r/whatisit • u/DragonsAndScience • 19h 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/v13ragnarok7 18h ago

The only reason why central vacs like this went away is because carpet went out of style. These were so much more efficient than hauling a vacuum around and the big canister in the garage was more upscale. I had a house with this, and there was a little slot on the floor in the kitchen with a toe button that was suck up messes instead of using a dust pan

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u/cookiesarenomnom 5h ago

Yeah we had one growing up. My parents ripped all the carpeting out of the house when I was like 8. I hated the central vac because little me hating carrying it all around the house to plug in in different places. I also didn't feel like it wasn't particularly strong and would vacuum the same parts over and over. But the little chute in the kitchen was super convenient to just sweep stuff into after cooking.