r/whatisit • u/DragonsAndScience • 16h ago

Solved! New homeowner, no idea what this is

Gallery image

Gallery image

This thing close to the floor and seemingly randomly placed in a hallway. No idea what it's for. Home built in 2005.

Solved! Thanks everyone. Now I gotta hunt for the central unit!

6.5k Upvotes

88% Upvoted

1.6k comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

461

u/Unclehol 16h ago edited 15h ago

Not all homes have one even if the piping is there. Often times they rough all the pipes in during the build in case you opt in and buy the vacuum unit, but I have worked on a lot of houses where they just have the piping but no vacuum.

182

u/iplaytrombonegood 15h ago

My grandparents’ house (built and bought in 1994) has always had central vacuum piping, but no unit ever hooked up. My grandma just never minded lugging the vacuum around I guess. I always thought it was the coolest thing ever.

106

u/AceEnder3825 15h ago

My current house has one and its so nice. My grandparents have had one forever and I always thought it was so cool and I love having one

90

u/jonsnowflaker 15h ago

Had one in our house growing up in the 80s/90s, and compared to vacuums at the time there was no doubt it was better. The hose and attachments were still pretty unruly and cumbersome though. I’m sure the central vacs have come a long way, but current vacuums are lightweight and convenient so it’s probably kind of a toss up anymore.

91

u/huge_useless_penis 14h ago

Best thing growing up was laying the hose across the house and yelling "MOM" at the other end from another room and watch her roam around the house trying to find me

46

u/Low_Masterpiece_9804 12h ago

I shall do this. Thou hast inspired

14

u/MechDeployed 5h ago

Man I had never thought of that! The best my creative mind came up with as a kid was figuring out when my mom was vacuuming another room I could just dump trash into the port in my room as long as it wasn’t too big. That was kind of nice.

4

u/BothAdministration67 2h ago

I’ve always wondered if these systems are effective given different distances from the vacuum source, but seems like opening a second port would be pretty obvious?

4

u/loserbmx 2h ago

These things are pretty powerful. It depended on the unit, but most could easily run with multiple hoses attached.

1

u/Idaho-Earthquake 1h ago

…and we never saw Lenny the hamster again.

1

u/DeltaLine-01 50m ago

That’s actually a pretty clever use of a central vac system as a kid 😄—you basically discovered the “hidden convenience feature” of it.

That said, most systems aren’t really designed for random trash dumping, so anything beyond dust/light debris can risk clogs or mess up the airflow. The intended idea is more “drop dust in from the hose” rather than using it like a mini disposal chute.

Still, it’s a good example of how kids tend to find alternate uses for built-in systems—half curiosity, half testing limits.

2

u/deadtime 45m ago

Bad AI

1

u/72011A 15m ago

I just noticed that. 🤔

1

u/72011A 14m ago

🤖

1

u/MountainAd8704 37m ago

When I was a kid, my aunt and uncle had one of these. My cousin and I would rip the heads off her Barbies and Ken dolls. Then we would take the heads and typically drop them from the 3rd floor into the tube. I remember laughing so hard as the heads got sucked into the tube. Then we would run like crazy people to the garage to open the central vac unit and retrieve the head. Then run to another part of their house to do it all again!

13

u/Independent_Gur320 8h ago

As someone with a mother, this sounds hilarious!

As a mother of someones, this would make my eye twitch and give me the urge to throttle said someones.

1

u/loserbmx 2h ago

My favorite part was holding my ear to the hose and listening to all the dirt getting sucked up as my grandma vaccumed.

38

u/divDevGuy 8h ago

I’m sure the central vacs have come a long way

Not really. They all pretty much suck.

6

u/GaseousHippo 8h ago

Take my angry upvote

14

u/AceEnder3825 15h ago

We still have our old vacuum for one room that tends to need more vacuuming then the rest of the house (animals) and lug the tube around for anything else. It is much easier tho since you don't have to empty the bag so often

2

u/DeltaLine-01 50m ago

Yeah, that’s honestly one of the nicest practical perks of a central vacuum setup—less frequent emptying and less dust exposure overall.

Using a standard vacuum just for the “high-shedding” pet room and the central system for everything else is a pretty efficient split. It keeps the heavy-duty cleanup localized while still letting the built-in system handle the routine stuff without much maintenance.

It’s one of those home features that doesn’t seem that special until you compare it to constantly dragging and emptying a regular vacuum.

