Whole-House Vacuum System

Starting Out

1. We began by making a visual inspection of the home. We laid out a design where we could successfully run the tubing. We also measured and recorded the length of tubing required for the system. In a two-story house, the tube system's main trunk line maybe run horizontally from one end of your house to the other, usually through the basement ceiling or crawl space--then it branches out to connect the inlet lines which drop vertically like plumbing to the inlet locations. Because this house had a stacked wall-in-line, we decided to cut a hole in the wall to provide access between the first and second floor.
2. At the chosen location in the garage, we used a stud finder to locate a wall stud to anchor the power unit to.
3. To mount the unit we marked the wall at 37-1/2 inches and 49 inches up from the floor for the placement of the mounting bracket.
4. Next, we drilled pilot holes into the wall studs and then screwed in the mounting screws. We tightened the screws, leaving about 3/16-inch clearance between the head of the screws and the wall.

1. On the main floor, we used a stud finder to locate the area between the studs . At our marked locations, using an auger bit we drilled one hole into the baseboard and looked for obstacles (figure D).

   * In our installation, we placed the inlets in the baseboards. Your installation may differ.

2. We then used a reciprocating saw to cut into the baseboard to make a square hole to fit the inlet (figure E).
3. Next, to identify the location for the intake stub for the inlet, we drilled a small hole (mention drill bit/coat-hanger wire) down into the crawl space.

   * Be sure the area under the house is free of obstacles before drilling into the crawl space.

4. From the crawl space we located the hole. Using a right-angle drill, we drilled a hole up into the wall plate.
5. On the second floor, we established the location for an inlet in the hallway. We drilled through the ceiling up into the attic and inserted a long piece of wire so we could find the area to drill our hole for the intake stub once we went up into the attic.

   * Check the attic before drilling to make sure the area is clear .

6. Up in the attic we located the wire and removed the insulation then drilled the hole we needed to feed the tubing to the inlet.

   * Inlets might not go in baseboard ; place at the same height as phone and electrical outlets.

   * When making access holes, be sure to drill in center of 2x4; otherwise, you might miss the wall cavity.

1. Beginning in the garage, we cut access holes for the trunk lines using a 2-1/2 " hole saw so we could connect to the power unit. Then in the attic at the inlet line farthest from the power unit, we added two 45-degree "sweep" elbows to a short piece of PVC tubing (figure N). Next, we attached the short piece of PVC with two long lengths of tubing together to start the trunk line.

   * A "sweep" fitting has a more gradual curve than standard fittings.

2. At a branch line, we added a 90-degree elbow and horizontal piece, then added a "sweep" T-fitting, and connected them to the trunk line (figure O).
3. After all the tubing was run, we needed to connect the network of tubing to the power unit. We connected to the tubing from the crawl space by adding additional tubing and an elbow then ran it to the access holes in the wall. Next, we connected the tubing to the power unit. Finally, we made sure the power unit was unplugged and connected the low voltage wire to the unit.