High Performance Vacuum System with HEPA Filter: Testing for a Healthy Home

[@snappybabby4646]

Just vent the vacuum OUTSIDE, like it's supposed to be. If you're really concerned about a reduction of air while vacuuming (you need not be) you can simply crack a window when vacuuming. It's better than having ANY fine dust, gases, heat that will be exhausted from the vacuum.

[@HomePerformance]

Kind of defeats the purpose of having a HEPA filter. And there’s no one way to do any of this, FYI.

[@snappybabby4646]

@@HomePerformance You can clearly see the white vent outlet on the upper part of the CV. And by the way, Nutone is cheap. There's certainly nothing special about a bottom fill model like this.

[@coldfinger459sub0]

I remember back in the late 60s when I was a small child I like to lift the opening of the central vac system and plug in the hose and play with the vacuum cleaner. The vacuum Motor and container exhaust was in the backyard in the shed. And this was back in the 60s

[@AM-fu1kq]

Love the slow mo!

[@HomePerformance]

Ha, thanks

[@mikeluongo537]

Nutone is a horrible CV. Should have looked into other, more powerful makes. JMThought

[@panasonicvac4036]

You may not realize this but without putting in a HEPA exhaust muffler or venting the unit outdoors would spew carbon dust from the motor brushes which is definitely not healthy to breathe in. And that motor spins very fast.

[@HomePerformance]

Very interesting, thanks for chiming in.

[@compactc9]

People really should consider more carefully whether or not their vacuum is spewing out filth back into the room or not. Even a lot of machines that claim to have HEPA filtration, aren't sealed, so therefore plenty of filth bypasses the filter altogether. You need a sealed HEPA vacuum, where the exhaust of the motor is sealed in a housing or duct, and the HEPA filter itself must have some way of being sealed to this, so ALL of the exhaust air has to pass through the filter material. This is becoming more common on less expensive machines, but they are still at the higher end of the 'big box' category. And a bagless machine will never really do the job... If its covered in dust and filth, its spewing it back into the room!

[@techseth]

Thankfully, I have a Vacuflo unit at home. It exhausts outside, and has a whackload of power.

[@charliexu1099]

Curious why not use Dyson or similar brand vacuum with hepa filter built in . Cordless makes it even better. So much less work :)

[@mcintosh.daughter]

Those slowmo shots are hilarious. What party song would be a good soundtrack? When I've installed central vac systems I've always exhausted to the outside without considering depressurizing the house. But then they didn't have HEPA filters. Perhaps putting the vacuum in a garage, then venting it back into the living space. Keeping the emptying of the vac out of the house.

[@HomePerformance]

I wouldn't make it too complicated, Joel, but I would consider exhausting indoors, for how tight you're building houses these days.

[@mjezzi]

Curious if you considered hide-a-hose and why you didn’t go with it.

[@HomePerformance]

Did consider it, but I believe the geometry requirements couldn’t work for us, AND it would mean a lot more hose, since each of 6 vac outlets would need 30 feet of hose built in.

[@krishchaddha1651]

if the vac was vent to the outside would that not be preferable? would make up air become a consideration then?

[@HomePerformance]

Since this thing only moves about 50 cfm, it depressurizes the house by just 3 Pa, and only when it’s in use. Make up air turns out to be unnecessary in this specific case, and yes, I’m going to be ducting it outside.

[@krishchaddha1651]

@@HomePerformance thanks for reply, great content, keep up the good work.

[@HomePerformance]

🙏🏽

[@DeadKoby]

Yeah... this is obviously paid programming. My home was plumbed for a CV, and I got the original system working. Eventually I upgraded the motor. I prefer to exhaust outside, due to smells. CV's are really nice.

[@balzacq]

Why don't you mount the vacuum externally and just hook it up to your make-up air system? Then you don't have to worry about the filter quality.

[@HomePerformance]

Interesting idea, Bryan, but impossible to implement. Airflows, pressures, and there’s no HEPA filtered ERV on the market that I’m aware of.

[@mikeluongo537]

I am sorry, but nutone is builder grade, you could have done much better. And central tubingis sized for air flow. Regular cpvc, and pvc, is not. I am suprised you did not look into better brands. Unless Broan Nutone gave the system to you for PR.

[@HomePerformance]

Mike, 2” sched 40 allows more airflow than vac pvc. Also, Broan owns NuTone, and they do have ‘builder grade’ products, but they also innovate plenty in the ventilation space.

[@cindianderson9443]

What is a better brand?

