I'm not a central vac fan due to the long hose. Hated coiling that up and storing it in my previous home. I suppose it depends upon the house, but for this three level, I prefer my several vacs that can easily be pulled out and quickly put away (light canister, two uprights - one for hard floors, and my wonderful robotic. Our walls are cluttered with a ridiculous number of dated outlets (ancient phone systems, traditional landlines, plate-covered mystery items, old alarm system beam plates that look like double outlets, AND old yellowed central vac connections. I plan to take every one of the aforementioned out and will have the drywall repaired en masse.

Even if you don't use the central for daily cleaning, it's very useful for periodic detail cleaning and utility vacuuming (basement, garage etc). Also healthier to use than a portable as none of the sucked-up dust and air returns to the room. You can get nice new white flat-face wall inlets to very easily update.

I would leave it…I would put the least amount of money into your current home since you plan on selling it in the near future.

I couldn't live without a central vac!! Have been lucky that every house we have bought has had one. I'm building a new house that is one level and spread out, and I actually installed 2 separate systems/motors, one at each end of the house, so 2 people can vacuum/clean at the same time. I have 3 shedding dogs and hard floors (wood and tile), so the central vac works great.

I would leave it. It looks nice in the wall, I cant imagine anyone would be turned off by that. I would be very happy to see it in a house I was considering.

To me a central vac signifies an upscale, if older, house. You could try to paint the cover to match the walls.

It was a must have in my previous home that we custom built..... and one of the things I miss the most. Currently renting temporarily while we look for a new home and back to lugging my canister vac. Definitely something I would not get rid of.

We bought a nearly new house that had a central vac unit. We found that lugging the long hose around the house and then storing it when done was awkward and much less convenient than using a standard vacuum. Also, the motor (which was in the garage) was excessively loud. We didn't remove it but we stopped using it after about 6 months.

I love a central vac!

First I've heard that central vacs are passe'.

Photo: The Electrolux Man

I Remember Mama and her bobsled Electrolux. Especially, shaking out the bag onto newspaper to empty it. (Pull down the lever on the right to pull out the bag.)

Our home is plumbed for central vac but we told builder we didn’t ask for it, didn't want it & wouldn't pay for it. So no central vac installed. I had stayed with a friend for a period of months while my home was being built & she had one, never used it except in the garage because it was too much trouble to haul out the hoses & they took up so much room in her hall closets. As for me, I'm so happy with my Dyson cordless….why would I drag a hose around?

Best are the systems with hoses that pull out from wall and suck back in when done. No hauling hoses. Also love the floor level receptacles into which you can sweep stuff. Don’t like the systems with a 50ft hose to haul around and store.

I dont care for central vacs. Remove them. I think it would look better too.

Thank you to everyone who has responded so far! I'm leaning towards leaving it because I do use it. I have tons of closet space and have a pro-slat system all over my garage so I can literally hang the hose outside the door if I want to. I will look into getting some new covers.

I LOVE the pic of the electrolux, my mom had one too!

I have dogs and honestly I love my central vac. I have friends with the retractable hose and they say it seems to affect the power ( I have no clue).We have 2 sets of heads and hoses one for the walk out and one for the main floor .It takes 3 secs to take the hose out or put it back andtakes up very little space . We also have a robot but it does not replace the vacuum. We have a Vac u flow and it is really quiet to use

I've had a central vacuum in my last 3 houses. Since the first one we have retro-fitted one into 2 houses. They are great for those with allergies and the suction just can't be beat. I do have the hide-a-hose in our house which I appreciate even more, but I would choose to lug a hose over not having a central vacuum at all.

If you use it I would leave it there. My feeling is that for those of us who do not use/like them, the added value of taking it out is far less than the added value of having it for those who love them.

ETA: that made sense in my head more than when I read it back.

Central vac would be a huge plus for me. Vacuuming is my most disliked chore; I don't like hauling or storing hoses OR canisters-electric cords. The central vac wins for strongest suction and for ease of discarding the dust & debris it picks up. I also liked that (at my previous house) it stored all that dirt in the basement, well away from living areas.

Since you're selling pretty soon I wouldn't paint the outlet covers, just make sure they are clean. New owner might want a fresh coat of paint in their color. And if I were buying a house, central vac would help me believe cleaning was important to the previous owner, which is never a bad thing.

