I've lived with central vacs. Bagged Nutone mainly.
I've seen bad installs. My Aunt had a Nutone in her 1972 ranch house. It had 3 measly inputs. You couldn't even reach some parts of the house. There was nothing in the garage or basement. There was no electric brush. It was LOUD.
My parents have Nutone. Again, not enough inputs, long hose. They haven't used it in 10 years. It's too much hassle.
The only way I would even consider one is:
1. if inlets were installed in EVERY room OR not further apart than 25' Everywhere in the house, basement, garage, patio/deck, and by front door, and one in attic. This way you only need a hose that is 15' long. After all, one of the negatives of a central vac is the ridiculous 30', 35' or even 50' hose which tends to get stepped on, not to mention having to look at it, and haul it around. Plus the damage it can do to wood work.
2. The power unit would be installed in a heavily sound insulated cabinet or closet. We're talking 12" of sound deadening material. I absolutely hate the annoying noise pollution,.... of ANY vacuum, but central vacs are the worst.
3. It would need to be a 2 piece motor and cyclonic collection unit. And there should be a bag After the cyclone unit. The motor unit being in the sound insulated closet/cabinet and the collection unit being outside, or in a cabinet on the outside of the house. When it comes time to empty, I don't want any dust in the house.
4. The hose would have to be crush proof and electric, and I should be able to use any of my Eureka, Electrolux, Hoover, or Kenmore PNs.
5. There would need to be this new Holster vac fitting in the kitchen and workshop, possibly even in the garage.
Good thing, installing the tubing network is rather easy. Just cut and glue. It doesn't need to be slanted in any direction like plumbing lines.
Consider also, with a shorter hose, you will have better suction. After all the pipes in the wall are a smooth walled 1 1/2 to 1 3/4". The hose is typically a corrugated 1 1/4" to 1 1/2".