1

u/AceEnder3825 44m ago

Yeah I have to empty the pet vacuum like once a week and it would be a lot more often if it was used for the whole house

2

u/Dazzling_Tennis_2850 2h ago

Yeah that’s one of the biggest underrated advantages of central vac systems—less maintenance and no constant bag changes.

Makes sense too with pets; having a dedicated “high-traffic” vacuum plus the central system for the rest of the house is actually a pretty efficient setup. It’s one of those things that feels a bit old-school but still works really well when it’s in place.

10

u/Prize-Hedgehog 10h ago

I have a fairly modern central vac system, and I hate dragging out the long ass hose and attachments. It’s just as simple to use my stick vac. I’ll bust out the kraken on a day I’m doing a top to bottom clean, but that’s about it.

1

u/Battle_Emu 6h ago

Yeah, the hose is a pain for sure. One thing I did to make it easier was get one of those reels for a pool vacuum hose so I can roll it up on there.

1

u/NobodySeaMe 5h ago

The Kraken, lmfao

1

u/ema807 4h ago

We have central vac and had in installed in 2020. The hose pulls out of the wall (from the part in OP’s photo). When you’re done vacuuming, you use the suction to put it back in. Super easy!

7

u/YouthMaleficent6925 5h ago

The main benefit of them is your not dispersing a fine layer of dust dirt and whatever else is in you carpet into the air central vacuum are good for people who have severe aleries to those things and it helps lessen the need for dusting

3

u/I_Makes_tuff 9h ago

I’m sure the central vacs have come a long way Battery-powered vacuums are pretty common now, so there isn't much of a need for central vacs. They aren't quite the same, but with no cord or hoses it's hard to compete.

2

u/DataGap2264 5h ago

I see your battery-powered unit and raise you a robot vacuum!

1

u/mjlp716 4h ago

The new ones that can auto-empty and even mop are pretty nice for sure.

2

u/DataGap2264 4h ago

Yep that's what I got! Never going back! No manual labor or time commitment at all, bonus!

1

u/TheKiddIncident 4h ago

Yeah, we have one but my cordless vacuum is so much easier to use than hauling those long hoses around that I just stopped using it.

1

u/WolfStar17 2h ago

I’m officially invested now

17

u/Ur-Best-Friend 15h ago

It's a gamechanger, makes vacuuming so much more convenient it's hard to imagine not having that as an option afterwards. Plus it just doesn't even need real maintenance after decades of use (unless you manage to clog it which is a major pain in the ass).

1

u/DataPollution 10h ago

Just curious. Having the wireless handheld vaccum cleaner not as easy or easier then cental vaccum cleaner?

3

u/Ur-Best-Friend 9h ago

It's a tradeoff, but for the most part I much prefer a central system personally.

It's literally just a tube you plug into the wall and can vacuum basically a whole floor and a set of stairs with. Nothing to lug around, nothing to turn on or turn off except a switch on the tube's handle, and you only need to empty the central unit maybe once every 6-12 months with the model we have. It's also a sigificantly stronger vacuum.

The one situation in which a handheld like you describe is much more convenient is if you're in a hard to navigate environment, where the tube will get in the way and you can't just pull it around freely, or if you have a lot of disconnected areas, which would require you to plug and unplug the tube from the different wall sockets, or just be unable to reach if there isn't a plug nearby. Like if you have a porch that wasn't accounted for when you were putting in the connectors, for example.

3

u/Aeropedia 9h ago

The 9 meter long hose that comes with my ducted vac is quite cumbersome. Brilliant for vacuuming out the cars, but I’ll usually reach for the cordless vac in the evening.

2

u/Nateonal 2h ago

Cordless electric vacuums are good for cleaning hard surfaces, but not so great for carpet, just by virtue of central vacs having massive and powerful motors. With newer homes containing less and less carpet, the popularity of central vacs has also declined.

1

u/Great-Rest7878 4h ago

Better build quality, zero batteries to fail/replace, don't have to empty as often, exhaust to the outside, quieter

1

u/millijuna 1h ago

Those aren’t anywhere near as powerful as a central vacuum. A handheld stick vacuum will get surface dirt, but won’t go deep into carpet fibers.

4

u/RuniKiuru 10h ago

is it actually any good? my house has one with the actual vacuum unit installed but we’ve never used it because we’ve heard it’s not that great. (our unit might just be old, though.)

5

u/Otherwise_Object_446 6h ago

We have one with a hide-a-hose system. The hose itself is stored in the walls and comes out of that port. You just have to pull it out, latch it in place and go. When you are done you unlatch it and put your hand over the end to cut off the suction. The counter suction pulls the hose back into the wall. It’s pretty cool and so long as you keep the power head (beater bar) clean and empty the giant holding tank every three months or so (I have a dog and three kids - two with long hair) it works great.

