Robotic vacuums

[Ready]

You obviously don't have pets that shed. It's been a number of years since our Roomba experiments, but unless they have quintupled the dust bin size I suspect we'd still have the same problem. Ours used to return to the dock after doing about half of the area because it was full. Every day. We'd have to empty it at least twice/day. Our dogs (pugs and chihuahuas) shed faster than the vacuum can meander.

I would be interested if they had one that could connect to our central vacuum system and unload itself. I'd just put it on a permanent run cycle and never have to vacuum again.

I don’t think any models can connect to a central vacuum but they do make a number of models that self empty into a much larger bin, like this one:

https://www.amazon.com/iRobot-Roomb...child=1&keywords=Roomba&qid=1603371843&sr=8-8

 

[Dd852]

Add me to the crew that never thought I’d get something like that but am now totally converted. Roomba 976. My DW talks to it - like a pet.

 

[VanWinkle]

I bought this one:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07X53V3V6/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

It was on sale for $200 for Prime Days. I’m guessing they will have another similar sale for Black Friday.

I went with a Eufy vacuum because they are manufactured by Anker. I’ve purchased many products from Anker and their customer service is the best I’ve experienced with any product. They have been willing to do whatever it takes to make the customer happy and they are really responsive to any issues with their products. The Roomba products are also very good.

I own the same unit and it has worked flawlessly for me.
I was also skeptical at first, but quickly realized how well the unit cleaned the
floor.

 

[Badger]

How did you convince her to any cleaning tasks? The cleaning tasks are mine, be it vacuum the floor, rubbing the shower, bathtub, wash the cars etc...

That is where the cleaning service came into play. Since I like to keep the cars clean that isn't an issue for me.


Cheers!

 

[Sue J]

We have a Roomba that we got last Nov during Black Friday. It's wonderful on the wood floors and especially the kitchen floor. I do move all the chairs out of the way, just to make it easier to work under the table.

We have carpeting in the living room and one of the downstairs bedrooms. The carpet is old. We also have a dog. The Roomba works very well with the dog hair and dust bunnies on the wood floors but on the carpet, especially in the areas that the dog likes, the Roomba runs and runs and fills up but never completes the job before getting a battery notice. So I section off the living room into two areas and get better results. I don't think it's an issue with the Roomba, I think it's the dog hair and the old carpet.

For the wood floors and the kitchen floor it's wonderful!

 

[CoolRich59]

How many of you have a robo-vacuum with some smarts in it (like with room mapping capabilities and avoiding certain areas, etc)? Mine was a dumb one that went places randomly, and it got too annoying for me after a while as it vacuumed some places over and over but didn't vacuum some areas, and had to be rescued as it wanted to go to places it couldn't handle.

I had this same issue with ours (Ecovacs Deebot N79). It regularly got stuck, kept going over the same space and not moving to the other side of the room, much less moving to another room, and even though I got a second docking station, it invariably could not locate either of them and had to be manually placed so it could recharge.

I had decided to dump it and upgrade to one with geofencing capability, but then saw that a very basic robo-vac (eufy Anker BoostIQ 11s) was on sale on Woot for $150.

I gave it a try and it's been great. Even though it is built very similar to the Deebot, its performance has been night and day different. It rarely gets stuck, it runs from room to room, and even if its on the other end of the house when the battery runs low, it finds its way back to the charging dock.

It is a terrific little robo-vac!

 

[Jerry1]

We got one for Christmas a couple years ago. It's one of the dumb ones and it irritates me more than it's worth. However, it is great at getting under the bed. We pick up the rugs and close the bedroom door and let it go. Much easier than trying to clean under the bed with a canister vacuum. Does a plenty good enough job for our floors (laminate that looks like hardwood - smooth).

 

[Chuckanut]

We have a Roomba that we got last Nov during Black Friday. It's wonderful on the wood floors and especially the kitchen floor. I do move all the chairs out of the way, just to make it easier to work under the table.

We have carpeting in the living room and one of the downstairs bedrooms. The carpet is old. We also have a dog. The Roomba works very well with the dog hair and dust bunnies on the wood floors but on the carpet, especially in the areas that the dog likes, the Roomba runs and runs and fills up but never completes the job before getting a battery notice. So I section off the living room into two areas and get better results. I don't think it's an issue with the Roomba, I think it's the dog hair and the old carpet.

For the wood floors and the kitchen floor it's wonderful!

FWIW, I put a new battery (about $30 IIRC) in my old Roomba a few years ago and the old thing had a new lease on life. It was noticeably quicker and the one could almost hear the extra energy at work. Now, various parts are failing and it's not worth fixing.

