Festool Dust Extractor for home use

[Rick Herrick]

I am thinking about replacing the house vacuum with a Festool.  Every canister type I have had is a PITB, in one way or another.  I am tired of getting on my knees, separating part of the canister and trying to do baseboards.  Also cleaning ceiling fans is impossible.  I am thinking the CT-MIDI would be perfect for me.  Not sure a 3m hose is enough but I will cross that bridge when I get there.  Thinking about the smaller cleaning set that comes in a sys 1.  In my brain this makes sense, other than trying to find a place to store it when not in use.  It also gives me the option of using in my shop, for emergencies, etc.  Most of my house is carpet and I have two floors.  Any experience you folks can pass on?  Thank you.

 

[Sparktrician]

Rick, be aware that the beater head is no longer available from Festool, but IS available from Nilfisk.  The issue here is that the multi-section steel wand that was in the cleaner kit a few years ago is no longer available, and if you can find one it doesn't mate up right with the beater head without using a 1-1/4" flexible connector, making the connection less than rigid.  I use a CT Mini when I go on-site and take the wand and Nilfisk head with me.  In contrast to other canister vacs I have had, including Miele and Riccar, the Mini bags take far longer to fill. 

 

[Rick Herrick]

There was some talk here a few months ago and based on that, I bought this guy but have not tested it yet.  I am hoping its a decent head.

Wessel-Werk TK286 Air Driven Powerhead

I had purchased the cleaning set with the metal wand pieces but had taken it back, wishing I had not done that.

My biggest question is will this type of unit work in the house, not in the shop.  No fine sawdust to worry about, just people and dog hair.

 

[Peter_C]

For inside the house I am not a fan of using bags, especially if one has a pet, as the vacs often stink horribly. Gave a Miele away to a friend as it always seemed to stink. Currently we use a Dyson V11 cordless, which works well for zipping around our small house. Works fine on carpet but nothing competes yet with a 120volt powered beater bar. 

 

[ghhsolutions]

I would want a rotating brush/beater for carpet.

 

[Rick Herrick]

I have thought about the Dyson types, before I got into Festool.  Their price is pretty high too but they have limited, at least for me, capability.  I need to get the dog hair up but also want to get baseboards, ceiling fans and anything else eye level.  I too am worried about the stink factor as I even have that with ones I have now.  The cordless jobs probably wouldn't cut it for me.  The other good thing is if it doesn't work out, I just add it to my garage arsenal and try again.. [smile]

 

[guybo]

There was some talk here a few months ago and based on that, I bought this guy but have not tested it yet.  I am hoping its a decent head.

Wessel-Werk TK286 Air Driven Powerhead

I had purchased the cleaning set with the metal wand pieces but had taken it back, wishing I had not done that.

My biggest question is will this type of unit work in the house, not in the shop.  No fine sawdust to worry about, just people and dog hair.

Hi lots of good info here.I think thats a 32mm end.However most wands are 1/14 or 32mm,and festool sell a rotating end for 36 mm to 32. good luck

 

[Peter_C]

Costco I know sells the stick type vacuums along with other stores that offer a very liberal return policy. You could try one out and see how it goes. The Dyson V11 has attachments for cleaning, including a hose attachment. We empty our vac every time, so it never smells. It does a great job with dog hair too, after all it is an "Animal" version. Costco often has them on sale.

I have one of the Festool air powered carpet brushes...it kinda sucks not in a good way, even with a 36mm hose. That is why I stated nothing beats a 120volt beater bar. Dyson does make a 120volt canister vacuum too. Now what ever happened to Rainbow vacuums?

The other good thing is if it doesn't work out, I just add it to my garage arsenal and try again.. [smile]

Is that kinda like the video the guy did on his MFT table, showing it to his wife as a dining table, but then ordered by her to put it in the garage?

 

[Bob D.]

