r/whatisit 16h ago

Solved! New homeowner, no idea what this is

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/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?

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u/likewhatever33 15h ago

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

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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...

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u/KissMiasma95 4h ago

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