We remember in college a friend's family home had a most interesting feature we had never seen before from our post-1970's suburban neighborhood: a centralized vacuum. It seemed like such a brilliant idea and we've always secretly hoped they'd make a come back. And apparently so do the people at Hide-a-Hose, who announced their new retractable hose system at this recent International Builder's Show in Orlando, Florida. Watch it in action below the jump...
The power unit is up to five times more powerful than a conventional vacuum. So it captures more dust, dirt and allergens and completely removes them from the living area. Traditional vacuums can spread particles and allergens around your home and recirculate them into the air you breathe. A recent clinical study found that using a central vacuum can improve allergy symptoms 40 to 60 percent. Many green building programs recommend or even require central vacuums.
Perhaps in the wonderful chance we get to move into our first home, we'll consider installing one of these bad boys for our cleaning pleasure. For now, we'll have to settle for the old tried and true canister vac.
Alexis' Modern Glass House 
Before & After: A Bathroom Goes From Pinky Peach to Sleek and Chic
Good Food to Share 
The Big Book of Small, Cool Spaces 
Apartment Therapy Presents 
The Eight-Step Home Cure 
Tom Black Espadrille
20 Scrumptious Brunch Recipes 
Magic One-Ingredient Ice Cream 5 Ways: Peanut Butter, Nutella, and More
Comments (14)
I was all excited about this until my husband just informed me his grandfather had one in his beach house and it kinda, excuse the pun, "sucked."
He said it didn't work that well and was a bitch to clean. It seems like they may have improved the suctioning, but now I am wondering what cleaning it out would be like???
My parent's have one. The, uh, suction is *awesome*.
As far as cleaning it...the stuff just gets put in a very large (removable) tank in their basement. Also...no noise. You never hear it when it's working.
I hear it's a pain to lug around the house
my friend's home had one in Japan. aaaamazing and super fun.
My mom has one of the non-retractable ones at her place. The suction on that thing is excellent, although it is a bit heavier than I'd like to drag around (lighter than her old vacuum though). Nevannas right though, barely any noise at all.
i had one growing up. my mother insisted on it. it's no harder to lug around the hose than it is to lug around a canister or upright. it's actually a lot easier to get up the stairs, imho. we never had a problem with the suction, and the lovely thing was the huuuge canister in the basement only had to be emptied every other month (or less). i'd totally have one again.
My brother's condo has one and I didn't even know there is such a thing as a centralized vacuum.
My parents have one, and Nevanna's exactly right -- it works beautifully. Since you're just bringing the hose and cleaner head around, it's less troublesome than lugging a normal vacuum cleaner, especially on stairs.
To me it sounds like a nice idea, except that I can so very much imagine it becoming outdated and the company going out of business, so that you'd stop being able to get parts for it, and then you'd this very expensive network of a respiratory system in your house that future generations would have to just yank out of there, kind of like old apartment buildings that have systems of dumbwaiters installed in them.
I saw something similar on one of those "greatest kitchens" shows last week.
There was a little panel in the baseboard/toe kick that was a central vacuum dust pan. You just sweep up the kitchen to this little opening and then the crumbs etc are sucked into the vacuum system.
the company i work for (a security alarm company) also installs a lot of these... no comeback needed, they never left! the key to not getting outdated is... work with a company that's been around a long time! of course, there's no guarantee that even they would go out of business. what we tell our customers is that if we installed it, we'll service it as long as we're in business (20 yrs now) and that the brand company actually has its own reps with which you could contract service apart from us. easy-peesy.
I have a Hide-a-Hose...It is awesome. You can hire someone to install it...or you can do it yourself...It isn't too hard. I already had a central vacuum system, so mine was retrofitted. There is also a company that sells them online and they will give you step by step instructions on how to install one.
The Hide-a-Hose might be over the top for most apartments and condos. There is a product called an InterVac, which would be perfect for apartments. It is a small, self contained central vac system, which requires no piping in the apartment. You can see it here
Hide-a-hose is a great idea on paper, but it has service issues with clogs etc. Especially for an apartment, I think it's overkill. I personally wouldn't do it, and this is my business!
http://www.centralvacuumservice.com