We just got a new vacuum, too--so much better than the old, worn-out one. (The old one was hubby's back when he was a bachelor, so it has been around for quite awhile.)

As for central vacuums in the US, we lived in a parsonage that had one installed, and that was in metro-Atlanta, GA. My mother-in-law has one in her house, too, also in Georgia. I don't know that they are that unusual.