It is true that most of the world's urban areas are becoming larger, with megacities like Delhi, Jakarta, Shanghai, Beijing and Manila adding more than five million people in the last decade and most other urban areas are growing, but not as fast.
1 With professional installation, a central vacuum system can cost $800-$4,000, but averages about $1,200-$2,000 for new home construction (or as part of a remodeling project where the walls are already torn open) and $1,500-$2,500 for retrofitting an existing house.
He insisted that if the fan motor ever stopped then the compressor had also burned out, no doubt about it! I asked how much and he said it would be at least $2,500, as it's probably a four or five ton unit (4.5 tons, to be exact). I asked how much for just the motor and he said around $200 installed, but that it would be a waste of money. We went back and forth on this for a couple of minutes, with me finally telling him to either replace the motor or leave.