Experience with robot vacs?

[AZjeff]

The flooring in this house is 100% vinyl plank, (love it). With only a couple of area rugs and not crowded with furniture this seems like a good candidate for one of these vacs. Looking for any experience using one (not opinions but it's the internet so opine away

). Twice a week sweeping isn't a big deal but if it could be say once a week touch up instead I'm interested. There is dog hair...

The price seems to have come down a bunch since they came out.

 

[CT8]

There was a post a while ago but I am thinking about getting one as well,

 

[AZjeff]

Missed it.

Found a recent thread, not much in it.

 

[RamFan]

We've had our Roomba for a little over 3 years and love it. With 2 cats, 1 dog and a house that it mostly carpet we wanted help in picking up the hair. We have it programmed for 3 days a week, it runs for about an hour then docks itself to charge until the next programmed time.

I'd recommend one.

 

[tomcat27]

We've had one for a couple of years. ( 3 dogs) we run it every two days. it's entertaining - the first time it ran for two hours. after it learns, it doesn't take as long. occasionally it gets stuck, or confused. it's surprising how much it picks up .

 

[tcp71]

I love the posts where the dog has an accident on the floor and the roomba spreads it around the house for hours.

 

[Smoky14]

Jeff: Didn't you know, dust is a southwest accent.
Smoky

 

[dlundblad]

Originally Posted by tcp71
I love the posts where the dog has an accident on the floor and the roomba spreads it around the house for hours.


I was thinking the same thing!

 

[ET16]

I had one and sold it. It didn't pick up enough.

 

[BMWTurboDzl]

They work really well on solid flooring. If you can buy a model which can map the room. We have one of the early models which randomly bumps into sh!t. Drives me nuts.

For the record we don't use the scheduling feature because sometimes it'll get stuck under a couch or something.

 

[grampi]

I saw a youtube video of one that ran over a dog pile...what a nightmare of a mess! It ruined the bot and made a complete mess of the house...moral of the story? I guess if you have one, make sure it's not going to run over something it wasn't meant to clean up...

 

[AZjeff]

Originally Posted by Smoky14
Jeff: Didn't you know, dust is a southwest accent.
Smoky


This house is so tight dust isn't really a problem. Dog hair not bad but easier to keep ahead of it. We do have a puppy and house training is a work in progress but she's contained at night so the poop floor polish wouldn't be an issue.


Here's one of the Roomba + poop vids, these people had hygiene problems before they got the Roomba from the looks of it:

 

[NeoDad]

We have one and it's pretty okay so far. Since you have less carpets, robovacs should do just fine. Unless you have those shaggy kind of carpet, the robots will get stuck. I think that's one thing you need to know before getting one of these things, haha. They sometimes eat up wires, so you will have to do "pre-cleaning" yourself, free your floors with any cable or thread that it might try to suck.

 

[Donald]

I have used a Roomba and a Scooba (mops floors). The worked fine but after a couple of years they broke and too expensive to fix. Not like you through on a $6 belt and it's up and running again.

 

[StevieC]

I bought a Chinese Knock-off Roomba from Ali-Express and was so happy with it I bought one for my parents and in-laws. They are about 6 years old now and I have had to change the battery pack in the one and the other had a wheel motor go bad but it's a modular easy to change part. All in all with daily use and keeping the pet hair from building up, I have to say I'm thrilled with them.

They were $200 CDN Each ($140 USD).

 

[greenjp]

Recently got a Roomba 690, it works pretty well. Not sure about any "mapping" because it definitely seems to go in more of a random, bump into things mode. Our house is 3 stories so I doubt it has any idea where it is

Picks up more than you'd expect, and the precleaning it requires is a bonus of sorts. I tell the kids "clean up for the Roomba" and off they go. I have mostly figured out the spots it likes to get stuck in so make sure to prep those spots ahead of time. it seems to do fine both on hardwood and carpets.

The other vacuum in the house is a old school Electrolux canister that we still use for more deliberate vacuuming, and of course on the stairs. Not using it as much now that we have the Roomba.

jeff

 

[greenjp]

Follow up question for the Roomba users - thoughts on maintenance parts? Sorta like with ink jet cartridges there are many 3rd party replacement filters, brushes, rollers, etc at dramatically lower prices than the official Roomba stuff. Suprisingly few thorough discussions of the subject came up on Google. Found one that seemed reasonably well done on Wirecutter that suggested the filters were the place to economize but the brushes and whatnot are probably best to stick with OEM.

jeff

 

[PandaBear]

Was thinking about it, but after looking at our own mess (too many obstacle, too many junk on the floor, too many kids toys), forget about it.

 

[cb450sc]

We have had a Rooba since they first came out. I had to replace the battery a few years ago with an aftermarket (less than half OEM) and it is still going strong. Every once in a while it starts in some weird pattern on the floor and I know it is time to put air to the sensors. They do an okay job in between "real" vacuuming.