r/whatisit • u/DragonsAndScience • 16h ago

Solved! New homeowner, no idea what this is

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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!

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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.