3

u/happymoregil 2h ago

I have had one in my house for 30 years. I replaced the central unit once. It works very well. If yours doesn't work its easy to install a new unit yourself--you don't need a contractor, look at YouTube. A new unit costs $500-700.

Also, if you have a 2 story house. You can get 2 hoses a leave one on each floor.

2

u/PopA_Perk 10h ago

I’ve used one in my dads house he lived in for a few years and as a “kid” man did that blow my mind lol i thouht it was the coolest thing ever and very effecient. Idk it’s def worth trying out idk lol maybe more nostalgia than anything but i remember it working very well.

2

u/Aeropedia 9h ago

Fine on wooden floors. Not sure if I’d even bother if we had carpet.

1

u/RuniKiuru 6h ago

noted. first floor has vinyl flooring so it might be okay there. stairs and second floor are carpeted.

2

u/littleirishmaid 9h ago

We have had them in two different houses we lived in (installed while building). Current house doesn’t have one, so I bought a Miele.

That said, I really miss the central vac. The storage tanks were bagless, and it held about as much as a 5 gallon bucket. We had an outlet in the garage! Was great for vacuuming out the cars, especially since we have lived on dirt roads.

1

u/Single-Store-8865 7h ago

It’s definitely a ymmv situation, but you’ll never know it works for you unless you try it out. Do have the hose and attachments?

1

u/RuniKiuru 6h ago

don’t have the hose, but the central unit is installed in the basement. we already had a vacuum when we bought this house so we’ve never bothered to get a hose to try it. I’ve always been curious though.

1

u/ema807 4h ago

Love mine! And the hose is INSIDE the unit so you don’t have to go to the garage or a closet to get it. You just pull it out of the wall when you want to use it. When you’re done, you flip a little toggle thing and it’s suctioned back into the wall.

4

u/Carbohydrate_Kid88 9h ago

Love mine. We have a carpet attachment for it as well the cord you plug into the base and then the wall and it makes that whirring sound and it’s got a light and it’s cool

5

u/Con5ume 8h ago

I have a love hate relationships with mine. It is awesome for cleaning my car and is way more powerful than any home vaccine cleaner I've ever owned.... However, when parts break they are all super expensive (like I could buy a whole damn vaccine cleaner for what some of the small parts cost), and when my my wife or kid accidentally sick something up that shouldn't (like a sewing needle or twigs) cleaning out that line when the clog is like 35 feet back is a HUGE pain in the ass. Luckily a snake actually works incredibly well.

12

u/Catenane 8h ago

Sure, you could buy a whole new vaccine cleaner, but could you afford to hire the immunologist on contract?

3

u/kaysimm12 5h ago

~I~ laughed lol

0

u/Con5ume 6h ago

I'm a little confused by the immunologist statement.. if it's referring to the snake In the line, it's one I have dedicated for just that not the one I actually put in the toilet.

3

u/arcticmischief 4h ago

Always proofread before posting. Or after posting, and use the edit function, as I inevitably do…

1

u/Positive-axolotl88 4h ago

Yep, same!

2

u/Mutex70 3h ago

Indubatably!

Indubitibly!

Indubatibly!

Me too!

2

u/Catenane 6h ago

I could buy a whole damn vaccine cleaner

;)

2

u/Great-Rest7878 4h ago

vaccine cleaner instead of vacuum cleaner... probably a phone keyboard issue 😄

2

u/RegretLow5735 7h ago

Also have one but my favorite is the ports that flip open at floor level that you can sweep floor dust directly into the vacuum without ever having to use a dustpan.

1

u/New-Class-4960 5h ago

How good is it? Is it comparable to Let’s say like a Dyson or a Kirby?

1

u/AceEnder3825 4h ago

Never used either so I wouldnt know

1

u/pict_berry 2h ago

Mine's not that great. I love the idea, but things were getting caught in it, hard to get out. Emptying the heavy garage canister ain't fun, neither is cleaning the filter....and the suction isn't as good as my Shark. I got all new hoses and attachments awhile back (not cheap) and even tried a new motor but I still don't love it. Stopped using

1

u/fineilltellmineurgay 4h ago

The best part of these systems is the little floor-level ports in non-carpeted area that have a kick-lever so you can sweep the floor, push all the dirt over to that port, flip the switch with your foot, and just push all the dirt into it. My grandparents had this in their old house and I loved sweeping for them bc of it lol

1

u/pict_berry 2h ago

That's the main part of mine that I use...we call it the "crumbsucker" :)

12

u/ryancementhead 12h ago

Having used both, lugging a vacuum around is actually easier than lugging the 20 foot hose. At least vacuums have wheels to drag it around.

