I love in the 70s alot of houses had built in vacuum systems. There were access points in every room! Would love if it was still as popular.
[removed]
Despite the hose being unwieldy (that's what she said) I really love central vac.
They were still being sold domestically a few years ago but when you do see them, it tends to be in hotels. As they're a lot quieter than normal vacuum cleaners. But robot vacuums are virtually free to operate and are extremely quiet.
There was one in the Dennys I used to work in, that was like 2004ish. It stopped working shortly after I started there and they never got it fixed but the little flaps over the outlets are still there.
Yeah we had one in a Bob Evans I worked in about 20 years ago. I remember thinking how cool it was to just be able to plug the vacuum hose into the wall
Yeah it was great for about a year, then nothing. And they just used those little sweeper things except the ol one a week full clean. The place was fucking gross.
They're also common in woodworking shops, because they can be tied directly into dust collection systems.
I hear they sucked.
Yeah, central vacs are fairly awful.
Lived in a house that had one put in when it was renoed in 2003. In 2019 it was barely working.
They require a lot of maintenance, because any leaks reduce the performance quite a bit. If it's a big house, you have a ton of tubing and many, many places to form leaks.
Plus you are stuck with that vacuum in specific. And you have to empty it just like any other vacuum, so you have to check. If the vacuum part is in a basement crawlspace, then it's not that fun.
Since you can only vacuum a certain radius from a hookup point, you have to lug around this rather large and bulky coil of tubing attached to the vacuum head. If you ask me it's heavier and more annoying than, say, any standard canister vacuum. Spring for a nice Dyson handheld system and the central vac just looks fucking stupid.
I could go on. I was dumbfounded when my dad built one into his home that was finished building in 2020. I just know he's gonna hate it in about 5-10 years.
Lugging around a hose in the 1960s and 70s was lighter than the vacuums of the time.
The 1970's vacuums were giant bastards. My family had this bastard. It's pea green plastic with wood paneling. This fucker was heavy and took up way too much closet space. The vacuum motor was loud and the vacuum head had a separate motor to run the beater bar. Lights would dim when it was turned on. It was well built though. We thrashed it in the late 90s for a lighter model.
37 pounds shipping weight?! Holy hell
The vacuum motor was loud and the vacuum head had a separate motor to run the beater bar.
This is actually not a bad thing. Most commercial vacs and a lot of the high-end home vacs are dual-motor like that. Then, neither is dependent on keeping proper speed, and you can specialize the motors (high RPM but less torque for the suction, etc) for each task.
I like the floor-level central vac point though - the kind you can just broom sweep a room over toward the hole and then quick-suck it into the central vac with a kick-switch.
I wonder if you could build one with a modern bag-less system
They didn't suck....that was the problem
In some regions, it's still common for new home builders to install central vacuums. I think they're a pain to use, but the one benefit is that the house is quieter (because the motor is in the garage).
I think they're a pain to use
They are super easy to use actually, much easier than a normal vaccum. Its really nice on hardwood floors too because you can just sweep everything into a pile in front of the port and then turn it on instead of using a dust pan.
They are a little bit of work to maintain properly.
Its really nice on hardwood floors too because you can just sweep everything into a pile in front of the port
I was more thinking of the big heavy central vac hose that plugs into the wall port, but ya the floor port configuration isn't as bad if you want to get the broom going. Although, I still prefer a dyson stick vac over either central vac configuration.
I have built 2 houses in the last 3 years eith central bac systems. Not in every room but you can reach every room from central hook ups. The kitchen had a door in the baseboard that would vacuum if opened.
The kitchen had a door in the baseboard that would vacuum if opened.
Yup, we had this in the house I grew up in. So much better than using a dust pan.
My friend's parents had it (house built in the 90s), it kinda wasn't a good idea because their system's attachment points weren't air tight when not in use
My folks had one in there house from 1990
And a wine cellar and greenhouse!
My parents house was built in 1984. It has a central vac system and they still use it. Ask my mom about it, said she's needed to replace the main vacuum motor (located in the garage) twice and a few of the access port gaskets over the years but that's all.
Is it not? My parents built their house about 15 years ago and have central vac. It's great, there are the vacuum attachment spots, and there are also little suction flap things in some baseboards - even sweeping is easier when you don't have to use a dust pan.
It's not really worth it anymore with cordless vacs though. I don't think the central vac has really been used since Dyson.
IR touchscreen, pseudo-GUI, and it's somewhat custom since it has the layout of the house on there. Absolutely amazing.
