We have it now but we are selling and have decided to go with stick vacs and roombas this time in the new house .I like the Dyson rechargeables

May I ask why Patricia?

Built my house 5 years ago. I used my central vac once . The hose is unwieldy and my cleaning people prefer their own vacs.

I know people that claim maids are worth it.

They are good provided you purchase the vacuum attachment with the beater bar. My neighbor has one and doesn't use it because the hose is too heavy for her to haul through the house. A consideration once you get older.

We have had central vac forever and was satisfied until I used my son’s rechargeable Dyson vacuum. Light, versatile, efficient and no need to unplug/plug as you go through the house, pulling along a long hose. Thought the article below might be helpful. https://www.drivenbydecor.com/shark-vs-dyson-cordless-vacuum/

We put ours in 7 years ago when we built. We also have a Dyson cordless and use that for quick touch ups. I get no resistance from my housecleaner. Much better to deal with one hose than a cord, hose and vacuum canister. I find the suction to be better than my Miele canisters. YMMV

We have had ours for 36 years, and for some reason that hose has gotten a lot heavier. ! 🫤 It is wonderful for getting in corners, and for dusting high spaces. We no longer have any carpeting or pets, so I use my Hoover Lynx much more often. It is light and fast.

The hose with the central vac cannot be beat for getting into awkward spaces such as window/door tracks, corners if closets, etc. I am still glad that we have it!

I like our current central vac with the hide-a-hose, but may not have gotten one installed in the new house if that feature had not been available. My husband prefers it because of his allergies and the much longer time between bag changes.

I have two friends with central vacs and neither use them. One uses a Miele instead. Not sure what the other one does. I didn't realize people used or installed them anymore.

I’ve never actually seen one but 95% of my vacuuming is roomba. Doing any vacuuming seems like a major chore now…

I've used central vacs my entire life - so almost 40 years. When I built my first house out of college I was on a budget and it didn't occur to me as a need. I'd say within a month I was missing my parents central vac in my own home. I found pulling around the hand-me-down Miele annoying and central vac is much easier on the stairs. When I moved four years later the next house was built with central vac. We've been in this house over ten years and the hide a hose feature is awesome. As others have mentioned, cordless vacuums have become so much more powerful and longer lasting in terms of battery life. I reach for my cordless Dyson much more often than the central vac for routine, quick cleaning jobs. It's just a more enjoyable experience to not be tethered to a wall by a hose or cord. That being said, I do pull out a bit of the hose from the central vac to suck all the crud out of the Dyson rather than empty it into a trashcan. Less dust clouds that way.

Now, for weekly or deep cleaning jobs, we still use the central vac. It's more powerful than our two Miele canisters and you're not having to drag a canister behind you when trying to move room to room and up high in corners. Cleaning the cars is much easier too.

If I were to build again I think I'd want central vac just because it is pretty useful when equipped with hide a hose. I don't think I'd pay to install a standard system like my parents 40 year old one where you insert the hose into wall inlets around the house. They're in their 70's and rarely use their central vac anymore. They love their Riccar Supralight upright and Dyson cordless.

I love our central vac and have had one for over 30 years but that is because we have dogs that shed. I have tried rechargeables etc but it is always a pain to have to clean often with one vacuuming because of the dog hair. We only have two outlets and the unit is in the basement so low noise and easy to use. Oh and we also have a baseboard outlet for kitchen crumbs. Useful for fast small cleanups.

We had central vac in previous house. It was ok. When we built current house we chose not to have central vac. I like my shark vacs and I think they do a better job than the central vac.

In this house we mostly use a meile, which is nice, but any system has inconveniences.

We had central vac in our previous house, loved how strong and quiet it was, and how much the canister held, and that all that dust and crud was safely contained way away in the basement. We also had an electronic air filter in the hvac system -- that house had the least amount of dust of any place I've lived. Look into that, also! I'd definitely install a central vac in a new build.

Twenty years ago there was no Hide-A-Hose, so my central vac is old style with hose and sockets around the house. I love it for the amazing suction power; the quiet in the room where I'm working; the big bags that last for months. I don't need a beater bar for my hand knotted wool area rugs on hardwood. I wish I'd added the toe kick outlet in the kitchen to remove under-table sweepings. The original motor lasted 15 years and wasn't expensive to replace. It's wonderful to see dirt *vanish* into the system; no dealing with changing bags or emptying dirt.

We find the hoses are apin to move around and just no what we want this time. I love to be able to clean up a spill with a quick vacuum for sure.

Current house had a central vac. I used it one time and decided that dragging a heavy hose was too much of a PITA.

In my opinion they are no longer really worth the trouble. Better vacuums have become cheaper and much more convenient. We have central vacs in both homes and never use them.

Several years ago the housekeeper asked us to buy a commercial backpack vacuum for conveniently cleaning hard to reach places and they were surprisingly inexpensive (less than many popular home vacuums). Now we have them in both homes and prefer them to dragging a hose around on those deep cleaning days. Mostly though we just run the bot vac and spot cleanup with small portable vacs, all of which are still cheaper than a central vac. Once every few weeks we will grab the backpack vac and do a more thorough cleaning.

I use my Roomba for routine regular cleaning, and love to rely on central vac for special cleaning, like getting dust off of upholstery or crumbs out of kitchen drawers. You can't beat the mind-blowing suction, and having the power unit in the garage means you get great power and suction with less noise in the living space and basically no added dust. So, yeah. Central vac. Definitely.

qam999 - Exactly.

Roomba doesn't do great on stairs, furniture, garage, cars, couches, drawers etc

I actually use my central vac to clean the filter on the Roomba.

If you have a maid or housekeeper, a central vac can still be handy depending on your desire to clean the floor more often. But obviously, a central vac is less important if you have a maid.

When it comes to cost - it is really hard to beat a central vac over the long term since they last forever and have fewer bags to change. But YMMV. I think my motor unit was about $400 and covers the entire house including shop vac jobs. But I DIYed so no labor costs. We have been in the current house for 4 years and on my 2nd bag. The motor has a lifetime warranty (for original owner).

There is zero comparison of HAH vs non-HAH.

Also - solid floors favor central vacs. Allergies favor central vacs. Animals favor central vacs. If you have carpet, no allergies and no animals - then the advantages decrease.

Sensitivity to sound also favors central vac.

Interesting that some if you say the central vac hose is heavy. I wonder if the weigjt depends on brand or maybe age if the machine. I find our hose is not at all heavy. For frame of reference, I am a retired, active female.

Since carpet is out-out-out, I don't think Central Vac is really "the thing" it used to be.

Mrs. Pete your thoughts about it are quite the opposite of reality for those of us that actually have central vac!

I have owned 4 houses with central vac and not a single one had wall to wall carpet. Central vac excels on hardwood/tile and if you have oriental rugs you should not be using a beater brush on it anyway. I use the same brush head for the wood/tile floors and my hand knotted rugs.

Never found the hose heavy and it is even lighter with the hide-a-hose version.

In my previous house, which was 2-story, I didn't have hide-a-hose, so I bought two hoses, one to keep on each floor, to make it more convenient.

I will say the hoses in the 80's and 90's were those heavy vinyl-reinforced hoses. I think Aerus/Electrolux is the only brand that still uses that type of hose. Hoses nowadays are very lightweight. That being said, it's still nice to go cordless when the task allows it. My Dyson V11 does an admirable job on rugs when set to boost and easily picks up the dog hair and dust on wood floors using the regular setting. We probably only use our central vac once a week now. When it was installed ten years ago I used the hide a hose all the time because cordless vacs at that time didn't last long and had lousy suction.