When we moved into our current home 20+ years ago we were happy to see it had a central vac system. I don't think I would ever go back to some sort of canister vac. The central vac is so much easier to use. The vac and the noise are in the garage so you can vacuum while people are sleeping if you needed to. The dust bin does not need bags and it takes months to fill it up. There is a LED bar graph on the unit which shows the debris level in the bin. It's a HEPA unit so it's not spewing fine dust out into the air and I think it is more powerful than my CT-36 but haven't done any comparison to actually measure their performance.

Not an option probably but if you plan to be there a while it might be worth it and it adds to the home value when you sell. The newer units even store the hose in the wall so you don't have to truck that 35 foot anaconda around which is the only drawback to our system. Those hose storage options were not available when our system was installed 35 years ago. I did replace the power unit 5 years ago. After 30 years it was time and the new unit being HEPA and not needing bags was a plus. Since the unit is in the garage and our system has an outlet in the garage we can use it to vacuum the cars.

I also use it in my basement shop with my power tools using a DD Deluxe to intercept the dust and chips. This combination works very well and again I don't have to listen to noise of the vac while working.

 

[Rick Herrick]

When we moved into our current home 20+ years ago we were happy to see it had a central vac system. I don't think I would ever go back to some sort of canister vac. The central vac is so much easier to use. The vac and the noise are in the garage so you can vacuum while people are sleeping if you needed to. The dust bin does not need bags and it takes months to fill it up. There is a LED bar graph on the unit which shows the debris level in the bin. It's a HEPA unit so it's not spewing fine dust out into the air and I think it is more powerful than my CT-36 but haven't done any comparison to actually measure their performance.

Not an option probably but if you plan to be there a while it might be worth it and it adds to the home value when you sell. The newer units even store the hose in the wall so you don't have to truck that 35 foot anaconda around which is the only drawback to our system. Those hose storage options were not available when our system was installed 35 years ago. I did replace the power unit 5 years ago. After 30 years it was time and the new unit being HEPA and not needing bags was a plus. Since the unit is in the garage and our system has an outlet in the garage we can use it to vacuum the cars.

I also use it in my basement shop with my power tools using a DD Deluxe to intercept the dust and chips. This combination works very well and again I don't have to listen to noise of the vac while working.

Thanks Bob.  Your set up sounds exactly like I would want to have.  I don't know for sure but the way my story lays out, I think the central vac could be installed without too much trouble.  Problem is that I have no clue where to google to find those types of systems (I know pretty much nothing about preferred brands, etc).  Any pointers would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Coen]

Retroftting build-in home vac is probably an American thing. Here just about all houses have brick or concrete walls and >1970 it's concrete floors too. No basements either usually. Only crawl space.

 

[Crazyraceguy]

Retroftting build-in home vac is probably an American thing. Here just about all houses have brick or concrete walls and >1970 it's concrete floors too. No basements either usually. Only crawl space.

A whole lot of them are here too. Some of that depends on location and/or age though.
There are millions of houses built on simple concrete slabs all over this country.

 

[Holzhacker]

I use the sys vac regularly at home mostly for the stairs for the obvious size reason.
Used to use one of my CT22's for the house. Worked well, no complaints at all.
Eventually got a Sebo vac. Also German, also pricey but works very well. Much better than the typical canister or flashy colored plastic junk units that also cost quite a bit.

 

[kevinculle]

I have a CT26 and it's a great, albeit expensive vacuum cleaner but I would not want to haul it up and down steps on a regular basis as it's heavy and quite awkward to carry.  If your home layout will accomodate one I think a central vac is a much better tool for a home vac.

 

[Cheese]

1. There was some talk here a few months ago and based on that, I bought this guy but have not tested it yet.  I am hoping its a decent head.

Wessel-Werk TK286 Air Driven Powerhead

2. I had purchased the cleaning set with the metal wand pieces but had taken it back, wishing I had not done that.

3. My biggest question is will this type of unit work in the house, not in the shop.  No fine sawdust to worry about, just people and dog hair.

1. I have the Festool version of the Wessel Werk...it works well I'm quite happy/surprised with it. The only dodgy thing is that you'll need to adjust the airflow as the pile of the rug gets thicker which does diminish the vacuum pickup slightly.