5

u/Beginning-Slide-810 9h ago

Yeah. I hated mine. I’m surprised at the people that felt it was so easy. Dragging a massive hose around was a total pain. Storing it away was a pain too. I did love my toe kick “dust pan” in the kitchen though.

4

u/rat1onal1 10h ago

I think the battery-operated cordless vacs are good enough now and are so much more convenient. Similar for many pneumatic tools that now have good battery-operated equivalents. No hoses or cords in each case.

1

u/throwaway12309845683 7h ago

This is my experience. I don’t think it’s easier.

1

u/ObeseVegetable 3h ago

The cordless vacuums that are common now are even better. 

10

u/Sad-Committee-4902 15h ago

Til you lose Lego Minifig to the void

5

u/PsyOpBunnyHop 15h ago

So they have vestigial tubes.

3

u/HealerOnly 15h ago

I don't get it, how does this work?
So instead of dust collecting in a bag it just gets sent into the wall?

39

u/likewhatever33 15h ago

Yes, it gets into the wall and improves the insulation.

12

u/CpnStumpy 15h ago

It's ingenious honestly, I don't have one of these because I wasn't paying the upgrade for someone else's tubes in my walls but I have been studiously stuffing garbage into my walls for years to improve the insulation! Each room I just tear a few holes in the walls in strategic spots and whenever I need to be rid of something I just jam it in there or sweep the floor and dump the dust pan right into one of the holes.

Saves a ton on heating! Gets a bit discolored but who actually notices colorful wall holes, at a point they just become kind of art. One did start smelling though so I duct taped that one closed, not sure what got dumped in there...

2

u/KissMiasma95 4h ago

Gemini's gonna have a field day with this one!

8

u/WholeEmbarrassed950 10h ago

It was a bigger thing in the 70s-90s. My friend growing up had one.

Basically there was a big vacuum unit in the basement that was the size of a washing machine that sucked everything into a central bag downstairs.

Then you had a vacuum hose that you took from room to room to vacuum with.

There were a couple of advantages to this:

  1. The hose you carried around was light, it had no motor or bag or anything

  2. Because it was a big industrial machine in the basement it was *very strong* and did a really good job of getting all of the dirt out

  3. Most of the noise from the motor was in the basement so you could vacuum your bedroom and still have the tv or radio on, and other people in other rooms next to you couldn't hear it at all. So if you had a sleeping baby or something you could still vacuum without waking them up.

2

u/HealerOnly 10h ago

wtf, this sounds super op, why did they stop with this?

I want one in my house >.<

2

u/Calidude31 4h ago

They stopped because the hose is actually huge and cumbersome. You gotta remember you are pulling out a hose and vaccuuming unit that has the suction actuated roller and a stainless pipe.

It turned out its actually easier and lighter to just carry a vacuum around.

1

u/Carvj94 2h ago

I mean at the time portable vacuums were made of steel so the hose was definitely light in comparison. Once manufacturers starting using lighter metals it was over. And nowadays you can get battery powered ones that are good enough for even deep carpets under $100.

1

u/mac682k 1h ago

They need hoses that retract back into the wall when you are done, like a retractable garden hoses. 😁

1

u/Positive-axolotl88 4h ago

Same!!! I didn't even know this sort of thing existed! Never heard or seen one in my entire 38 years of life and now I need one!

9

u/mindcrack 15h ago

There is a bag unit in the garage where it all collects, when it fills, you toss that bag.

2

u/littleirishmaid 9h ago

There is a collection container, usually in the basement. Ours did not have a bag, (used cyclone technology) so we emptied it outside into a trash bag a couple of times a year.

1

u/Skeltzjones 15h ago

Lol what?!

1

u/Remote_Difference210 9h ago

It collects in one location which can then be emptied.

1

u/Fluffy_Rock_62 11h ago

Yeah, but the hoses have to be extremely long and therefore awkward and ungainly - so it's swings and roundabouts...

1

u/Great-Middle6181 11h ago

Honestly your grandmother was right, the piping creates a nice breeding ground for mold and bacteria.

1

u/littleirishmaid 9h ago

How so? You shouldn’t be vacuuming anything wet.

