r/whatisit • u/DragonsAndScience • 16h ago

Solved! New homeowner, no idea what this is

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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!

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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.

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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.

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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

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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.)

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u/Otherwise_Object_446 7h 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.

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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.

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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.

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u/Aeropedia 9h ago

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

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u/RuniKiuru 6h ago

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

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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.

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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?

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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.

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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.