Security Systems  Central Vacuums  Satellite & Antennas  About Us  Contact Us  Links Audio/Video  Carpet Spot Removers  HOME  (719) 495-2715

 What's the Difference Vac Facts
Rocky Mountain High Hurts Vacuum
Educational Photos

Click For Music

What's the Difference?
We have found that there is no one company that makes the best of everything. So we pick and choose the best from each manufacturer. Easy-Flo makes the best power unit, another company makes the best electric brush, a third makes the best professional tool sets, and many others make very useful accessories for special cleaning problems.

As a result, the system and tools we put together for your home will clean far better than any other system on the market. Cleaning crews have said our systems are the most powerful they have ever seen.

Dave does all the installation work himself, so you know who will be in your home. We specialize in existing homes as well as new construction. Dave brings a vacuum cleaner and drop cloths into your home to

keep everything clean for you.

We can install in existing homes without opening walls.

We will gladly work with do it yourselfers.

We use special pipe, fittings and techniques during the installation. As a result, we have never had a clog in a system we have installed. Let Dave do it right the first time.

Vac Facts
If you live in the Colorado Springs, Colorado area, you are probably 6,000 to 9,000 feet above sea level. The air is much thinner up here and that has a profound, detrimental effect on the performance (cleaning ability) of all vacuum cleaners.

We have found through actual testing in our customers' homes and our own home, that even the most powerful single-motor vacuum will leave two-thirds of the dirt in the carpet. Let me say that another way. The most powerful single-motor, that draws about 13.5 Amps of current at 120 volts, will only remove one third of the dirt from a carpet at this altitude.

Our testing has shown that to remove the heavy sand and grit from a carpet, requires a central vacuum with two motors that produce about 1,000 air watts at a 1 and 1/8 inch opening (that's the inside diameter of the wands).

If you have low pile, commercial carpet like you see in hotels, then you may be OK with a single-motor. If you have moderately thick, cut-pile carpet then my belief is that you must have a twin-motor with around 1,000 air watts if you want to remove the damaging sand and grit from your carpet.

Wood And Tile Need Power Too
Tile floors with deep grout need the power of our twin motor central vacuums to lift the sand and pebbles out of the grout, where no brush can reach.

We know people who were frustrated with the inability of their single-motor vacuum to clean down in the grout. We upgraded them to one of our twin-motor central vacuums and the problem was solved.

Wood floors are refinished by sanding off the polyurethane finish. If your vacuum is not powerful enough to remove all the sand from your floor, shoes grind the sand into the finish, scratching it, making it look dull and wearing it away, down to the bare wood.

Attention To Detail
Dave knows how to install a clog-free central vacuum system in Colorado Springs, Colorado and takes the time and care to do it right using special pipe and fittings. That's why it takes him a lot longer to install a system and why it costs more. The "cheap" guys will say, "We do everything just like he does". They don't. He has seen their work and has repaired some of their mistakes. Some of their mistakes cannot be corrected without ripping out drywall.

A slightly edited version of this article was published in the Colorado Springs Gazette Telegraph February 10, 2005.

Rocky Mountain High Hurts Vacuum
If you've ever had to catch your breath after climbing a flight of stairs, you know that the thin air at this altitude in Colorado Springs, Colorado, lowers athletic performance. The same thin air also decreases the suction of your vacuum and affects its ability to clean. Vacuum cleaners produce suction by spinning the air around with fans. Fewer air molecules because of the altitude mean less suction. At 7,000 feet suction is reduced by almost 25% compared to sea level.

To make matters worse, many local areas have soil with a high sand content. Many people think they don't have sand in their carpets because they never see it. That's because it quickly falls to the base of the carpet where it does unseen damage. Sand causes two problems. First, sand is very damaging because it is hard and faceted like a diamond. These sharp edges cut like knives as you walk on the carpet fibers and can ruin the finish of hard surface floors. Second, sand is a heavy particle with a small surface area. To lift it off the floor or out of carpet requires the combination of a mini-tornado of suction and high air-flow.

A similar problem is caused when pets track in pebbles caught between the pads of their paws. When these pebbles get into the carpet or fall into the grout in floor tiles they are very difficult to remove.

Our altitude worsens other cleaning problems. Matting of the carpet fibers causes traffic trails down hallways and main walkways, making the carpet look worn. Static electricity caused by our dry climate causes pet hair to cling to surfaces. Some pet hair is shaped like an arrow and can embed into fabrics.

To solve all these cleaning problems a vacuum must be able to generate a tremendous amount of air-flow as well as high suction, in spite of the thin air. On carpet, the high air-flow will lift the carpet fibers and cause them to stand up straight. This makes it easier to pull the heavy sand and grit out of the base of the carpet. Then the electric brush can groom the carpet and train the fibers to stand up straight, making the carpet look new again. On bare floor the high air-flow will cause even the heavy particles to start rolling along the surface. Because they are not round but random shapes, they will begin to bounce. When they bounce up into a powerful air stream they are carried away.

The only way to achieve this high performance level of cleaning at the altitude of Colorado Springs, Colorado, is with the industrial strength, professional quality motors found in central vacuums. However, only a few of the central vacuums on the market will clean adequately at this altitude. The American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) developed a "cleanability rating" for central vacuums called "Air Watts". Air Watts is a measure of air-flow and suction together. The higher the air watts, the better the cleaning. We have found that a twin-motor central vacuum with over 950 air watts will remove sand from carpet at this altitude. In our testing, our twin motor removed over three times as much dirt as the most powerful single motor.

Here are some other factors to consider:

• Central vacuums can be installed in most existing homes without opening walls.
  
  
• Installing a Central Vacuum can be a great Do-It-Yourself project.
  
  
• Portable vacuums are an expense. You buy it, pay to repair it then throw it away and buy another one.

• Central vacuums are a home improvement. They will add several thousand dollars or more to the value of your home. When you sell the home, the homebuyer buys the vacuum so you get your money back.
  

• 100% of everything you vacuum up is completely removed from the living area.
  
  
• Because everything is removed and no air is recirculated, you don't need to dust after you vacuum.
  
  
• Controlled studies at the University of California at Davis School of Medicine have shown a dramatic reduction in allergy and asthma symptoms by living in a home with a central vacuum.
  
  
• One cleaning lady told us she takes an hour off her bill if there is a central vacuum because it saves her that much time.
  
  
• The lightweight hose and large number of accessory tools make it much easier and safer to clean above the floor; ceiling fans, ledges, light fixtures, skylights.
  
  
• 95% of the homes in Canada are plumbed for a central vacuum.

• Here in the USA, we think we're so technologically advanced but we are still cleaning our floors the way or Grandmother did.

For more information on floor care and cleaning, call these associations or visit their websites.

International Association of Floor Care Professionals, 800-367-5651, http://www.vdta.com/

Carpet and Rug Institute, 800-882-8846, http://www.carpet-rug.org/index.cfm

National Wood Flooring Association, 800-422-4556, http://www.woodfloors.org/consumer/

Dave Easley is a Certified Central Vacuum Installer and founded Black Forest Home Security Systems and Central Vacuum in 1977, 719-495-2715, http://www.bfhss.com

What Our Clients Say

It's so Powerful! J.T.