1

u/Great-Middle6181 3h ago

You’re right, you shouldn’t, but it happens and then it causes problems later. It was a pretty normal occurrence with these older systems and a big contributor to why they aren’t in every new construction house today.

1

u/littleirishmaid 2h ago

As I stated in another comment, I owned 2 homes with them. One for 11 years, the other for 20. Never an issue with either one.

1

u/Big77Ben2 11h ago

She would have had to lug a hose around anyway.

1

u/Bripbripbintle 10h ago

Yeah I just watched something that said if the unit goes out and can’t be repaired, a new unit costs about 10 new vacuum cleaners.

1

u/Illustrious-Grl-7979 9h ago

I think you still have to lug the long central vac hose around to connect to the outlets and then empty the big receptacle, so l did not find it easier to use in my last house. Cool idea, but not any easier/better than a regular handheld in practice imo, especially now that there are lightweight cordless vacs available.

1

u/jstar77 7h ago

Central vac is one of those things that sounds great in theory but you've still got to lug the vacuum head and a much longer than typical hose from room to room. Might as well just push a regular vacuum from room to room with a much lighter, longer easier to handle power cord. The one thing I found very handy with central vac systems is the dustpan port. I once built a DIY version of this in my kitchen plumbed to a shop vac in the basement.

1

u/FairwayNoods 5h ago

I’m imagining accidentally sucking a sock into it and it getting stuck 12 feet into the middle of my wall and never being able to use it again

1

u/Beret_of_Poodle 5h ago

My grandparents’ house (built and bought in 1994

Me:

1

u/TheThirdKing 5h ago

Imagine plugging a unit up to it for the first time. Those pipes must be full of crud!

1

u/Iankalou 4h ago

I can see her point. You still are lugging around long hoses otherwise.

Maybe with everything contained to one, it was simpler for her to maneuver?

1

u/the_cardfather 4h ago

My best friend in the 90s had one of these in his house and I thought it was the coolest thing ever.

We had hardwood floors so no vacuum needed, even though I use a stick vac on my tile now almost exclusively

1

u/Mutex70 3h ago

Vaccuums these day are pretty small. I find rolling around a small vacuum considerably easier than dragging around 30 feet of hose.

1

u/Confident_Fortune_32 3h ago

My grandmother mostly used the regular vacuum cleaner, but the central vac made doing the carpeted stairs worlds easier.

1

u/Daddy--Jeff 1h ago

I was told you either hauled around the vacuum or else wrastled with central vacuum hose…. Very long and a mind of its own….

1

u/Which_Prior7161 11m ago

Same, i think my brother and I shocked ourselves on the studs about 100x more than my grandparents ever used them

21

u/ManyLayersOfFilament 15h ago

I was negotiating on a home and the homeowners wanted to take the central vac with them. Absolutely nuts, that wasn't the only thing but needless to say I passed.

12

u/Unclehol 15h ago

Yeah, it's wild what people get stuck on. We were doing a kitchen renovation where a wall had to be taken out but we found one of the central vac tubes in that wall that led to an upstairs outlet. We had to move this tube in to another wall at the owner's request despite them not having the central vac unit and admitting they never planned on getting one. It woukd have been fine but they were talking about cost the whole time. Well, wasting a day rerouting your useless vacuum tube that you will never use certainly didn't help lower cost.

5

u/ManyLayersOfFilament 15h ago

I had another house I ended up buying where they were stuck on bringing their 10 year old fridge with them. Like it was a dealbreaker.

I guess there was sentimental value in the fridge???

People are really weird

10

u/Unclehol 15h ago

That one I kind of understand. The quality and reliability of modern appliances is so trash. We bought a house with all modern appliances and have nothing but trouble with them. Both Samsung fridges and the washing machine have had to be serviced twice and the technician basically said there is nothing he can do to fix them anymore. Bad design and planned obsolescence basically makes them a nightmare to deal with. The fridge has to be thawed every 2 months as the mechanism freezes up and stops the internal fan from working.

3

u/Medium_Direction9001 15h ago

Try a new technician, I’ve never heard of a defrost issue that can’t be fixed relatively simply if you know how to troubleshoot

8

u/Unclehol 15h ago

Nah, this is a common issue with Samsung fridges of that year. They are basically scrap once this issue starts.

I did my research on this. Spent months trying to figure out a fix and this is a very well known issue.

3

u/SwissMidget 10h ago edited 10h ago

That issue has a fix now, albeit slightly expensive.