 

[TrvlBug]

We bought a Shark yesterday. High end one that maps. BBB had a sale and with their 20% off coupon, it reduced the price by $150 . I think it was the IQ but it's too much effort to get out of the chair to look...I'm in a full leg knee brace due to being stupid yesterday. ER yesterday, PCP video appt today, MRI tomorrow with orthopedic surgeon on Monday. Not a happy camper. When will 2020 be over .

 

[Amethyst]

Any hint how it would handle Mexican Saltillo tile floors, which create a not-very-even surface?

 

[REWahoo]

Any hint how it would handle Mexican Saltillo tile floors, which create a not-very-even surface?

Based on our Eufy, no problem.

 

[Wishing]

With three dogs, two of which are heavy shedders, I have found my Rromba to be a godsend. I turn it loose every other day, and dog hair is no longer a problem. My husband sheds man glitter (sawdust) all over the house, and the Roomba handles that like a champ as well. Don’t know how I lived without it.

 

[martyp]

I’ve always viewed these robotic vacuums as an expensive gimmick. Congratulations to those of you who have them and like them. I live in Thailand. No one has carpets here and more importantly everyone removes their shoes before entering a house. It is pretty easy to tell how dirty the floor is with your bare feet and the reality is that floors are pretty clean. It would only be useful here to sweep up debris under the sofa.

 

[someguy]

Any dog owners have issues? Either dogs "attacking" them like toys or being terrorized by them?

 

[calico1597]

We bought a new Samsung stove at Best Buy a couple years ago, a Samsung vacuum robot was free with stove purchase. With being a freebie, I'm sure it's not high end, but I'm amazed at what it picks up. Of course we named it Sam and talk to it.

 

[street]

^ lol, I was wondering if people are naming them.

 

[Vinnygret]

I bought this one:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07X53V3V6/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

It was on sale for $200 for Prime Days. I’m guessing they will have another similar sale for Black Friday.

I went with a Eufy vacuum because they are manufactured by Anker. I’ve purchased many products from Anker and their customer service is the best I’ve experienced with any product. They have been willing to do whatever it takes to make the customer happy and they are really responsive to any issues with their products. The Roomba products are also very good.

It so happens that the Eufy vacuums are highly rated in Consumer Reports

 

[daylatedollarshort]

Any dog owners have issues? Either dogs "attacking" them like toys or being terrorized by them?

I have two robotic vacuums and a mopper and they all terrorize the dog. I have my husband take the dog in the backyard while he does yard work and then I run all three at the same time in different areas of the house.

 

[Ready]

I learned my first lesson of using a robot vacuum in a home with a dog. Always walk the area being cleaned first and check for dog poop.

Unfortunately I only learned that lesson after finding my vacuum covered in poop this morning. Took me an hour to take it apart and clean it all out. I’m never going to let that happen again. Yikes.

 

[Animorph]

DS's Roomba doesn't seem to bother his dog (a border collie) or cats. I was worried when it came up behind the dog, who was ignoring it. But the dog just moved off a bit when it got too close. I'd hate to see her furry tail sucked into the vac, but it never happened.

 

[DayDreaming]

This thread inspired me to finally buy a robotic vacuum, since I'd been considering it for a long time now.
Now that I have it, not sure if it's really a great solution for my house. I have small rooms, and with furniture and lots of clutter, there aren't a lot of big open spaces - the vacuum has a hard time navigating and I feel sorry for it when I see it struggling to get of a corner.
On the plus side, it might force me to declutter the house and get rid of all the junk I have stacked on floor along the walls. Maybe then it can do a better job.

 

[Dawg52]

I received an E5 Roomba as a Christmas gift a couple of years ago. Wow....what a great present from my nephew's family. I have a dog that sheds year round and this thing does a great job of picking up his hair. Some places it can't get to but it is a big help getting dirt and hair from underneath the bed.

 

[eroscott]

I don’t know why they do that. I just dump the bin into the trash and brush off the filter with a paper towel. It takes no more than five seconds. I’m not hauling out my manual labor vacuum to vacuum my robot vacuum.

I clean the filter by running them under the kitchen sink faucet and lightly brush the peaks/valleys with an old toothbrush. I do the 'clean' side first to 'push' out the fine dust into the other side. Then flip and clean the dirty (inlet) side. This only take a minute.

I have a couple of filters and rotate them weekly.

 

[eroscott]

^ lol, I was wondering if people are naming them.

Ours is named 'SuckIt' in the app.

 

[eroscott]

We've had an iRobot Roomba 980 since Sept 2016 and like it very much.

Initially, we ran it a couple of times per week (scheduled within app) and then as your floors get cleaner from consistent regular cleaning, we've been able to do it once per week. You can tell the job by how full the bin is and the filter. Runtimes are consistent. It does have some 'boost' option when it detects more dirt in an area and stays there longer.

I take it upstairs about 1/4th the time.