I have a Beam central vacuum in my current home and had a maintenance call on it recently so I was asking the guy his thoughts on Hide-A-Hose. His company installs H-A-H and he likes the system, but he did give me this one caveat: with H-A-H you cannot have an electric powered brush. With H-A-H the attachment for carpets and rugs is "turbo-driven" meaning it is the force of the air swooshing by that turns the brushes. There is nothing wrong with this but it isn't optimal for carpets. Carpets need to have the powerful action of the electric brush to loosen dirt so it can be vacuumed out.

He did say that his company installs hybrid systems. For example, if the home is all hardwood or tile on the first floor, then the H-A-H outlet(s) would be installed on the first floor. If the second floor is carpeted, then regular outlet(s) would be installed with a regular hose with the power driven brush head. All the outlets are driven by the same vacuum motor so it isn't like the home has to have two motors.

I thought this hybrid system is a clever idea because my excuse for not vacuuming more often is pulling out the 35 ft hose and then winding it back up. I picture myself pulling out the H-A-H more readily for a de-dog-hairing of the most lived in part of the house.