I've had mine for 24 years... yep I was ahead of my time when we built all those years ago. 3 years ago we had our only problem ever when the motor fried so we had to replace the power unit.

I can't imagine having a house without one.... Super power, no smells, quiet, no banging walls, no getting to the end of the cord and having to replug, no bags to replace.....

I'd question what model and size units your builder is installing if people don't like them.

Read up on sizing of the motor for your square footage. Our original was a Fasco (no longer made) and we replaced the motor with a Beam.

I had one at my last house and with this house is 5 years so maybe I'll figure something out in the next 5 (but I doubt it). The older system that I had was not perfect - I still liked it but I can see why people wouldn't.

If you have a lot of hardwood floors or other solid surface, it does seem crazy not to put one in. Our neighbors bought their house as spec and don't have one - they had one in their last house and they miss it.

I think anyone gets sick of vacuuming after 10 years - but maybe the HAH will make that 15.....

ok, we'll have 100% solid surface floors. So it sounds like we'll like it.

You will! But please consider Hide A Hose if you haven't already. Your builder may not be familiar with HAH but for the homeowner it is a godsend! There have been many threads about Hide A Hose on this site and so far not one negative comment!! There are some very happy Hide A Hose users though, including me!

It's one of the best things about our house (built 2001) and I didn't even have the HAH option! I also love the hot water recirculating pump, 3-foot wide interior doors, pull-out garbage/recyling in the kitchen, under-floor heat (especially in bathroom), conveniently placed hose bibs outside. (Look for a thread on the forum about such things.)

Yes, since spring of 1996. I liked it so much I retro-fitted and added one in my old house. In our new house I've been using the HAH for 2 years now. I love the HAH as compared to having to lug the hose around and finding a place to store it.

What I like about the central vaccum is that it is so light weight to use compared to a regular vaccum, no smell after vaccuming, the suction is really good (on another note I have to make sure there are no small toys still laying around or it will suck those up too), helps my allergies to actually have it removed out of the house, and less noise than a vaccum when in use.

About the only thing I wish I had done differently is to not have the motor in the attic on our new house. Always in the garage in the others. The reason is because of how hot it gets here and it has overheated on me a couple of times and I wasn't able to finish. Once when I really needed it before we had guests. I could always have it relocated, but since starting to vaccum in the morning it hasn't been an issue. I may relocate it at a later time though. The canister that holds the dirt is in the garage so not that much needed to do it. However the rest of the year I like the location as it is less noise than if it was in the garage.

BTW I have all hardwood/tile floors and I use it to vaccum the floors with hard floor attachments, only good way I've found to get any grit up along with dust. Using a dust mopper such as swiffer etc. doesn't get it all and sweeping just stirs stuff up and takes longer than vaccuming.

I've got mine in the attic in South Louisiana.... was 102 yesterday and I've never had a problem with overheating. It's a walk in attic off the upper floor in a 1/1/2 story house, so easy to clean the cannister.
Mine did die after 20plus years of service, and perhaps it might have lasted longer if it weren't in the temperature extremes of the attic. But for day to day use, heat has never been an issue for me.

Ours will be in the basement of our Minnesota home ... so, I expect no overheating problems.

I've had one for 5+ years with no regrets. The only people I've seen unhappy with them, are unfamilar with them, and move into a house with a poor performaning/maintained one. Show them a new one that will suck up a stack of quarters without blinking and they will be believers. I can see the advantage of HAH, but I think I would miss the direct connect functionality with electric powerheads. I have direct-connect outlets (outlets with 120 AC), so you can run electric powerheads without an addittional cord. We have about 50/50 HW/carpet. Even on HW, its nice to be able to turn on the powerhead when you hit an area rug. I also see they finally made a hand-held electric powerhead for upholstery, an accesory I've been looking for for years. The air-driven powerheads work fine for most applications, but the electric head is noticeablly better IMO, for carpets or larger area rugs.

Most people who prefer CVs, tend to do their cleaning in big sessions. Because they use them to dust and sweep upholstery in addition to the floors, then getting out the equipment is less of a bigdeal. The HAH, vacupan, and other accesories are helpful to those who prefer to clean in short sessions. I have a vacupan and use it frequently between big cleanings. I tend to vacuum and dust an entire floor during a cleaning session. One of the problems with CVs are the are so useful you find yourself cleaning all sorts of things.

Had one for 5 years in our previous house, 8 years in this one - I'd never consider NOT having one. We have 2 Golden Retrievers and it does such a wonderful job of sucking up all that hair!

David_in_MN, is your central vacuum going to have an exhaust to the outdoors? Our unit is in the garage so the odor associated with the dirt cannister (musty, dusty) is vented in the garage and not in the house. If at all possible, do not have the unit vent into your house.

Our installer said the only maintenance necessary to our Beam unit is to have the brushes in the motor replaced every 7-8 years.

I was not planning to exhaust the unit to the outdoors. We don't have any pets. I was planning to get a filter for the exhaust ... maybe that'll help? I don't want the complications of the external exhaust (winter ice, summer bugs, necessity of providing for intake air).

My unit either required outside venting or was highly recommended. I am thinking that the cyclonic units really want to be vented outside. If you go HAH, you want cyclonic. You may want cyclonic even if you don't do HAH. I wouldn't compromise on suction and if that requires an outside vent, I'd do it.

I have a pretty tight house - it allowed about 50% air infiltration relative to energy star standard. You might have a tighter house than that. But I certainly don't need makeup air although you have me thinking that I might get slightly better suction if I open a window. Just like the kitchen vent works better with an open window.

Summer bugs? I can't imagine. I don't know much about ice in MN.

Your house is probably full of outside vents - plumbing stacks, furnaces, condensate line for a/c. I don't think one more is a problem. But I don't know your house or MN. Mine is in a daylight basement and it doesn't put out dust like a dryer at all. In fact it is visibly clean but I had a leak on the vent (DIY) and it was very dusty - that is how I discovered it (unfinished basement).

One of the big advantages of a CV is piping the dust out of the lived in space rather than relying on filters like a conventional vac does. So if you plan on finishing your basement, you really should vent to the outside....

Totally agree with david cary, try to have the CV vented to outdoors if at all possible. We had bids for installing a CV and were told that we could not vent to outside (the "ONLY" place for the CV was in an interior closet)! We decided to DIY and located the CV in our 2nd floor laundry room. I would have preferred the garage but that wasn't possible, however it works great and does release quite a lot of fine particles outdoors. Our house stays amazingly dust free, I am sure it's because the CV vents outdoors!

We have had CVs for more than 20 years in four homes with only one repair--an electronic board under warranty after 3 years. What a pleasure replacing bags or emptying only twice a year. Note, if you vent outdoors, be sure not to use the CV during odd hours as you'll annoy the neighbourhood.

Mine is vented to the unfinished area of the basement. Its in a room about 12 x 18 and I don't see dust exhausted. I can 't see that it is any dustier than any other room. My logic was most of the dust and allergens I was trying to remove was coming from outside, why would I want to pull more outside air in? Mine is a cyclonic unit with self cleaning filter, I haven't done any maintenance and still no drop in performance after 6 yrs. I doubt the filter would be true HEPA size, but works well enough. I originally planned on exhausting it to an enclosed crawlspace, but never got around to it and now don't care.