Officials with a central Iowa-based manufacturer of central vacuum systems predict a one-hundred percent increase in sales in the next decade. Larry Hartley, spokesman for Beam Industries in Webster City, says the company’s expecting at least a five-fold increase by 2010. With the central vacuum system, the motor and waste collection device is located in a home’s garage. The homeowner opens a small hatch in the room to be cleaned and hooks up the hose to activate the system. Hartley says it makes for a much healthier living environment than using an upright or canister vacuum.About ten-percent of new homes built in the U.S. last year were equipped with central vacs, while Hartley says that’ll be more like 50-percent by 2010. The systems start around a-thousand dollars for a typical home. Owned by A-B Electrolux, the Beam facility in Webster City employs 200 people. For more information, go to “www.beamvac.com”.
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