Didn't know there were dust pan choices! We have a HAH with the VacPan. Ours is a little noisy, but nothing compared to a standalone vacuum. I love my HAH, although, faithers03 is right about the power head not being good for carpet. We have a plush carpet area rug in our living room and 3 long haired dogs. Most of the time, I don't even bother with the power head because it does such a poor job. It is harder physically, but I can get just as much or more hair off with the hard floor brush attachment. Now, the low pile rugs and berber area rugs are much more compatible with the air driven power head. It works just fine for those in getting off the long hair. We only have one vacpan, but I wish I installed more throughout the house. My dogs' hair forms tumbleweeds in certain spots of the house and it would be so much easier to sweep it right into a vacpans. If I had to do it over again, I would place vac pans near the larger return air vents and near the entrance from the garage. Those places seem to accumulate the most hair.

I have never had a regular vacuum that is even close to being as good as my central vac (and I have had my share of good, bad, and ugly vacuum cleaners in the last almost 40 years!!) I hope, and intend that I will never again have to live in a home that does not have a CV. If you were to compile a wish list of features for a dream vacuum cleaner I guess you would have... Powerful suction that does not diminish over time No fine particles of dust recycling in the air (and coating your furniture and floors, and lungs) Only have to empty bag once or twice a year Quiet or silent motor Light as a feather A breeze for cleaning stairs Ability to clean hard floors and carpet Extensive selection of tools No vacuum cleaner storage required This is what a central vac provides. Add Hide A Hose for ultimate convenience - no hose to carry around and nothing to store but the tools. Plus you are likely to find your DH, your kids, relatives, or friends volunteering to do your vacuuming - it's such fun to watch the hoses snaking back into the wall! Other than that I have no opinion :-)

My husband installed a system from Galaxie. It saved us literally a couple thousand dollars in installation by just buying materials and installing ourselves. For less than 2k, we installed 7 inlets, 3 vacpans, and got a electric powerbrush, 30' hose and attachments. We have a ranch so it was much easier and 3 of then were in new construction walls (basement) but the other 4 were in existing walls. It is not a difficult job just VERY time-consuming. The power unit failed a couple years after the install and we did have some hassle getting it replaced, but other than that, the system has worked well. The hose can be a pain, but you cannot beat the versatility of a central vac system.

We had one installed onto an existing central vac system but it was done during a whole-house reno when every thing was open. I have no idea how it was done however. This probably isn't much help.