It is really easy to pull out the hose and I love not having to store a 30 ft hose either. Also you don't need to pull the full length out if you don't need it. You only pull out what you need. Since it is attached there is no lugging around a heavy hose to move it to another outlet and it is very light weight. Lighter than in my old house where I had the 30ft hose I had to lug around. As for retracting. That is the easiest. You just cover the hose hole with the vaccum on and it retracts itself. Depending how much you cover controls the speed in which it retracts. We don't have carpet so the air powered is not an issue for me here, however it never was in my old house either where only the spare bedrooms were carpeted. Cleaned those really good. A Kirby guy tried to sell me his vaccum and he tried to show me how dirty my carpet was, but couldn't. Of course being that they were spare rooms they didn't see as much use as a living area would.

Dear LMRinc, It’s great that you are considering a central vacuum for your home and you will find a tremendous amount of information online with many people willing to share their experience. You will find those who love them and those who hate them! The most common delineator in this experience is not so much the brand but the installer. They often have a favorite brand and know it well. You can’t go wrong with one of the leading brands such as Beam (Electrolux), HP (Vacuflo), MD (Silent Master) or Lindsay (Vacuumaid). Many of the installers listed on their website have been in the business for more than 20 years . I would recommend an installer who specializes in CVAC rather than someone who does it on the side. Their website will be clear with their credentials. The advantages far outweigh the costs, especially as you are building your home. Allergies and dust are not recirculated, you have 3-5 times the power, convenience to clean all surfaces in the home, infrequent emptying, and excellent resale value,. You are spot-on considering the Hide-a-Hose. This eliminates the need for the VacPan (kick plate) as it is so much easier to use. For non-carpeted areas it is amazing how convenient it is; especially if you hate to put the bulky hose away! For wall-to-wall carpet you should consider an electrified beater brush kit. This will not work with the Hide-a-Hose so you might simply limit this to the areas where the carpet is and cover the other areas (downstairs?) with the HAH. I have both in my home and use them both regularly. You are also correct that Miele and Nilfisk are extremely well-built portable vacuums. You might call up your local Miele dealer and ask what brand of Central Vacuum they recommend. Not many dealer sell the Sebo in the USA so you might consider the Stealth attachment set which is Italian made. It comes with a lifetime belt warranty. Where you will find a difference in brands is in the filtration system. Take a look at a unit that has been used for a while and see how easy (or messy) it is to empty. Yes, you will only be doing this twice a year but for some you have to take a shower afterwards because you are dealing with all the dust. Also consider the newer quieter units on the market. Some manufacturers have put fancy LED screens and light on the units but they generally do nothing for the performance. Also you will find that there are still a few brands that have factories in the USA. None can truly claim “Made in the USA” because they all have major components that are not made in the USA. For the past 20 years the most comprehensive website for central vacuums has been www.builtinvacuum.com. Every manufacturer has used this site at some time in their career because it has so much information on every brand. I do hope this insight is helpful. Yes, I represent one of the manufacturers and would gladly provide you with free design of your system from 38 years experience in the field and 33 years of teaching installers from every single manufacturer. Good luck in your pursuit!

I hated my central vac system! Hated the long thick hoses / tubes that you had to maneuver around to walk and vacuum. Previously with a regular upright vacuum, I hated the cording that I used to have to flip around to get to that area to vacuum. And I thought that with a central vac, no more cord! Well, no cord yes, but instead of that annoying 1/2" thick cord that got in the way, I had a massive 2-3" hose that was 10x more annoying than the cord! The head never had enough suction for carpet and it did not seem to get as clean as a regular upright. Plus storage of those 30 foot long hoses PLUS the vacuum heads was a huge storage problem for me! Now with all of these new improvements of the hide-a-hose and the opening you can just sweep into with your broom, I might have taken a second look. But if it were me, looking now, I'd try out the actual systems if you can in someone's home and see how they like their system. The custom and hybrid sounds the ONLY way to go. But I would still hate that huge hose - that part would be a deal breaker for me personally. The only other note of caution I can add with the older systems is that when I worked in the new homes industry with a couple of builders several years ago, they frequently had problems with the systems clogging up with things getting stuck in the walls. It was determined later (after expensive and destructive opening walls for the hose repair IN the walls), that the blockage was due to a combination of new carpet fibers and small toys or objects that children likely stuffed into the vacuum wall openings. When that happened, the entire system wouldn't work. A central vac was a liability and no longer an asset so they stopped putting them in. Maybe in an individual's home that wouldn't happen but with so many different cleaning crews and visitors, it was common then. I have not heard of that being mentioned lately so maybe with all of the hard floors instead of carpet, that this is not a problem these days. Just wanted to add that as something to watch for and to teach children not to play with. I came across another GW thread on this topic with some great details and specifics especially on the hide-a-hose system and them trying out several and their comments. Very timely. Link below. Here is a link that might be useful: Central Vac testing GW link

Good news and bad news: Good news, I found some on line retailers of vacuum cleaner parts that included electrical parts. Glad to see they can be had. No luck for finding a schematic though. The only diagram to be had is a 3D exploded view of the vacuum cleaner parts. Bad news, I took the handle assy apart and I swapped brush and power switches and both were good, that leaves the circuit board at $53 or the brush motor at $85 as the next candidates, and I am giving it a "terminal" outlook due to part acquisition cost and moving on to a replacement. Based on a few parts websites, similar experience for others with this model with like symptoms. Kind of bummed that it was not the switch, was not bad to access and replace, and cost was less than $10. Laundryvet