That being said, if you just want to "power through" the rug cleaning it's tough to beat a powered vac head like a Miele or Sebo. I believe Sebo manufactures Miele heads.

2. I purchased the metal wand set just a few weeks ago. Festool 452902 is the one I got.
https://www.festoolusa.com/accessory/452902---d-36-vr-m-3x#Overview

3. I regularly use the MIDI with the steel wand and turbo brush to vacuum certain parts of the house. Ceiling fans are especially tough when you have to set the Miele on the top of a ladder, crawl up on the ladder with it to secure it and then try to vacuum the blades & the fan body as the blades slowly revolve and you duck your head. Those canister vacs with a 4 foot hose are not always the best solution.

 

[Rick Herrick]

1. I have the Festool version of the Wessel Werk...it works well I'm quite happy/surprised with it. The only dodgy thing is that you'll need to adjust the airflow as the pile of the rug gets thicker which does diminish the vacuum pickup slightly.

That being said, if you just want to "power through" the rug cleaning it's tough to beat a powered vac head like a Miele or Sebo. I believe Sebo manufactures Miele heads.

2. I purchased the metal wand set just a few weeks ago. Festool 452902 is the one I got.
https://www.festoolusa.com/accessory/452902---d-36-vr-m-3x#Overview

3. I regularly use the MIDI with the steel wand and turbo brush to vacuum certain parts of the house. Ceiling fans are especially tough when you have to set the Miele on the top of a ladder, crawl up on the ladder with it to secure it and then try to vacuum the blades & the fan body as the blades slowly revolve and you duck your head. Those canister vacs with a 4 foot hose are not always the best solution.

Hey Cheese, thanks for that part number.  I really didn't want the plastic wand set (came with stuff I didn't want/need).  I think this Midi will work out fine, but still going to look into installing pipe/wire to do a central vac at some point.  That'll take a lot more YT videos.

One other question.  What if I use the Midi without the bag?  Will this cause any issues?  I don't want to worry about the 'bag/stink' factor and it is easy enough to just empty out the vacuum most every time I use it.

 

[Frank-Jan]

...
One other question.  What if I use the Midi without the bag?  Will this cause any issues?  I don't want to worry about the 'bag/stink' factor and it is easy enough to just empty out the vacuum most every time I use it.

I would definitely use bags, hair and dustbunnies will clog up the filter. And the stinkfactor would worsen I think. I'm not sure if they still sell those things, but years ago I bought a little box with scented sticks you can vaccuum up to stop the vaccuum from smelling bad.
I never had that problem with our housevac, but I did use them on my ct26 when it kept stinking the entire room up when turned on, for more than a week, even after changing the bag: when I had been cutting Angelim Vermelho wood (I let it suck up all the sticks at once, and it worked).

My late mother bought a kirby vac years ago, and when we had a lot of carpet that vac was excellent (it was also very expensive).
We still have it, but rarely use it, because we don't have carpets in our house, and in your case it would be a pita changing the brushhead for the hose, which is short, to reach fans and such.

 

[peter halle]

Old time readers here have probably heard of my 4 legged family.  Golden Retrievers.  Fur generators.  Vac bag cloggers.

I will offer the following:

I have an older CT-22 and also a modern Midi.  I have the Festool turbine head.  I have the tradesman kit with the 36 mm hose as well as another orange 36 mm hose.

For carpets I would not count on the Festool turbine head.  Get a canister vs bag standalone - Shark or Dyson.

For hard floors the Festool midi would be good, but take a look at the nozzles and see if the head will pivot low enough to get under furniture.

I use a Shark for carpets and clean the washable filters pretty regularly to cut down on dog smell.  I use a cheap Amazon cordless stick vac for the fur tumble weeds - really bad right now as my dogs are going thru their 2X a year molt of under fur, and then I also torture my Roomba a couple of times a week.

After a few projects get done at my house and then I fix and sell my other house I will be looking at the plausibility of a whole house vac system on my first floor.  I have a wide open crawl space so access isn't an issue.

Good luck!  This is a situation when sucks less is not better than sucks more. [big grin]

Peter