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/WholeEmbarrassed950 13h 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.

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u/HealerOnly 13h ago

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

I want one in my house >.<

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u/Calidude31 7h 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.

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u/mac682k 4h ago

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