I'd love to be there to take this thing out when they inevitably reno the house and remove this.
Take it out, reconnect it together in a displayable manner so it can be interacted with in a museum or something? This kind of stuff for the time is so interesting and cool, Iâd hate to see it get chucked. But then again, itâs probably rather delicate.
There's likely a ~~486~~ 286 PC behind it (got the years wrong, sorry!), running DOS with this software layer on top. Then a custom ISA card that has breakouts to HVAC-standard systems. The security might be a bit custom.
Unfortunately something like this is best seen in situ. Pull it out and hook it up to some other HVAC setup, sure, but it won't match the layout or anything like that. Maybe it can be reprogrammed, but likely not easily.
EDIT: further corrected, it's a 68000 CPU.
486 is from 4 years after this ('89), so would be an older chip if this is indeed from '85.
Oops! Good point. 386 then?
PC hardware was never my strong suit.
386 only just came out that year, more likely a 286 or a completely different vendor.
You can run this on any 8-bit CPU so probably something like a 6502 or a Z80. I doubt that would use standard PC parts in that year. Very curious though.
It runs on a Toshiba TMP68008P-8
Oh, never knew there was an 8-bit version of the 68000. That's pretty cool.
Studying it some more I guess the reason for this odd beast is addressable memory. The display must be bitmap based as I see at least 3 different fonts being used on a single screen, and the room layouts are possibly stored as vector graphics (rather than using simple character sets given the level of detail). A monochrome 640x480 (guessing) bitmap alone already sucks up 38k of memory, and then it also needs to have some address space for the fonts, program code, state of the system itself. Maybe even a second bitmap for smoother updating of the screen. The extra speed may also help speed up those display updates.
Wonder how many of these they rolled out.
I donât know if â486â is your default go-to for old computers but they were mostly popular in the early 90s. I would think an XT or 286 would be more likely here from the time period (if itâs not something even simpler, this is not CPU heavy stuff).
Yep, plus the timeline for a 486 doesn't make any sense. I've edited it.
So confidently incorrect. Did you look at the picture of the panel? Do you know when 486 PCs were prevalent? Lol.
Yeah, I was thinking taking it out and just setting it up so that the screen itself turns on and you can sorta browse the menus. Hooking it back up to work with something is probably impossible lol, not without similarly dated equipment, I'd imagine.
So you actually have access to this? If so, you should definitely pull it out when possible and keep it around.
If you can't, I have a friend with a warehouse packed with stuff like this. He's especially interested in the odd, one-offs and "not for sale" items.
Oh god no, I wish I had access to this! I'm totally speculating lol.
CPU is a Toshiba TMP68008P-8 if you were curious
Oooh, even better, a 68K equipped system. Thanks for the correct info! How'd you pull that up?
Lol, i'm the OP, I looked at the processor
Oh hahaha, my bad! So, I presume you have taken it out completely? Do you have any photos for us to admire?
It's still there fully working as always running the HVAC security and some of the lighting still. Only change is we've moved the irrigation to a separate modern unit for smarter control but that system was still working when we moved the wires.
That is amazing that it's still in use. Such a novel system far ahead of its time. Would be nice to dump the eeproms in there for preservation! Do you know if there are any other surviving installs?
If you get the code right you might get yourself some stimpaks or a rad-x.
Just watch out for radroaches!
Fallout didnât invent green CRTs. Besides, the fallout terminals are 70s style, this is from 1990
[deleted]
Better than half the UIs for modern games
And gas pumps
Alright, so I'm not crazy for thinking that.
It certainly seems pretty intuitive.
I donât know why but I get spooky vibes from this. I feel like you would see this in a bad guyâs house in a sci fi movie from the 80s
The house is the bad guy
You mean like in Demon Seed? I'll link it here as cover of this book has nice retro style too: https://www.computerhistory.org/timeline/1973/
Tangentially related, there was an X-Files episode for I think it was an office building, where it achieved sentience(iirc), and tried to kill the team
There was also a Simpsons sketch about that ( a house trying to kill homer). Known because the Bond at the time voiced the house
đŻ
Die hard - nakatomi tower has basically this as their interface at the reception desk.
I hope it makes the same beeps
Didn't the abusive husband from Sleeping With the Enemy have a setup like this?
Only if it has the voice of David Warner
I'm pretty sure there was a horror movie where the computer went psycho.
Itâs because Disney had a movie about the in house system taking over
Smart house
Didn't the guy that brought the hookers home have a similar system?
