We installed a Hide-A-Hose (H-A-H) system in our new house and have been in about a month. I thought I should post my experience with the system as people are often asking about H-A-H. To make a long story short - I LOVE IT!

Why do I love it? It is so simple to use. Pull the hose out, connect the wand with the attachment and away you go. When finished, remove the wand, turn on the vacuum, hold your hand over the end of the hose and the hose sucks up into the pipes. Turn off the system and close the door. You're done!

We have two Goldens, one we call Hairy Beast. The dog is a hair factory so we have tumble weeds within a matter of a couple of days. (Once we are settled in and I get back to my normal routine, I'll get back to regular brushings which will help with the tumbleweeds!) I chose H-A-H in hopes that its ease of use would encourage me to vacuum more often. So far the strategy is working!

We have all hardwood floors with area rugs in several rooms. My H-A-H dealer included a turbine powerhead, the Turbocat Zoom. I think it works amazingly on my area rugs. One in particular has a large area of navy blue and it is so gratifying to vacuum it and see the dog hair just get sucked away! One back and forth motion picks up all the hair. With H-A-H the rug attachment is not electrically powered but is powered by the suction of the vacuum. Some people have concerns that without power, the turbine will not be effective. I do not find this to be the case. The Vacuflo motor is very powerful and there is no loss of suction as the canister fills - thus no loss of suction power to the turbine powerhead.

We have a pretty large house that is a ranch with a full walk-out basement. We have two vacuum ports on the main floor and one in the basement, each with a 50 foot hose. The hoses are much more flexible and don't tangle like the ones in my previous homes which were not H-A-H. Mine came installed with a sock. The sock is very tight fitting and supposedly stays clean because it is vacuumed every time it is pulled back into the wall. Our cost to install was $4,000. We want to add a garage kit so that we have a hose to use for the cars - so another $140.

During the final installation, somehow we missed getting a training session. The first time we used the system I was thrilled. The next time the vacuum was noticeably less powerful. It turned out to be operator error - with H-A-H, the vacuum inlets not in use must be completely sealed to maintain the high suction level on the one in use. When we used the system the first time, we had not closed the covers correctly which meant the suction was being spread across 3 inlets instead of one. Once we learned how to correctly close the cover doors, voila! , the system was fine.

A hint for others: one reason the doors were not closing correctly was that the inlet covers were tightened too tight against the wall. I guess it is common that painters over-tighten the covers when they put all the cover plates back on after painting. Once we loosened the cover plates a bit so they can close completely and learned how to correctly operate the system, I was back to being in love with my H-A-H!