It is hard to imagine a household without a vacuum cleaner. You quickly take it out of the cupboard or utility room, plug it into the power or air socket and the crumbs are gone. This little household helper has not always been as commonplace as it is today.
Over 150 years ago, the feather duster and the broom were the best friends when it came to keeping floors clean. Carpets and rugs were laboriously beaten with the well-known carpet beater. The rest was swept out of the rooms with brooms.
Cleaning was very time-consuming and it is hard to imagine this in today's world. Everything has to be quicker and easier.
“1906 is the birth of the central vacuum cleaner”
First of all: The English bridge engineer from London, Hubert Cecil Booth, is the inventor of the permanently installed vacuum cleaner. Even though Booth set a milestone in the field of vacuum cleaners for mankind, it is fair to honor the inventions of Daniel Hess, Ives W. McGaffey and Melville Bissell as laying the foundations for today's vacuum cleaner.
It all began with the invention of Daniel Hess and his "Carpet Sweeper", but the steam-powered carpet sweeper around 1860 was quickly replaced in 1865 by Ives McGaffey's hand-operated vacuum cleaner "Whirlwind" from Chicago. Smaller than its predecessor and more affordable but not really more handy: You had to both turn the hand crank and move the device across the floor at the same time.
Melville R. Bissel from New York invented the first handy carpet cleaner with a roller brush in 1876. Interestingly, almost all of the inventors came from the USA.
Until the Second World War, the vacuum cleaner was considered a pure luxury, and cleaning ladies were the cheaper alternative. The upper classes in London who thought highly of themselves arranged tea parties, to which they invited first Thurmann and then Booth and his staff, who contributed to the entertainment of the guests with their work. This scenario took place from 1899 with John S. Thurman and a gas-powered vacuum cleaner. In 1901, however, with the first motor-powered device developed by Booth. Both inventions were very large and weighed around 160 kg. Horse-drawn carts were used for transport. Long hoses were laid through doors and windows to reach the rooms.
Hubert Booth founded the cleaning company British Vacuum Cleaning Company (BVCC). His service company "dustless systems for cleaning" was so successful from that point on that he improved his invention from oil engines to electric motors. This makes it possible to work more quietly and efficiently. He didn't earn much from it.
From 1906, Booth developed the 40 kilogram household models for private homes. A central system with the suction system in the basement of hotels or large houses. With the permanently installed pipe system in the house, which was laid from room to room. This principle has proven itself and has been on the market for over 100 years.
In 1988, the company EBS Einbaustaubsauger GmbH was founded. The company was the general agent for central vacuum systems of an American manufacturer. In 1992, the company manufactured its own central vacuum cleaners for the first time, which particularly met the requirements of the German and European market. EBS Einbaustaubsauger GmbH sold these systems in Germany, while the subsidiary BVC International (Built-In Vacuum Cleaners) delivered the central vacuum cleaners to general agents worldwide.
In 2015, the company gained momentum through a change of ownership and focused on new customer requirements. Both former companies were merged under the name BVC EBS Distribution GmbH. The BVC central vacuum cleaners have been revised and improved in many ways. The focus is on highly efficient and hygienic building cleaning. The powerful and durable products are tested and certified by Electrosuisse, the association for electrical, energy and information technology in Switzerland.
