Central Vac

I think it's time for another farmhouse feature. 

This is my favorite for sure ~ a Beam central vacuum!  A central vac is installed during construction but can also be retro-fitted in existing homes.  The motor and canister are usually located in the garage.  Since we have a detached garage ours is in our mechanical closet on the back of our house.  We empty the canister about once a month by twisting off the bottom of the unit and dumping it in the trash.  No bags needed.  Having it located outside keeps fine dust particles from circulating through the motor and back into the house.  Neat!

The main unit is attached to tubes that run through the walls of the house to receptacles.  We have 3 plug-in locations in our home. 

The hose unit attaches like this.  Easy!  Just like plugging in a lamp.

Here is the hose unit.  It hangs in our bedroom closet for easy access.  We chose an extra long hose instead of adding more receptacles.  The vacuum is very lightweight and can be adjusted to a comfortable height for the person using it. It also has a "sock" to keep from scratching up furniture.

Since we have all concrete and wood floors, we mostly use the flat floor attachment with suction only.  It does a great job of picking up dog hair and dirt that we all track in.

It's also great on the stairs.  Not too heavy.

You can attach the carpet unit for rugs

or use the on board attachments for furniture or blinds.

And one more feature that is great ~ an under cabinet dustpan that immediately sucks up anything near it.  Simply hit the switch with your foot and sweep kitchen crumbs away. 

Only I wish I had put this in the mudroom instead of the kitchen because we have more mess there.

Since finishing out the rec room, we are planning to add another motor unit.  It will hang in the garage to clean the rec room floor and to vacuum out the vehicles.  Neither of those things get done very often now. 

But the farmhouse gets a quick vacuuming everyday. Gotta go do that now!