I probably didn 't make myself clear on the running of the vac. There are good vacuums that have a system incorporated into them that causes them to come on on demand. I have Fein vac and I know that Festool also has that feature. I had at one time a very good Porter Cable shop vac that had it also. I'm sure there are others and you can even build your own switch/outlet box that will do it for you. At this point, I have my on EX hooked up to my Fein vac but the other one is the saw that I'm trying to build a self-contained dust system for. When finished I will be able to take the saw anywhere I want and it will have it's own dust control. I am going to try to use it off the foot switch and see how it works out. If it goes bad, I'll know that it was n't a good idea and just have to get another Metrovac. They aren't all that expensive. In your case, you might go on eBay and look at the Oreck carry around vacs. They are on there always and I just bought one for $10 plus shipping. I will outperform the MetroVac a bunch. I will try that one on my EX that is hooked up the the Fein now. It's more of a game at this point to see just what I can come up with. The heart of the system though is the tiny cyclones that some of us bought on Amazon. I got both of mine, made of aluminum, for under $20 each. The price has since gone up and they are also making them out of plastic. Whatever, they work great. They have 1 inch ports and work great with the MetroVacs and the Orecks. Something to think about. In your case, if you can isolate your shop vac in another room or outside and use a remote switch on it, that will make life a lot better for you. Hang in there, you are well on your way.