I spent $1,500 on one for my new home and I hate it, it is a lot of trouble and work. For one thing if you spill something and have to hook it up and drag the hose out or if you want to just do one room, same thing. A reg vac is a better way to go. If you have a friend or family member that has one try it. Vacuum their whole to get a real picture of what it is like to use it.

We had one in a custom house we built and loved it! Going back to a regular vac is just awful. Constant emptying and mess is no fun with your average push around - bags are a pain and bagless are messy and have the tiniest bins imaginable. I love my Shark Navigator but it has to be emptied 6 times or more in just one pass through our house. (4000 sqft)

If you have a big house and any kind of pet hair etc, - central is the only way to go. We miss ours so bad my husband just bought a $400+ commercial backpack vac with 10 quart capacity. At least it's high capacity, but carrying it isn't for the weak. It's sort of like a central vac on your back - without the anaconda snake hose! lol

I had a house cleaner husband and wife team. The wife vacuumed and the husband had one that he wore like a back pack. He did the base boards and other areas that the reg vacuum could not get.

three different houses I owned had one. I LOVED them all. Now, I have to dig out the vacuum, put the hose on, plug it in and then pull it around the house, plug it in at the other end...

and it doesn't clean as good as the built in!

Moni

I can't imagine hating central vac. I like how quiet mine is. The main motor and canister is in the basement. I can run it on my wood floors with the wide duster for 10 minutes without dragging around a regular vac that has to be plugged in and plug moved to anther plug...and living in the forest with post and beam ceilings, i can use the soft brush attachment with extension tubes and vac the ceiling easily. (spider webs). I could not do that easily, or at all, with free standing vacs.
-My unit is 50yrs old and came with my new 'old' home. I bought an extra long hose with a soft sock for the upstairs and have the old hose in the basement for convenience.

Do your research and consider the hide-a-hose style...
Lots of discussions here with some searching.

Here is a link that might be useful: central vac discussions

I have clients who have them. They're okay. re-winding the hose is a pain as it's like winding up a garden hose.

I think the idea of the backpack vacuum is a great one.

I have a Miele canister vac with the telescoping automatic wand. I LOVE it. I attach an extension cord to it and only have to switch the outlet once. With the telescoping auto wand, you can switch to hardwood floors with just a click of a button and back to rugs same way. It sucks up everything. Bags are easy to put in and take out, and they're made so, when you take them out, they close up so no dust gets out. If my White Star every conks, I'll definitely get another Miele, which, btw, is also the vac cleaning pros tend to use.

wouldn't have it any other way.We bought ours 21 years ago it still works great,mine is Electrolux,I have one downstairs and one up.

We had one....TERRIBLE. Get a roomba instead.

I also have a Roomba not good for whole house cleaning,I use mine in between but I like my central vac
Daughter has the mint I think its call just awful.

I can only think that people who hate their central vacs must have some sort of problem with them. I had one in a previous house and loved it.

We built our own home and put in central vac. We love it. We also put in two things, I forget what you call them, where you can sweep up to the thing, push it with your foot and turn on the vacuum and it sucks up your sweepings. I love those too!

Had CV in 3 homes and my hair salon. Loved it and miss it! My X stayed in the house. My X doesn't use it, or any of the high end DTD, 2 grand + vacs I left her. I changed the belts, bags, emptied the CV, B 4 I moved out and that was 8 years ago. There is no dirt in the CV tank, nothing in the other vacs and has never asked where the bags are stored. She never cleans and the place looks it! I spent 30 hour a week cleaning the place and it was always house guest ready. A homeless person wouldn't stay there now. She is now sleeping on un-ironed sheets! LOL

Poor baby, sleeping on un-ironed sheets how terrible for her.

I keep a very clean house and spend very little time doing it, mainly because I put things away and clean as I go. Example: I wash my hands I wipe down the faucets and sink, same with the shower. There is a bit of clutter because I like things that I use handy books, jigsaw puzzle board and table and a lamp for doing that DVDs sitting around. There are maps, caps and other souvenirs and travel photos in my office. the walls are covered with them. I have a picture of Mt McKinley on a clear day and one of myself and the passengers wearing our oxygen masks that I wore when I flew in a Piper airplane to the top of the Mt. I have never spent 30 hours a week cleaning my entire house in my life, nor have I ever ironed my sheets. I hope you don't think other peoples home are dirty because they are not like yours.

RE: EmmaR

The ironed sheets R a bit of humor, but true. My X called me and asked me as 2 what I used 4 the laundry, as far as detergent, fabric softener, and dryer sheets? She told me that they don't feel right. I asked her if she ironed them? She said, What? She never saw me do this as I did them @ the foot of the bed so there were no fold marks, either. I did this every week, in every bedroom, so the house was house guest ready. There were certain times of the year when friends would ring our bell, without any warning and I never skipped a beat...

U can have as many Walls of Memories as U like. Just learn 2 do them, so they don't look as though I am sitting in a travel agency. What is wrong with this wall? The unframed posters look as though they R hung by push pins or thumbtacks! What is that about? Frame them all. It that is a picture hook, above the light switch, decorative or not, it should not B showing. That takes away from the display. Your horizon line should B 6 inches above your TV. The Alaska poster the center of your grouping. Turn the fan the other way. U need a softer edge against the vertical line of the door frame. The thing hanging behind the plant should B your Vertical frame 4 the other side of the grouping. The Pink cap should B lowered, the plant should B in a corner, somewhere, back lit, on a dimmer switch, and what ever that pale, white thing is floating @ the ceiling, should B framed in Black, as everything else. It fades into the wall due 2 lack of contrast. I also would purchase another type of bookcase, with doors, as not 2 distract from your new arrangement.

Boy you are picky aren't you. They are push pins. I am not going to the trouble and expense to frame them all. They are not up there as part of the decor they are up there for my pleasure, they make me smile. Besides I am old as dirt and no one will want them when I am gone. When I re read my journals it is hard to believe this poor little Okie has been to such exotic places. I had not even flown before 1996 and my first flight was the second longest flight in the world. Africa twice, Peruvian rainforest, Iquitos and Explorama Lodge, Machu PIchu, Cusco and riverboat cruise on the Amazon and it's tributaries and over half the states in this country. I flew on 6 or 7 planes, a hot air balloon over the Masi Mara, helicopter over Victoria Falls. My favorite transportation was the 6 passenger planes. My bucket list only had 3 things on it, fly, visit an Island and cruise. I did okay.