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question regarding: central vac w/ hide a hose

16 years ago

Free at last, I saw you mention your central vac with hide a hose on another thread? I'm interested in the hide a hose and would love to find out the manufacturer you used and any other info you have.

Anyone else with hide a hose, please feel free to chime in.

Thanks!

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Comments (11)

free_at_last
16 years ago
I'm out of town today and don't have my computer or my links :-)

We used Airline Vacuum in Houston for installation-- they are an authorized dealer for Hide-a-Hose. If you can find their website, there's a video showing how they work. If someone else doesn't chime in with better info, I'll get back to you when I'm back in town.

I dearly love ours-- found out about it on this forum. We've been in 6 months now and it works as advertised, probably better.
dannie_gal
16 years ago
I had my Hide-a-hose roughed in the other day and hopefully I'll be able to test drive it sometime this summer! I found my installer by calling Hide-a-hose corporate. Also, my installer told me Hide-a-hose just released smaller valve casings, so the door will be a little smaller than before. The other thing my installer warned me about is the remote switches being temperamental and insisted I hardwire the switch at the wall outlet. He was telling me that the remote switches use the same frequency as garage door openers and he's had several customers have their units turn on at random. Reminds me of that commercial with the guy in the garage "honey, what's this switch for?"!
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I knew I wanted a central vac in our new house as this was the only way I could control all the dog hair. I knew that if I went with a traditional hose system, I would never ever put it up neatly. I would end up with a wadded mess in the bottom of a coat closet somewhere. Space wasn't an issue because I have numerous closets, but I simply didn't want the messy wadded hose. I have to force myself to put away the water hose (which is used much less frequently than the vacuum) and I knew I would be setting myself up for trouble if I didn't go with the HAH! Cost-wise, I think it added about $300 per outlet (I have 2) plus the extra cost of buying the larger unit needed to pull the hose into the pipe system. We had to be very careful with our budget and spend wisely, so this was my splurge and I couldn't be happier. Moving parts breaking in the port, huh? Yes, I had a teeny little incident after we first moved in. I sucked up a big metal tool that was sitting on the counter leftover from the plumber while trying to vacuum up some fire ant poison spilled by the exterminator. After hearing a couple of crash-bangs, I lost suction completely. I called the installer immediately who walked me through locating the final destination of the tool. Upon the walk-through over the phone, I took apart the pipe connected to the unit in the garage and found the tool lodged in the side of the unit. As it traveled through the tubing, the only real damage that occurred happened at the sharp angles in the pipe. One hole in the pipe at the 90 degree angle coming from the attic to the garage and one hole in the 90 degree angle connecting the vertical run coming from the attic to the horizontal run connecting the unit. Since these holes were accessible, I was able to patch them with rubberized pipe repair tape and could use the system while I waited on the installer to do a proper repair. We determined that because of all the gradual sweeps used in the HAH system, the metal tool didn't damage the rest of the tubing and was able to pass with ease. The trouble occurred at the 90 degree junctions. Since the hose is smaller than the tubing, something that fits through the 50' hose will fit through the pipe tubing, so it is unlikely for something to get stuck in the wall pipes. I love having my central vac vented to the outside. Despite three furry dogs and all hard floors, the dust stays to a minimum. My cheap 30 day air filters in the air handler just now started looking slightly dirty at 90 days and I know this has everything to do with my central vac venting outside. I'm so glad I didn't splurge for the expensive media filter! The only thing I've found untrue with the HAH is the sock doesn't get clean when it sucks up into the tubing like the website claims. This is impossible with the way the sock is connected to the hose. If it was able to keep itself clean, the sock would get sucked off the hose. Not a big deal because I can vacuum the hose when it needs it as I retract it into the wall. I think the dirty sock issue would be the same with a non HAH central vac as well. I love my HAH and will never be without one again!
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The first one I had was Ricar when the house was being built. They came out about 4 times. It would work when they left, but still never enough power. Then I would have trouble with the hoses not going in or coming out. Then I got electrolux to come out and they put in all new ports or outlets, and new hoses. Still not enough power and the same with the hose problems. They did do a few things in the attic with the pipes. Now I have Drainvac which is the high powered unit I got the electrician to install. Great suction power but hoses still get stuff in the pipes. If I only had clear pipes I could see where the blockage is. We have a call into the head people at the original company that installed the pipes. It was a Hide A Hose system. We are hoping they will recommend someone who really knows how the install and service them. I have almost 9k in this system now and still not happy. My sister built a new house the same time and did not want it. She has a rainbow somebody gave her. She is laughing all the time about what I am going thru. I never had any trouble before until I got Hide a Hose.
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We've been using ours for 9 months now and I do clean the hose sock periodically because it usually has a little dog hair stuck to it, but no where to the extent to describe it as the installer has. I'm managing a LOT of dog hair *and* I have dark floors, so if the hose sock had a lot of lint and dust I would definitely see it, but it is simply not the case. I do swipe the area in front of the outlet with a dust mop before I pull out the hose because I don't want it collecting more hair and that seems to keep it minimized. Another poster here also mentioned Tornado wipes (?) to clean the sock. If the floors are so dirty the sock is getting nasty, well, it's going to get dirty whether it retracts into the wall or if you wrangle it into a closet. If you have an opportunity to get a HAH - do it....you won't regret it. Hands down the best purchase I made for our house. It is a little more difficult to install because it requires longer runs and gradual sweeps, so maybe that is the real reason you are being discouraged. ;)
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I know this thread is from several years ago but just thought I’d give a recommendation for anyone who’s looking for a retractable hose system. I’m a big fan of HP Product’s Chameleon system. The components are just as quality as HAH if not better and are supposed to cost a little less. Also, you can buy an adapter that allows you pull the hose out and use it with a regular central vacuum inlet. Check out Owen Perkin’s videos on YouTube for more information. One other thing: when looking at floor inlets (toe kicks), buy the Cansweep. It is more reliable and so much quieter than the Vacpan. I install central vacuum systems and used to offer the Vacpan but never will again. The Cansweep can’t be beat!
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sis3
16 years ago
We have an Imperium central vac from Central Vacuum Services and Hide A Hose, and installed it all ourselves. We have tested it but don't have power on to the house yet (almost!!) so I can't give you a full appraisal. It certainly tested well!
free_at_last
16 years ago
Ours are hardwired and that works very well. I'm not sure I'd like the remote, however our installer didn't offer that feature so it wasn't ever in question :-)