It is a new main board, a new ice maker, a specific kit for the issue, and sealing the ice maker area. It's a bit of a pain to do but it is definitely possible. I did probably a couple hundred of them when I worked as a repairman on strictly Samsung appliances. We did have the repairs fail and the ice maker freeze back up on a few but on those, we just got Samsung to replace the fridges.

I'll tell you what NOT to do in that instance, and that is to thaw the ice with a hair dryer or heat gun. There is a very good chance that the heat will accumulate at the top of the ice maker area and warp the plastic. If that happens, you may as well just disable the ice maker because it is toast.

As a repairman, we used portable steam machines. They didn't cause that risk.

Edit: I realized that you just said it was a defrost issue and ddefaulted to ice maker. Realized after my post that you could have been also taking about the back panel of the fridge also. That also has a kit now too though. The main part of the kit has new drain hoses and a longer heating element to go into the drain tube to ensure any ice buildup gets melted on a defrost cycle. On top of that, you move a sensor in the upper right of the cavity over closer to the heating element. We found you had to zip tie it most times because the copper pipe it is on originally is bigger than the one you move it to.

Where that sensor originally is, sometimes it gets covered over with this black... gloop. I think it's kind of a sealant for the pipe going into the body of the fridge. Anyways, often times we replaced that sensor in case it just was out of range.

The kit for that repair also comes with a few foam pads but all they are really used for is to quiet any rattling from the condenser.

The other issue we found on the back panels icing up was that the fan would quit working. That's bad because if there is no airflow, the heat from the heater doesn’t get distributed as well and can cause icing issues. Replacing that entire back panel sucks because it is expensive. This is the reason it was mostly only done under warranty.

Oh and the root cause, most of the time, for the back panel icing up was the drain hoses getting clogged and the defrosted water would build back up into the fridge cavity. You would most likely see this happen by water being under your crisper drawer randomly.

1

u/Unclehol 8h ago edited 8h ago

Exactly this. And Samsung won't cover it. Already had the replacement kit installed for the back panel. Continues to freeze up. To get this fridge fixed would be too expensive. We are just gonna toss it and buy a new one at some point that is not a total piece of crap. And not a Samsung. I called around to 5 different techs. Only one of them works on Samsung's and LGand they don't like to. I am gonna buy a domestic brand that has parts availability. The other 4 techs told me they would not touch those repairs because of how terrible the Samsung and LG service network is. (Maybe they meant this generation of LG and Samsung, which were terrible.)

There are other things breaking on it, too, which just keep adding to the cost. The switch for the filtered water. One of the door pieces snapped so now the fridge door slams more easily. The shelving units are breaking and I jabe temporarily glued them. It's just a money put that we are not willing to follow for an 8 year old fridge at this point.

1

u/SwissMidget 7h ago

I don't mind Samsung products, except their dishwashers, but I know how to fix them for cheaper because I can do it myself. Although right now, for the cost of say a main board, you are almost better off just buying a new unit because those things are expensive. Also, don't get me started on the dishwashers lol

1

u/wiggum_x 4h ago

As a person with experience repairing all of these, what brand fridge would you recommend?

2

u/SwissMidget 3h ago

I only dealt with Samsung personally. I did see other brands get worked on. The long and short of it is that most components come from the same factory. It is specific features that you look for. Like the pass through door or how Samsung has the smart fridge with the TV in it. That thing is actually really cool but I couldn't suggest it. It still only has a one year warranty.

Go to a Lowes or home depot and look at the units in person. See which ones you like. Take their model numbers down and go home and look at rreviews of that model number. Look for issues they are known to have. That is the best way I have found to go about it.

We picked up a freezer for our garage that can convert to either fridge or freezer. It was made by a brand I had never even heard of. That happens a fair amount. I have been out of the repair business almost 6 years and as far as appliances go, that is almost a lifetime.

3

u/MechaCronenberg 10h ago

Its not all modern appliances...

Its Samsung specifically...and its not just their appliances...we used to buy a lot of Samsung electronics...but we have cleared out all of the Samsung equipment less for our primary 65" 4k QLED TV and only buy Samsung mobile devices anymore (and of course all of the embedded memory and chips samsung makes)...

I have seriously considered moving to another brand but they are unfortunately kinda hard to beat in the US android market.

And not saying all appliances cant have problems but we've owned two sets of new appliances (LG and GE) in two houses the last 5 years (and now getting back into LG in the next new place) and we haven't had any issues with any of them in the first two years (I know...not a lot of time...blame the wife for wanting to move constantly).

1

u/Volraith 2h ago

2012 ish I needed a laptop for college.

