The thought of doing household chores after a long day of work probably sends shivers up your spine and often doesn’t get done as a result. Even your kids would prefer being grounded rather than have to clean the living room. But thanks to the advent of central vacuums, families are less daunted by the prospect of getting the dirt and dust out of their living environment. Wall inlets are connected to a series of tubes that run back to a power unit and receptacle. Instead of plugging your push-vacuum into an electric outlet and wrangling a cord out of your way every few minutes, a central unit only requires that you plug a wand into a wall port and flip a power switch. In minutes you will have cleared a handful of rooms without taking a heavy push-unit from one place to another and hoping the cord will extend far enough to clean the whole carpet. Plus, the whole range of accessories that come with traditional vacuums can be easily used with a central system’s wall inlets.

A vacuum that runs throughout your entire house can greatly increase the resale value as much as $2,000 if you ever put it back on the market. The central receptacle where all the mess is collected is usually placed out of sight, in the garage or basement, and only needs to be emptied once in a great while. And while installing a central system may prove expensive, it still generally costs less than a high-end traditional vacuum.