central vacuum

I resisted the urge to title this article something retarded like, "This really sucks" or "Hot Tornado Action!!". With all the well-written blogs out there we not-so-talented journalistic wannabes sometimes rely on cheap literary devices to troll for page hits. I respect you too much to do that. Besides, now anyone who Googles for "cheap literary device" will find me!

I've been asked what's my favorite power tool in the house. It's not my Delta table saw nor my router table. It's my central vacuum. In terms of pure usefulness, my central vac has done more work on the house and saved me more time here than even my cordless drills.

I remember when my gadget freak of an uncle installed one in his home when I was a little kid. I was always fascinated by it and pestered my folks to get one. But I think my dad envisioned his weekends being spent cleaning marbles and cat food out of the pipes. Shortly after I got this place I began researching central vac options and settled on the Vacuflo. It's proved to be rock-solid reliable for the eight years I've had it, and I've put it through more punishment than its designers probably ever intended.

Besides keeping my house clean, which believe me is no small feat with very active, long-haired animals and a permanent cloud of sawdust floating in the air, the Vacuflo also functions as the dust collector in my shop. On a typical shop day it consumes as much as ten gallons of sawdust and wood splinters from my table saw, router table, planer and sanders. After I told the local Vacuflo rep about my plan, he was so interested in learning if it would actually work that he sent me some spare hoses and couplings to jury rig connections to my tools.