I think the hose on my hide-a-hose is about the same weight as the hose I had at my old house. You still have to drag it around with you, however I really like not having to put it away and store it. At my old house it always just ended up laying on the floor somewhere and I never put it away unless we had company. At the new house we don't have the same amount of different closets (smaller house) as I did in my old house so it is nice to not have to find a spot to store it. My old house hose was just 25 ft and the new one is two 50 ft hoses. I could almost do the whole house except the entry, 2 bedrooms and 1 bath with one hose. Nice to not have to interrupt and go plug in elsewhere.

since we have 2 floors and a basement, I love not having to drag it up and down the stairs. I love the way it sucks itself back into a wall. My installer here in SC was totally awesome! I cannot say enough about the Hide A Hose!

Dixielogs,

What brand are you using?
Thanks

I posted this in the appliances central vac thread, but this thread is also asking one of my questions: For those that have Hide-a-Hose in more than one location, do you feel the convenience outweighs the extra price? Also, were you limited in the locations of your hose storage? Any issues with moving parts breaking in the port that render the system unusable? And (not having anything to do with Hide-a-Hose) venting vs not venting for small particles?Thanks!

I definetly think the expense was worth it. I've had the regular ones in both my previous houses and after having the hide-a-hose I don't want to go back to it.

I didn't have any limit on the locations of the outlets if that is what you are asking with hose storage.

Mine's vented out and through a small outlet that only opens when in use. Both my other systems were vented too so can't comment on not venting.

I knew I wanted a central vac in our new house as this was the only way I could control all the dog hair. I knew that if I went with a traditional hose system, I would never ever put it up neatly. I would end up with a wadded mess in the bottom of a coat closet somewhere. Space wasn't an issue because I have numerous closets, but I simply didn't want the messy wadded hose. I have to force myself to put away the water hose (which is used much less frequently than the vacuum) and I knew I would be setting myself up for trouble if I didn't go with the HAH!

Cost-wise, I think it added about $300 per outlet (I have 2) plus the extra cost of buying the larger unit needed to pull the hose into the pipe system. We had to be very careful with our budget and spend wisely, so this was my splurge and I couldn't be happier.

Moving parts breaking in the port, huh? Yes, I had a teeny little incident after we first moved in. I sucked up a big metal tool that was sitting on the counter leftover from the plumber while trying to vacuum up some fire ant poison spilled by the exterminator. After hearing a couple of crash-bangs, I lost suction completely. I called the installer immediately who walked me through locating the final destination of the tool. Upon the walk-through over the phone, I took apart the pipe connected to the unit in the garage and found the tool lodged in the side of the unit. As it traveled through the tubing, the only real damage that occurred happened at the sharp angles in the pipe. One hole in the pipe at the 90 degree angle coming from the attic to the garage and one hole in the 90 degree angle connecting the vertical run coming from the attic to the horizontal run connecting the unit. Since these holes were accessible, I was able to patch them with rubberized pipe repair tape and could use the system while I waited on the installer to do a proper repair. We determined that because of all the gradual sweeps used in the HAH system, the metal tool didn't damage the rest of the tubing and was able to pass with ease. The trouble occurred at the 90 degree junctions.

Since the hose is smaller than the tubing, something that fits through the 50' hose will fit through the pipe tubing, so it is unlikely for something to get stuck in the wall pipes.

I love having my central vac vented to the outside. Despite three furry dogs and all hard floors, the dust stays to a minimum. My cheap 30 day air filters in the air handler just now started looking slightly dirty at 90 days and I know this has everything to do with my central vac venting outside. I'm so glad I didn't splurge for the expensive media filter!

The only thing I've found untrue with the HAH is the sock doesn't get clean when it sucks up into the tubing like the website claims. This is impossible with the way the sock is connected to the hose. If it was able to keep itself clean, the sock would get sucked off the hose. Not a big deal because I can vacuum the hose when it needs it as I retract it into the wall. I think the dirty sock issue would be the same with a non HAH central vac as well.

I love my HAH and will never be without one again!

mine is VacuFlo and it is vented to the outside. I agree with the previous poster. I love this system. My hose socks do stay clean

Just a hint...I use the Tornado Wipes and run them over my Hide-a-Hose Sock to clean it up every so often...then I suck the wipes through my system. This is a site that has lots of central vac stuff...and Tornado Power Wipes.

Here is a link that might be useful: Tornado Power Wipes