I was waiting to see the Wayland-Yutani logo.
[removed]
That was probably the last firmware update.
Firmware updates for systems like this used to come on eeprom chips, you'd have to pop the old one off one of the cards next to that patch panel and then slot the new one.
Probably EPROMs.
This install is from 1990, but the system came on the market in '85
The company went bust in 1999.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unity_Systems
So upgrading it, probably needs ripping everything out and starting again from scratch. It probably uses the X10 protocol, which despite Wikipedia's claim. Is a bit hard to get hold of these days.
uses the X10 protocol, which despite Wikipedia's claim. Is a bit hard to get hold of these days.
Is it? I see all the stuff we used to install back in the 90s available through Amazon. Only thing I don't see is a few of the more obscure 3rd party products, like DIN rail mount relays.
I had a chuckle at OPâs first comment about âblack screens with green monospaced textâ⌠we used to call them Green Screens back in the 80s.
WordStar..
Borland Sprint.
Db3 and lotus123
I still have some DBase III data in action.
Good enough for George RR Martin, who learned all of the keyboard shortcuts and still uses it today to write his books
He wrote the whole of Game of Thrones with WordStar
I just called them screens. Had no idea there were any other colors
There were orange and white ones too. But the orange ones suffered from terrible screen burn
[deleted]
A friend of mine who works in web development once said that he will only allow two pieces of technology in his house: a laser printer, and a gun next to the printer so he can shoot it if it makes a noise she doesn't like.
I would have LOVED to have this system in my house back in the day.
I'd love to have it today. I've never had any interest in a home automation system, but this is sick as hell.
This is totally the console interface in Alien: Isolation. Is it by Seegson Systems?
You always know a Working Joe.
Space 1999
I got an Aliens vibe while looking at that thing.
This seems like it would have cost as much as the house back then
That UI is gorgeous. Nostalgia for my old Apple IIe
Shall we play a game?
Cool. I assume it's still used?
yup, still fully functional
it actually has more integration than most smart home systems
It says 2014. How did this thong get around Y2k?
Aston Martin Lagonda dashboard
86 Buick Riviera had touch screens
A million times cooler than any of this alexa garbage.
Now that is fucking cool. Imagine what that must have cost back then.
Where's the screen that lets you unlock the safe so you can get those sweet Mentats and Nuka-Cola?
I can't even fathom how much that must have cost in '85
Another commenter said 10-15k$
Oh Lord. This would be the absolutely perfect home automation system for a McMansion. You could even call it "The McMansion" inside the System.
HVAC controls for the formal dying area, the snack corner, the dining bar and the couch all built in and renamable.
I'm just worried that it won't support enough sensors for all the differently slanted roofs.
Formal what area?
The dying area that's next to the living room :l
At that price point obviously you should have one, at least for guests. Friends and family can still use the casual dying area if you're more comfortable with that.
Dude I'm still cracking up about this typo. Thank you so much for pointing it out like this.
Anyone else remembers SMART HOUSE?? A Disney channel movie XD
Next level awesome
I get the robocop vibes, when he visits his old home.
[deleted]
Probably in the neighborhood of $10-15K. The PC running the system would be well over $2K just by itself, and there's a lot going on with this system as far as control hardware.
How was a touchscreen even possible back then
A grid of infrared photo eye beams built into the monitor frame. High tech stuff for the 80s.
Using LEDs and photocells in the screen border, crossing the screen in a light matrix . With your finger you were interrupting the light and with that data they calculate the position of the finger, much like chess coordinates.
Is there a homebridge plugin for this?
I would so much rather this than IoT devices.
That must have cost a mil to put in
Reminds me of Brazil, the film
This might actually be the second coolest thing made in 1985.
I'm number one of course.
Pretty sure thatâs a telescreen from 1984
You got that notification too huh
What would this cost back then?
Does the HVAC screen say 70c ? I'm pretty sure one would be dead at that temp.
I love how it also controls the exterior sprinklers and all the sprinkler points are labeled by what plant theyâre watering
Fallout 3 confirmed.
Tfw I upvoted the post 8 years ago and don't even remember
Reddit, man. It all blends together. I bet you don't even remember what you upvoted here earlier today.
Which goes to show how Reddit is just a massive waste of time. I doubt many people remember one post they saw from yesterday.
And yet you've been coming here for a decade.
Guilty.
Lmao, me too
Haha.. me too. This is weird.
I didnât upvote it but itâs apparently already in my saved posts. I thought it seemed vaguely familiar...
Same, wild.