You may be considering a Roomba or other robot vacuum for the pure convenience they offer. But, there are likely a few concerns you have right out of the gate.
Here are a few common questions we have gotten about people considering buying a Roomba or other robot vacuum.
Do Roombas Work On Carpet?
One of the biggest things I was concerned about before buying my first robot vacuum was its potential performance on carpet. So, how well does a Roomba work on carpet?
The Roombas performance on carpet is great. It doesn't struggle pulling up debris on carpet any more than it does on hard surfaces. In fact, as long as the carpet isn't an extremely high-pile type, the Roomba works best on carpet.
The brushes of the Roomba are designed to be used primarily on carpeted floors, and work most effectively on low pile, fully carpeted homes.
How Often Should Your Roomba Clean?
Now that you know how well a Roomba will work on carpeted floors, you're probably wondering another widespread question -- how often should your robot vacuum run?
I run my robot vacuum every other day. This leaves my home looking clean almost all the time. I have a dog and a cat, and this schedule does a great job keeping pet hair and cat litter at bay.
However, if you have more pets or a larger home, you may have to run your Roomba on a different cleaning schedule. If you have more factors that will cause dirt, hair, or other debris to accumulate more quickly, you can run your Roomba 4-5 times a week without issue. On the flip side, if you have a small home, no pets, and no kids, running your Roomba once or twice a week will be plenty.
How Well Does a Robot Vacuum Actually Clean?
How can a robot vacuum possibly clean as well as an upright vacuum? Well, the truth is most of them can't, but they can absolutely take the edge off and make it so that you only have to vacuum a few times a year, as opposed to multiple times per month.
If you're just trying to keep your floors from being filthy, and don't need deep cleaning, most robot vacuums are good for this. They cut the amount of time you need to spend cleaning your floors down to almost nothing.
I am (obviously) huge into vacuums, and I have owned a variety of robot, upright, and cordless vacuums in my day. By far my favorite is actually a robot vacuum, but it's not a Roomba, it's the Neato Botvac D7. This bad boy cleans just about as good as an upright. When I say I love this vacuum, I am not kidding. I call it my "robot son". Ever since I got the Botvac D7, I have not vacuumed my 4 bedroom house once. Not. Once.
This particular vacuum is one that I always recommend, especially if you want something that can completely eliminate the need for an upright vacuum. It maps your entire home ane methodically goes about cleaning it on whatever schedule you want. You can also set "no-go" areas within the app. These are areas where the robot vacuum won't clean, such as a messy room, stairs, or other area it may get stuck.
All in all, robot vacuums are fantastic. Once you get one you don't really go back. However, not all of them are created equally. The lower cost ones don't have the power or navigation capability to replace the need to vacuum fully, but premium models like the Botvac D7 absolutely have that capability.
What other questions about robot vacuums do you have? Let us know in the comments section below!