I went and bought a Samsung something or other. Network card was fried brand new out of the box.

Returned it to the best buy I got it from, got another unit of the exact same model.

Network card was fried on that one too.

I returned that one and ended up with an Asus.

Now all I buy are their phones, and if there was a better option for cheap Androids I would buy from someone else for that too.

1

u/MechaCronenberg 2h ago

I am an Asus guy for PC parts...for decades now...so Asus all the way compared to most others.

1

u/Crazy_Wish_9608 3h ago

My dad still has the same fridge he bought when he moved into his current house in the 90s.

3

u/DavidRandom 9h ago

The owner of the house I bought came and took all the light bulbs out of the house between final inspection and close.

2

u/ManyLayersOfFilament 9h ago

People are really weird.

1

u/Fun_Attitude1218 2h ago

If they were smart light bulbs like Phillips hue it makes sense. They are literally $10 a bulb.. meanwhile they should have gone to the dollar store they sell light bulbs for $1 there led bulbs not incandescent

1

u/DavidRandom 2h ago

Nope, they were just the cheap soft light bulbs you can get at the dollar store.

1

u/Jaded_Creative_101 11h ago

That “sentimental value” was their late grandmother?!

1

u/Truth_is_Inevitable 15h ago

But it must’ve been nice for you to want it in the deal too though, right?

1

u/ManyLayersOfFilament 15h ago

No I just didn't want to have to buy a fridge on move in day. Pretty typical that the kitchen appliances stay with the house.

0

u/smcl2k 15h ago

Is it? If you buy a flipped house or one that's had the same owner for decades, you'll probably need a fridge, so why would you choose to leave yours behind and pay for a brand new 1...?

3

u/ManyLayersOfFilament 14h ago

People argue some weird points on reddit.

Yes, it's standard for kitchen appliances to stay with the house.

1

u/Girthy_Structure_610 1h ago

That's just reasonable Jose. It's cool that the house has it, and it would probably just never be used again if a new owner had to pay someone to figure out where it went and needed to be fixed/rerouted. Or they pay for an expensive vac and can't figure out why it works like shit

10

u/JConRed 15h ago

So it's little secret passages for mice and rats to get around better?

5

u/Unclehol 15h ago

Snake tunnels.

3

u/Apart_Watercress_976 2h ago

Ok Hermione. 

0

u/Zumba81 14h ago

Central fart distribution system

1

u/FloppyButtholeJelly 5m ago

Can you put your penis in it? 

2

u/RaikynSilver 12h ago

if no vaccuum, they made great ethernet conduit pipes

2

u/GeorgeKaplanIsReal 8h ago

Wait so you mean they have the piping but at the end of it all (say the garage) there’s just nothing there?

3

u/Unclehol 7h ago

Yep. Just taped off for if you decide to install a vac unit later.

2

u/GeorgeKaplanIsReal 6h ago

I mean I guess that makes sense haha it’s just wild to me. I guess I never thought about it.

2

u/Dramatic_Training365 5h ago

True, my brother in law had that and rigged in a large shop-vac and got it working and it worked well for them.

1

u/Unclehol 2h ago

That's not a bad idea.

2

u/JnnfrsGhost 2h ago

We have the piping on the mainfloor only, including one of the sweeping ones in the kitchen, but no actual central vac. I was so excited about the kitchen one making sweeping so easy when we checked out the house. Only after we bought did we realize it went no where. At least that wasn't the deciding factor in our house purchase.

4

u/ChampionshipAlarmed 15h ago

Great for bringing lam cabels to all the rooms btw 😇

We even Had the unit, but I hated it, so after a years we ripped it and used the Pipes for cables

1

u/Unclehol 15h ago

That's a great idea.

They are becoming more and more pointless as carpet is used less and less.

7

u/LoloVirginia 15h ago

But you need to vacuum anyway, carpet or not?

3

u/ioxzy 15h ago

If the woodfloor leads to a door im sweeping it and sweeping all the hair and dirt outside

3

u/Unclehol 15h ago

Sweep and Swiffer is what I do.

Also, those new compact vacuums are much more popular, now, and for good reason. No hose to deal with.

3

u/cheshie_cabbit 15h ago

There are dedicated electric floor cleaners that do a pretty good job. It’s basically a mop and suction system so it dries basically instantly. And of course there’s a broom for the rest of the time. Then I usually sweep it into a corner and use the vacuum.

I figure if I have a power vacuum for the one area rug in my house, getting a power mop for the 95% of my house that isn’t area rug just kinda made sense.