@worthy That brings back memories! Ours had wheels instead of runners, but I remember pulling it around the house while my little sister rode it like a pony. It's probably why I'm predisposed (rightly or wrongly) to like Electrolux appliances. Our central vac is an Electrolux (Beam) as are both our washer and dryer.

I will never own a home without a central vacuum system. The inconvenience of hauling a 30 ft hose around the house is dwarfed by the benefits of powerful suction and the confinement of dirt and dust to the canister in the garage.

Oh and everyone forgot to mention no smells ever, not even a whiff from vacuuming.

I have only had one house with central vac and I hated it. Lugging and storing the hose was a PITA. My biggest complaint was it did not clean as well as our MIele canister vac with the power head. This was years ago, so I am sure they have improved. I wouldn't mind a retractable hose and "dust pan" vent as long as it cleaned well.

Love our central vac! Would not do without it. So easy and convenient. Though we don't have a receptacle in every room, not needed in my opinion. The hose is long enough to reach all rooms on the first level and the stairs too. Keep the receptacles. They don't look any different than an electrical outlet.

• The central vac is one of my favorite conveniences in the 3000 sq ft one floor home we built 20 years ago. We have three outlets and a long hose. You have an outlet in every room, so I'd think your hose could be quite short. There is no portable vac as powerful as this central vac and I'm not pushing a motor around. Dirt stays in the receptacle in our basement and is not recirculated back into the house (through an expensive bag). Our vac's big, cheap bag needs changing only four times a year. We have all hardwood (and tile) floors and low-pile Orientals, so don't need (or want) a beater bar on the vac head.

I don't even know how people can consider them comparable...central vacs, properly installed, are clearly superior. I grew up in a house with central vac and have seriously toyed with retrofitting one to my current house since I bought it in the mid 2000s. In the "upper brackets" 1980s house with various 'luxuries' I spent my formative years in, it's the only one I truly miss. (well, I don't miss a security system because I installed one!) Alas it's the sort of thing I'd really have to do myself, and would be a massive PITA in a house with gypsum lathe plaster walls. It's an incredible ordeal doing any wall or ceiling penetration but I like them because they block noise so well.

We had what was was considered the best...the huge H-P with twin motors, and the suction was absolutely incredible. Much stronger than any standalone. Also the stuff you would otherwise have to have filtered with a "HEPA" just gets exhausted from the house! You only had to empty the canister a couple times a year. Why is a hose any different from lugging a vacuum cleaning around? The hose is less likely to get caught on corners than the long electrical cords that vacuum cleaners come with.

Thank you all for weighing in! I'm going to leave it and replace the receptacle covers to clean white ones. If we sell and someone doesn't like it, I don't think it's such a big thing to remove at that time.

A buyer wouldn't have to remove anything. They'd cut out the connection plate, patch the wall, and paint.

The debate reminds me of the single vs double sink. We all have our reasons for our preferences, I love my central vac, which also has the hide-a-hose. Love the convenience and it is also valuable to me dud to my severe allergies. Due to allergies, we have all hard floors---no carpets, so I can't respond to claims that it doesn't have adequate power for plush carpets. Oh, and by the way, I'm firmly in the large, single sink camp.

If it works, leave it. It’s of use and doesn’t look bad. Our house had one that didn’t work worth spit, so we gleefully pulled it out and haven’t missed it at all, especially since we also pulled out a lot of the carpet and the newer vacuums are so light.

Question? Folk indicate central vacs have superior suction comlared to other vacs. However, central vac is often located quite a distance away or from the hose outlets. So, in the end, do they not lose suction power therefore making them equal to regular vacs, with the motor being right by their hose?

In my house, I don't think the central vac has as strong a suction as my dyson. I primarily use the central on all my wood floors, maybe a little on the area rug occasionally. For that, I pull out the dyson. I don't like using the dyson on my hardwood. Not sure why, it just feels like overkill maybe?

My central vac is definitely stronger than my Miele canister or former Dyson ball upright.

We have had central vac for over 30 years. It is wonderful for getting into nooks and crannies! The variety of nozzle tools allows you to clean almost anything. The canister is in the basement which allows all of the dirt to be kept down there. We have a hose that we use just for the basement and garage. Vacuuming the cars is a breeze. Our only other vacuum is a Hoover Lynx which can be pulled out to do a quick ” pick me up”.