[@HomePerformance]

Broan bought Venmar, one of the top recovery ventilation brands, a decade ago. There are plenty of features they integrate that competing brands don’t yet. If you want to comparison shop, you’ll find only top brands among our underwriters for the PBS series ‘Home Diagnosis’ at: HomeDiagnosis.tv

[@the74impala]

Is there any flooring besides tile that is highly water resistant that doesn't have horrible chemicals releasing from it? I had planned on using vinyl planks, but.... do you have a video for that?

[@HomePerformance]

Yes, DON'T use vinyl. Epoxy, sealed concrete also work. We'll have a vid on our decision making for all interior finishes soon.

[@Ms2Chill]

tile

[@alexanderjamieson7971]

Hardwood flooring?

[@HomePerformance]

Not ‘highly water resistant’, but yes, that’d what we have.

[@alexanderjamieson7971]

@@HomePerformance I guess I overlooked the highly water resistant part of the question.

[@pingpong9656]

I hear PVC builds up static and the dust can explode.

[@HomePerformance]

I’ve heard lots of things too. It’s the internet.

[@av1204]

Would it not be a good idea for a company to create a central ERV system that measures the pressure inside the house and makes up the air based on that pressure differential? Say the vacuum is vented outside, a bath fan or a stove fan. The ERV would sense the pressure drop and add more air to the intake side.

[@compactc9]

That exists, they are the most expensive models, Matt Risinger has a video on his system where he explains that his does exactly what you just said. Called a self balancing ERV or something like that. Again, you'll pay quite a bit more for a model like this.

[@av1204]

@@compactc9 I'll have to look into that. Seems like itd save with a lot of head aches.

[@BroanNuToneLLC]

@@av1204 Our AI Series E/HRVs offer that functionality. The units sense the change in pressure and automatically adjust supply and exhaust air streams to maintain proper pressure. bnt-com-stage-2019.azurewebsites.net/en-us/product/freshairsystems/b160e65rt

[@av1204]

@@BroanNuToneLLC That is pretty awesome but what happens if you do a stove that is 300+ cfm? Do you need to put multiple of these in?

[@compactc9]

@@av1204 As a still learning person in this, it seems like you'd still want to have a stand alone makeup air supply for the high volume things.

[@AlexTsitsyura]

My 650s motor failed twice in the last 4 years 👍

[@HomePerformance]

That sucks

[@mikeluongo537]

CV is the best. Filters clog, better to go bagless and vent outside. I own a cv company.

[@compactc9]

Meh, I just don't want all that crap going through my motors, caking on the fans, collecting on the side of my house... I do feel very strongly that the CV unit should be vented outside the indoor envelope though, even after good filtration, bad smells and other gaseous things will still be present from all that rotting, decaying dirt.

[@alexanderjamieson7971]

Is this a bagged unit?

[@HomePerformance]

It can be used bagless, but we’re going the extra mile.

[@compactc9]

@@HomePerformance You're doing yourselves a HUGE favor! Dumping that bucket full of dirt, then having to clean that filter off is a messy job! I'd sell someone a bagless if they insisted, but I strongly discourage it.

[@HomePerformance]

I bet you have an interesting day at work, most days!

[@compactc9]

@@HomePerformance Its normal stuff to me, but I'm sure people would be surprised! The people you meet and the houses you go into are the most interesting part.

[@HomePerformance]

Ditto brother

[@Steve8587]

I can’t finish. Love central vacuums but the fear presented here is annoying. Focus on the vacuum not the fear of whatever. You can’t live in a clean bubble.

[@HomePerformance]

Sorry it made you feel fear, Rusty, it’s just science

[@Steve8587]

Didn’t cause me any fear. No worries. More on how it was presented. I rewatched the video to the end and you did have some excellent tests and information. Now watching more of your videos. Realizing now you do know your tests and data. Maybe my point is translating it to a must for us to do to avoid intoxicating ourselves was a bit much. Let me watch more of your stuff. Seems good.

[@HomePerformance]

Thank you Rusty, very considerate

[@VacMaster2020]

80 dB for a vacuum is very quiet

[@HomePerformance]

Thank you

[@VacMaster2020]

@@publicmail2 I am a vacuum technician I know my stuff

[@HomePerformance]

Nice, VacMaster

[@panasonicvac4036]

I'm a bit confused as well. 80 decibels is a little louder than a typical Dyson ball upright for example which I don't find to be very quiet for a vacuum. And of course that's just without the central unit either muffled or vented outdoors. 55 decibels on the Drainvac Little Giant for example I would consider to be very quiet.

[@mikeluongo537]

Vent that vacuum out side!!! I sell them.

[@dougbdougb]

Would the heat pump clothing dryer potentially benfit from the heat generated by the vacuum?

[@HomePerformance]

Haha, love it. Chores all at the same time!