused about replacing their central vacuum hose.  There really is no mystery, but with all the different brands, it can be confusing.  Hoses usually aren't brand specific.  Recently we added another page to our website to help our customers understand what hose they need to buy.  This page has all those buzz words used to describe hoses and their components.  Take a look here.  If you still want some help, you can read our "how to" article on eHow.com.  Once you are ready to order, use our Central Vacuum Hose Selector.  We are doing everything we can to make replacing your central vacuum hose as painless as possible.  If all else fails give us a call at 1-800-221-8227 and we can help you through the process of replacing your hose.