Vac Pan has something to do with central vac (which I don't have so I won't answer that one fully).

But Never MT's is a FABULOUS little gadget that you install instead of a soap dispenser. It uses a dispenser that runs into a big long cord that goes into a costco size soap dispenser under the sink (sitting on the base of the cabinet). So you're soap dispenser is "Never Empty" because you have this great tool! (Look for NeverMT online on google and you'll see where to get one and a better description).

Blumotion is a gliding system and closing system for cabinets. Blumotion is basically an expensive way that drawers slide (the mechanisim for closing and opening them) and worth every penny in my opinion. Blumotion is the brand name which includes soft close doors etc.

You flip open a vac pan, which is usually installed in a toekick, and the central vacuum kicks on so you can sweep crumbs into it.

Blumotion is a brand name. I have them on my drawers. They are self-closing, meaning you start the drawer closing and the gliding systems quietly closes it for you.

Both of those sound totally fabulous! How expensive are central vacuum systems? DH mentioned the possibility of our having that, and I immediately dismissed it, assuming they were really really pricey. But that vac pan...wow, sounds too good to be true! We're just at the designing stage of building a new house, so all options are possibilities, though frankly we don't seem to have the sky's the limit budget for kitchen (and everything!) that so many of the forum users seem to have!

Some people love their central vac systems.

I don't. Central vac installed in my current home. I used it one time. I hated dragging out the miles of heavy hose plus attachments to use it, not to say anything about how awkward it is to store & the amount of space required x 2. (Separate set of hose, etc. for the second upstairs. Plus having to lug it to the basement for the rec room.) Much easier for me to whip out the old uprights. (Bought a 2nd upright for the upstairs.)

I'd use the $$ somewhere else.

That said, I LOVE the idea of vac pans.

Oh, man, I can't believe it. Nobody gave you the obligatory NeverMT link? (it took me a year to figure out the "never empty" part of "NeverMT")

The NeverMT is pretty cheap--so cheap that the shipping is almost as much as the item. So, buy 3, get one free, and give the extras away as Mother's Day presents.

Here is a link that might be useful: the NeverMT tubing kit that lets you hook up to the store-bought jumbo soap bottle

Blumotion is actually one product (a type of soft-closing drawer glide) that is put out by Blum (they make various sizes/styles of drawer glides, hinges, soft close hinge clips, and some other hardware products).

Here is a link that might be useful: Blum

I have a vac pan along with my central vac. I absolutely love my central vac and can't imagine life without one. It cleans better than any regular vaccuum and the noise is mainly in the garage where it is located. You can purchase upgrades that allow you to house the hose within the walls of the house inbetween the studs. I don't know how well they work - next time we build, I'm going to consider adding them. I find I rarely use the vac pan because I prefer to vaccuum my wood floors instead of sweeping - I find this way allows me to get all the crumbs.

I too agree with skypathway about the central vac. I've had mine for about 16 years and love it. It definitely sucks better than any push vac. We are in the process of building a new house and are putting a central vac in it but with a HideAHose which eliminates the problem of the dragging, what do I do with, hose.

Can you retrofit older cabs with Blumotion or does it have be fitted when cabs are installed? Just wondering.

I'll second your opinion on central vacs and vac-pans, skypathway. We love the central vac but virtually never use the vac-pan we put in the kitchen.

Re: the vac-pan, it seemed like such a sensible idea but it seems easier to grab the DustBuster in the pantry and chase down a few crumbs or a spill. Maybe we'll feel differently when our backs give out and bending over is a problem.

I'll confess that we have house cleaners come every other week and so we don't actually use the central vac a lot. We have four hoses: one in the garage (nice for cleaning the car floors), one on the main floor, one upstairs and one in the pool storage room by the lanai. We do use the lanai central vac fairly often, whene wind blows debris in between house cleanings.

Bob