A follow up to get this off the top of the threads!

You need a VERY powerful unit (2 turbines). Get the biggest you can afford. I'd say at least 900 air watts as a starting point min. You cannot use electric brush heads with these which are better for the carpeted areas of your house. Switching the unit on and off from the hose is complicated and requires a xtra cost RF trigger. Good design of the pipe system and even better installation technique has to be followed or the hose will have trouble retracting. There is a competing product that allows electric brushes, and isn't as picky about pipe runs . Think it's called hose genie.

Trying to figure out what is the most compatible system to pair with the Hide a Hose. We have 3,000 sq ft (no carpet, all hardwood/tile) These are the two quotes so far. One is with a CycloVac and the other is for a Beam. I have another installer who is working up a VacuFlow bid as he said "Hide a Hose was designed to work with VacuFlow": CycloVac 615H ($1000 unit + $200 for a garage outlet w/ hose and attachment kit) Beam 375 Quiet Vaccuum tank ($757 unit + $75 for the garage hose kit) Other Costs (installed): -2 50' hoses: $1400 ($700 each) -2 vacpans: $400 ($200 each) -Hide a Hose Handle: $63 -Hide a Hose deluxe attachement set: $260 So a grand total of either CycloVac $3415 or Beam $3016. What unit did you get for your Hide a Hose and are you happy with it? Does the pricing above seem reasonable?

One thing that jumped out to me about your proposal is the power unit. I had the Dirt Devil version of the Vacuflo FC650 power unit when my home was built. Vacuflo built it for Dirt Devil. It's a very powerful unit but it's not truly cyclonic. There's a cartridge filter that must be replaced every year and cleaned each time you empty the bin. I was religious about this but our unit died within 3 years of owning the home. We replaced it with a bagged unit from MD which was significantly cleaner and easier to maintain. The MD unit is quieter too. As of now, it is almost 5 years old and still going strong. That being said, if you want bagless get a true cyclonic Vacuflo unit if possible. In regards to the powerhead for rugs, we orginially had the Turbocat and it does work fine for area rugs and very, very low pile carpeting. However, I never felt like it was deeply cleaning any wall to wall carpeting. They now make something called the Volt or CX1000 battery-powered powerhead for central vacs. Its base is a Riccar/Simplicity upright but instead of having a bag there's a wand where you attach your hose. It cleans the carpets and rugs really nicely. Apparently they now have a cheaper battery powerhead from Cen-tec. It looks like my old L-shaped Electrolux powernozzle. I would try the Turbocat but know you have options down the road. The Chameleon hose seems similar to the old socked hoses from HAH. I think the difference is that the wall outlet is a little smaller. I'll admit our HAH outlet is fairly large like a 3 switch light plate turned on its side. Nobody has ever pointed it out but it's not exactly discreet. All in all, I think you'll be happy with the system. It certainly makes cleaning a less painful task.