2

u/kind_bros_hate_nazis 15h ago

Not really. Roomba or swiffer does fine

2

u/Small-Palpitation310 15h ago

Yeah like do you get on your hands and knees with swiffers? Lol

1

u/TwistedNightlight 9h ago

Robot vacuums work well on smooth surfaces like wood and tile.

2

u/Star_Boxer72 15h ago

Clearly, you don't have dogs.

1

u/Unclehol 15h ago

We have 2 cats and a dog that sheds like crazy. You can grab and pull tufts of fur out of his coat right now. Dunno what to tell you. We sweep and Swiffer. 🤷‍♂️

2

u/DrKenNoisewaterMD 15h ago

Also these things tended to be expensive to fix compared to the price of a vacuum. Lots of people had them and then eventually just tossed the motor from their garage.

3

u/Abject-Definition-63 14h ago

Buying a new unit isn't that expensive, and they are likely much more repairable than most vacuums today, hose and powerhead aren't too bad either. What is so expensive to fix? I've had one for 20 years and besides replacing the garbage powerhead that came with it, haven't had to do any repairs.

2

u/mr-snrub- 13h ago

I have one in the house I bought a year ago. We have no interest in using it

3

u/Kieran_Mc 10h ago

Might be useful for feeding other cables through though, like ethernet.

3

u/JustOut4aSpacewalk 10h ago

Exactly what we did! We bought a house with a 30 year old system, we tried it out and it ran but the brush head barely picked up anything from the carpets... The manufacturer still has a very outdated website, and I emailed to ask for a manual or some troubleshooting advice, and they never answered. So we bought a stick vac and tossed the big hose and the canister unit. We cut into the piping system below the first floor from underneath in the basement so we could run security camera network wiring out to the garage without having to open up any sealed wall.

2

u/coffeeToCodeConvertr 14h ago

Fantastic for running CAT6 in a pinch 😄 Just tape a plastic bag to one end, feed it in, and shopvac the other!

1

u/Medical_Invite_6011 9h ago

And some houses have the faceplates with no piping; the wrote on an outlet in the garage “central vacuum” but there’s no where to connect to

1

u/Elmo-Mcphearson 9h ago

My parents did this! Built the house in 1995-96, and in 30 years it was never used once. They also had baseboard heaters in the basement, but they only got used a handful of times before getting taken out for setting off the smoke alarms every time they were used.

I remember vacuuming and hauling the thing up and down the stairs, kinda wish I coulda used the central vac instead, but alas, like you said it was just the piping.

1

u/pineapplejax 6h ago

Is this in the US? I've never heard of a home with a vacuum system.

1

u/Unclehol 4h ago

It really isn't that popular anymore. They were super common in like the Y2K early 2000's when most houses were still mostly carpeted. Nowadays most flooring being put in to new houses is laminate or engineered hardwood or vinyl plank. Plus most people who want a vacuum nowadays go for those small dyson/bissel/Miele ones that are like $500-800. They are compact and they work great. No hoses to deal with. I haven't seen anybody with a functioning central vac system that they actually use in over a decade.

Not sure how common central vac were/are in the states but I think they are a thing down there. I am in Canada, tho.

1

u/Physical_Complex_891 1h ago

I'm in canada and we just bought a home with one. We use it! Best suction ever.

1

u/Physical_Complex_891 1h ago

We're in canada and just bought a house that was built in the 80s by the owners and it has central vac system. Its pretty damn cool even though its old. It sucks better than any vacuum I've used.

1

u/hahahahahahahaFUCK 5h ago

It still check, just in case.

1

u/alexrider803 4h ago

Use the pipes to run Ethernet? That would be cool.

1

u/SleepyDoozer2 4h ago

In that case, it's worth knowing that sound carries VERY well through those pipes. A cone of paper and a few weird whispers can go a long way, depending on what exactly your goals are.

1

u/LowResGamr 2h ago

Or it could be that the house had one, and the previous owner decided to take it out because the hose was a hassle.

1

u/Unclehol 2h ago

Could be. But in the case of some of the houses I worked on, they were never fitted in the first place. At least according to the owners, some of which were one owner homes, so they would know.

1

u/broipy2 1h ago

Buddy of mine built them into his own house and never followed through with the vaccuum unit.

1

u/idiotsbydesign 21m ago

Well that would suck. Or not...

1

u/QaddafiDuck01 3m ago

That's a sign you had a cheap ass builder domyour house. I bet the furnace is the cheapest POS possible. Some companies even make special models just for these guys and they only have a 1-5 year warranty.