Hacker News Reader

Comment by dreamcompiler | Hacker News Reader

Off-topic but since you brought it up, does anybody ever use builtin central vacuum systems? I have several friends who have houses built during the era when these things were popular but none of them ever use the systems.

View on HN

Yeah I definitely do, the hose is stupidly clunky but as someone with allergies the big advantage is there's no pass through of fine particles into the room you're vacuuming.

There are systems these days where the hose retracts up into the vacuum tubing in the wall, so you just pull out however much you need and then let it feed back into the wall when you're done.

This is what I have and it's great. I also have a toe kick adapter, so I can use a regular broom and sweep the dust to a little port under a kitchen cabinet and it automatically sucks it up.

I don't have allergies, I just never liked the way it smells so dusty after using a vacuum cleaner inside.

> Off-topic but since you brought it up, does anybody ever use builtin central vacuum systems? I have several friends who have houses built during the era when these things were popular but none of them ever use the systems.

I grew up in a house with one. I haven't lived there since 1998, but, yes, we used it all the time. As my sibling commenter lreeves says (https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=31361950), it's good if you have allergies.

They made more sense before high efficiency motors miniaturized & high capacity lithium ion batteries existed.

Old vacuums were heavy.

Now, they're more useful to repurpose into shop vacs.

I also once heard a vacuum cleaner salesman say (and yes, that used to be a thing) -- we know we can make vacuum cleaners less noisy (drop the universal motor IIRC), but people buy vacuum cleaners assuming the noise == power.

I have actually heard that some manufacturers purposely make their vacuums louder for this reason.

I have a Miele and it is much quieter than any other vacuum I have heard.

Imagine if a Prius or Tesla instead had as much noise/HP as a conventional vacuum cleaner.

My house has this. I've only used it when something was wrong with the alternative. I love the idea, but the hose is huge and ours has a minor defect where it turns itself off if you plug the hose in completely. Roomba and then a handheld Dyson for details is much more convenient

Yes! Use mine all the time. Strong sustained suction and much quieter. Less frequent bag emptying. Air quality seems better. Hose is a pain to deal with, but not a big deal as long as you have somewhere to store it.

On the plus side, all of the noise and dust goes Somewhere Else.

On the minus side the long-ass hose is a huge pain.

In the 2020's you can just get a robovac for daily cleaning and a smaller unit for manual stuff.

Our house, built in 2004, has one. We’ve never used it. The closet that has the vacuum in it also has some other equipment and is a bit of an IDF for my home network. Strongly considering removing the vacuum unit entirely and using the ducting as conduit per the above comment!

Everyone I've known that has them dispenses with the hose and uses it only as a - sort of - magic trash can for small objects.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com