I have the Festool Mini dust extractor and I live in a 1200 square feet San Francisco apartment (I wanted the smallest possible size so I went for the mini). I’m very happy about purchasing this device, it works great with everything.
Thanks for the additional data point Liyanage. I’ve been applying to some biotech companies in Seattle and it looks like apartments in my price range are a maximum of 1200 square feet (most of the apartments I’m looking at are in the 900 square feet range though). Size is an important factor here.
@liyanage you mean you live in a 1200 sq/ft PALACE in San Fran! 
I’ve heard about the real estate market down there… nutty!
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What’s the noise level like from these Festool units? I’m not quite as space-limited as @liyanage, but I’m definitely noise-limited.
I would say it’s about as loud as a household vacuum cleaner.
The noise level changes depending on how high you set the suction. At lowest setting it’s significantly quieter than my household vacuum, and at full power it’s about 1.5 times as loud - though interestingly, I feel like the majority of the noise seems to come from the sound of the air being sucked into the hose. At its very worst, it’s still WAY quieter than any shop vac I’ve ever met.
When I’m milling things late at night (I only do pink foam at that hour, it’s dead quiet), I use the Midi at low power and have so far not disturbed anyone. With my previous shop vac, I simply couldn’t use it at night.
Exactly! Quieting tubing noise is a significant, difficult tuning issue in any vacuum system for CNC.
This is one of the reason tubing needs to be as large as one can make it for as long as possible.
What is the diameter of the hose you’re using? I use the 50 mm stuff.
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27mm, I think. At least that’s what it says on the Festool site. They also say the Midi moves “130 CFM and only 62 dB (on low setting).” Pretty good for such a little unit!
Yes, the Festool equipment is quiet!
My CT 26 has the same ratings as the Midi.
The noise would be reduced if you use the 50 mm tubing… and didn’t take the diameter down with adapters.
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Yes, I can go YEARS without emptying the Festool bag. The cyclone bag on the other hand…
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