Originally Posted by
southpawboston
Ugh, our summer home was built in the late 80s when that was the Next Big Thing in home design, and has a central vac system (NuTone). I don't seem to get what all the hype was about-- most of the hose outlets are behind furniture, the hose you have to lug around is heavy and needs to get coiled up when you're done, and at the and of the day, it's just easier to go grab a regular vacuum to do the same job.
I can see your point.
Most of the systems we installed were in 4,000+ sq ft homes, new construction, so that may have colored my experience a bit. In those homes it makes a lot of sense. One thing that undoubtedly makes a big difference, is who installs it and how. We would go out of our way to hide the receptacles and only put them in places where there wasn't likely to be furniture. My uncle had a giant canister vac with a
long hose when I was a kid. That thing was a real PITA, but the new systems seem to be a lot less bulky and more user friendly, at least the ones I installed.