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I've been interested in Laundry Jet, which is a pneumatic laundry chute. The obvious concern is issues with blockages. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M6xJ4K7

I've been interested in Laundry Jet, which is a pneumatic laundry chute. The obvious concern is issues with blockages. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M6xJ4K7WSQw https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M6xJ4K7WSQw

KerrAvon 2y ago
This is really cool and I’d actually love to have it. The main issue with it — aside from the limited market; how many houses are big enough to justify the cost, and how many of those are new construction or to-the-studs remodeled in any given year? — will be reliability over time. Central vac systems eventually fail and generally homeowners find it simpler to buy a normal vacuum than to fix the system. Now this seems like a job for semi-autonomous robots.
- metabagel 2y ago
  My family had a house with a central vacuum system in the late 70s. The vacuum was located in the garage, and it detected the loss of suction and turned on when you opened the wall flap to insert the hose. But, yeah, I've always wondered what you do when the seals fail or the vacuum stops working. Our house also had intercoms.
  - jonathanlydall 2y ago
    My parents still live in the house I grew up in which has a central vacuum cleaner. Theirs is a “Beam” system. Each outlet has a copper pair of wires running to it, connected to two contact pins on the inside of the outlet, and the vacuum hose has a metal ring on it so that as it’s inserted, it completes an electrical circuit between the two contact pins, signalling the vacuum cleaner turn on, once the circuit is broken, it would turn off. Perhaps the system you had actually worked like this.
    - ortusdux 2y ago
      The contacts can also deliver 12v power which can be used to run powered brush heads.
  - biomcgary 2y ago
    Brings back great memories of a house I lived in as a little kid. It had a central vacuum system, which inspired my father's comedic "horror" stories about Ze Vacuum Hoze.
  - deleted 2y ago
    [deleted]
  - Arrath 2y ago
    You have the vacuum serviced, of course! Like any other appliance. My parents built their dream home in 1999 and included a central vac, it needed some TLC in the mid 2010's so they called the company up to service it since it had a lifetime warranty. Naturally 'lifetime' meant for the homeowner who purchased the unit, so the company often didn't have to honor the warranty as failures were uncommon until the 3rd, 4th or 5th owner. The tech was bemused when he came out to work on it since it was his first warranty call.
- j45 2y ago
  It also may be less about the size of the house and more about the time accrued with said laundry. Maybe the math of it will end up on something like https://efficiencyiseverything.com/ https://efficiencyiseverything.com/
constantcrying 2y ago
The house I grew up in had quite a large central pillar with a hole in it. The purpose was that dirty laundry from the rooms for the adults/children, which we're on the first floor, could be transported to the cellar where the washing machine was. I still remember when as a child a "situation" arose and I managed to block it with my clothes and my parents had to clear the blockage.
Animats 2y ago
There are big versions of that for hospitals and hotels. It seems overkill for a house. Around 2018, there were companies selling home-sized laundry folding machines for rather high prices. Those seem to have disappeared.
- ortusdux 2y ago
  There can be code/insurance issues with laundry chutes as some view them as fire hazards, so I think these pneumatic systems are a compliant alternative.
  - Spooky23 2y ago
    They were great for landlords in the 70s torching buildings. They provide a path to the roof that turns into a little firestorm. Basically, by the time anyone notices anything, you have about 5-7 minutes until the roof is involved and the building is a total loss. Unmodified balloon frame buildings are similar.

KerrAvon 2y ago

This is really cool and I’d actually love to have it. The main issue with it — aside from the limited market; how many houses are big enough to justify the cost, and how many of those are new construction or to-the-studs remodeled in any given year? — will be reliability over time. Central vac systems eventually fail and generally homeowners find it simpler to buy a normal vacuum than to fix the system. Now this seems like a job for semi-autonomous robots.

metabagel 2y ago
My family had a house with a central vacuum system in the late 70s. The vacuum was located in the garage, and it detected the loss of suction and turned on when you opened the wall flap to insert the hose. But, yeah, I've always wondered what you do when the seals fail or the vacuum stops working. Our house also had intercoms.
- jonathanlydall 2y ago
  My parents still live in the house I grew up in which has a central vacuum cleaner. Theirs is a “Beam” system. Each outlet has a copper pair of wires running to it, connected to two contact pins on the inside of the outlet, and the vacuum hose has a metal ring on it so that as it’s inserted, it completes an electrical circuit between the two contact pins, signalling the vacuum cleaner turn on, once the circuit is broken, it would turn off. Perhaps the system you had actually worked like this.
  - ortusdux 2y ago
    The contacts can also deliver 12v power which can be used to run powered brush heads.
- biomcgary 2y ago
  Brings back great memories of a house I lived in as a little kid. It had a central vacuum system, which inspired my father's comedic "horror" stories about Ze Vacuum Hoze.
- deleted 2y ago
  [deleted]
- Arrath 2y ago
  You have the vacuum serviced, of course! Like any other appliance. My parents built their dream home in 1999 and included a central vac, it needed some TLC in the mid 2010's so they called the company up to service it since it had a lifetime warranty. Naturally 'lifetime' meant for the homeowner who purchased the unit, so the company often didn't have to honor the warranty as failures were uncommon until the 3rd, 4th or 5th owner. The tech was bemused when he came out to work on it since it was his first warranty call.
j45 2y ago
It also may be less about the size of the house and more about the time accrued with said laundry. Maybe the math of it will end up on something like https://efficiencyiseverything.com/ https://efficiencyiseverything.com/

constantcrying 2y ago

The house I grew up in had quite a large central pillar with a hole in it. The purpose was that dirty laundry from the rooms for the adults/children, which we're on the first floor, could be transported to the cellar where the washing machine was. I still remember when as a child a "situation" arose and I managed to block it with my clothes and my parents had to clear the blockage.

Animats 2y ago

There are big versions of that for hospitals and hotels. It seems overkill for a house. Around 2018, there were companies selling home-sized laundry folding machines for rather high prices. Those seem to have disappeared.

ortusdux 2y ago
There can be code/insurance issues with laundry chutes as some view them as fire hazards, so I think these pneumatic systems are a compliant alternative.
- Spooky23 2y ago
  They were great for landlords in the 70s torching buildings. They provide a path to the roof that turns into a little firestorm. Basically, by the time anyone notices anything, you have about 5-7 minutes until the roof is involved and the building is a total loss. Unmodified balloon frame buildings are similar.