I did not want a central vac, but my builder all but insisted on roughing in for it when we recently built our addition. I love it! It is a vaculflo. I have several different size hoses and multiple areas to plug into. It is nothing like the CV I had years ago. The power head works on the suction. I only use it on carpet and rugs. I have special floor attachments for the hard floor surfaces - wood and tile. I would have to agree though, that the one doing the majority of vacuuming should be the one making the choice. I hate our dyson.

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. ;)

Followed this thread and had to laugh. A lot of advice from well meaning posters of conventional consensus wisdom copied right out of instruction manuals. The manufacturer is researching the problem? You got to be kidding, as if this doesn't happen every day and the company hasn't been asked this a million times from consumers. Allow me to relate some actual facts and just one solution to "stains" from purple PVC cleaner. I just had some purple PVC cleaner leak onto an unsealed travertine pool deck. Knowing that most dyes and stains are organic compounds, and that nothing reacts faster to bleach than organic substances, I took a piece of travertine and "stained" it with purple cleaner. After allowing it to sink in and dry, I applied straight Clorox bleach to the stain. After about 10 minutes, the stain was about half gone. After a second application of bleach onto the stain, after about 1/2 hour it was completely gone, and there was NO damage to the travertine. The same results should be expected from concrete as well. Dems da facts!

We installed one ourselves and love it. There are many different brands and sizes - we went with an Imperium from this place: http://www.centralvacuumstores.com/  They were extremely friendly and helpful. I think that we spent about $700 or so. They sell some adaptors so you can use regular sized PVC pipes in the walls - we bought that at HD instead of having the pig pipes shipped. If you have your walls open, it's very easy to install. We have the wall inlets that you plug the hose into for most of the house and also a sweeper pan like you mention above in the kitchen. We have only hardwood floors and a few rugs in the house - and lots of dogs, so lots of dog hair. Supposedly, central vacs last much longer than a regular vac, making it comparable over the long term. Ours has only been installed for a few years - I guess we will see how it holds up.