Smaller doors *would've* been nice, however. Of our seven outlets, only one is really visually obtrusive-- the one in our entry. It was the best location to reach the north side of the house, but still, it does bug me sometimes. I might've been a bit more careful about placement if I'd known what it was going to look like.

You can see it in this picture-- its about 18" from the floor on the left. Everyone that walks in for the first time wants to know what it is, which makes me think its pretty noticable.

Here is a link that might be useful: Hide-a-Hose
sis3
16 years ago
Yes, free at last, but I bet everyone who asks what it is for is then very envious!!! We have three outlets, one under the stairs, one in the kitchen and one in a hallway on the second floor. They look fine to me!
eventhecatisaboy
16 years ago
We haven't started building yet,(ugh!), but we are planning on using Beam Central Vac.
finesse
16 years ago
My pipe is being run this week. I'll have three 50' hoses and am fortunate to be able to put all inlets out of main sight. I had the switch outlets and the remote put in. If anyone needs a quality installer in Port Charlotte, FL area, email me through the link on My Page.

HTH,

Kevin
ehoops
Original Author
16 years ago
Thank you all for the information. I really like the concept of the hide a hose. How does it fair price wise vs. the standard hose system?
mavs_fan
16 years ago
When we checked into it, the cost was an extra $400 per outlet. It would have cost us more for the hide-a-hose outlets than the entire system without the standard outlets.

Here is a link that might be useful: Our Progress So Far
mavs_fan
16 years ago
I meant to say more than the entire system WITH the standard outlets and kickplates :-)
Happykate
16 years ago
I just called my future installer; for a $1500 install, a two story house with Hide a Hose is an additional $700. Yeeks! That's (pretty near) 50% more!

Kate.

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