Robot Vacuums
 

I have been thinking of getting a botvac. I think the most popular kind is the iRobot Roomba. My daughter has the Neato brand and truly loves it. I have wood floors with area rugs which she doesn't, and am wondering if anyone on this board has one, what kind, and what they think of them. Do they get stuck trying to go from wood floors to an area rug? What has been your experience with them and what kind do you have?

Will be watching this too.Thanks for starting the thread.

I had one at one time. If the rugs have fringe on them the ro-bo vac will get tangled on it. Other than that it should not be a problem. I sure do miss mine. It died.

I gave my Roomba away - one of my cats kept sleeping on it, and he'd step on the buttons and fire it up - it'd run loose in the house all day and finally run out of juice and it'd take me forever to find it! (Because of course it never died in plain view, always under some furniture in some back room you'd never expect it!)

I also had to clean it out constantly, often halfway through a cycle, because our lab/husky shed more than the little compartment could handle.

Both of those pets have passed away since, so I'm considering a new Roomba. Aside from those issues, I really liked my Roomba, and I know they've improved since I had mine - the waste compartment is larger and now they've got ones smart enough to park themselves back on the charger when it's running low on juice. It actually did a really good job on our laminate & tile floors, and usually had no trouble with our area rugs either. One rug with a curly corner would sometimes catch it, but rugs that lay properly flat were no trouble for it at all. It came with infrared "walls" that you could set up to confine it to a certain space. Pretty cool, if you ask me!

LOL Sewnoma.....I can picture a cat sleeping on it and stepping on the buttons!

have a romba sitting in a box & never used it as you have to set up zones for it

I have a Neato and really like it. I have Pergo, tile, and area rugs and it does fine with all 3.

I just received a roomba 620 recently and I love it. It does any kind of flooring. I used it right out of the box without setting up zones, but eventually I will read the instructions fully and set those zones up. I have a dog and a cat and it picked up the hair nicely, and also picked up the kitty litter (I have a new kitten so the litter was getting tossed out of the box constantly). It's pretty noisy, but I just turn it on when I leave the house or when I am in the sewing room.

Hmmm, would it follow my three cats around the house? Might be worth it.

I have7 Roombas...4 in use now mine all came with parking chargers...meaning when they are finished with the room, they return to the base to be recharged. Only one of mine has a clock/ calendar on board ...you set the days and the times that you want it to run. It comes w/ virtual wall scheduler that sets auto when you set the Roomba. I think it is
the 600 series, but I've had it several years. [ATTACH=CONFIG]567341[/ATTACH]It it talks. and tells you to clean, or object in the brushes. I had a 500 that son took it. The others are the 400 series and I have virtual wall and remote scheduler. These let you use the remote to set time & day, and you have to "aim" at the virtual wall also. I love my robots..I don't like replacing battery-- they are abt $25-30 at eBay, but a lot more at iRobot. Yes, rug fringe is a problem...I got rid of mine. They climb other rugs easily.

I had one and it wouldn't get around the dining room chairs, just make passes under the table leaving around the chair legs and under the chairs not vacuumed. I still had to use my vacuum. So if I had to drag out the vacuum I may as well vacuum the floor. The big open areas it worked fine.

Watch out for fringes on area rugs, as they get caught in the brushes. Do your research for prices, repairs and strength. Works well on pet hair and goes under couches. Neato is a reliable brand for us.

I have a Roomba & I really like it! I turn it on when I run errands, but it is very quiet - can talk on the phone & hear TV when it is running. I didn't program zones, but will close doors or set footstool in the way so it covers certain areas at certain times. When I'm home, I just let it go. It hasn't gotten tangled in anything yet. It has a docking station & can be programmed for days/time. It does carpeting, tile & scatter rugs (no fringe).

pull it out of the box and use it--you CAN set up the zones, but we just close the doors for rooms we don't it going in!
Have a Roomba--got 2 yrs ago and it's not the largest/most powerful (maybe a 650??). We have 2 dogs that shed non-stop so have to empty the dust containers several times during the cycle and have to clean out the brushes each cycle too.
One problem we have is that it does great on the laminate and tile, but on the area rug it "drops" the dog hair around the edge. But does help with our dog hair issue and with both Dh and I having bad knees, sure helps! We call it "Thomas" after the wayward butler in Downton Abbey cause it always sees to wander into rooms we did not intend!

This inquiry leads me to remember of a posting on FB that someone had a pet that pottied on the floor. The "roomba" did it's thing when nobody was around and it did a very effective job running through that and distributing tracks all over the carpet!

Both, my daughter & my cousin, had one when they first came out several years ago. Neither one lasted very long at all especially for the price. We thought maybe they didn't last very long because they both had pets & of course pet hair. They probably are much better today. Products usually are when they have been on the market for awhile. I would love to have one because vacuuming really bothers my back since my injury. It isn't in the budget but maybe someday.

My DD's friend had one and set it up and went to work. The dog got sick and messed up the floor and the vac, ran through it time after time and when she got home the floors were in such a mess she had to call carpet cleaners to do her floors. So if you have one be sure your pets are not sick when you run it.

We do not have one. Bro does - has an older one that he's had for several years. He definitely has to clean more frequently and thoroughly than suggested due to the dog hair (2 dogs). When we get rid of the carpet left in the house I might consider one. Otherwise, I'll just keep my love affair going with my Dyson Animal.

Okay, I just ordered one. Hope my dogs don't go wild chasing it or maybe running from it depending on their personality.

If you have hairy pets, the Roomba is going to be your new best friend especially if you get one of the higher end ones. My DIL used her first bonus to buy hers. It is the highest end Roomba you could buy. Named it Rosie (Jetson's maid!) and it's the best thing since sliced bread. Dog hair problems are gone. She even uses her phone to run it while she's at work. It docks itself when it needs charging or just stops and announces it needs to be emptied. The higher end one seems to have a higher capacity for pickup and is easier to dump and keep cleared out. I bought a mid range one for my little fishing shack and it does a better job than my vacuuming ever did. No problems from carpet to tile to hardwood either. Even goes over electric cords. It can get stuck if you have something that it can clear but is on a slant and it gets itself stuck in the wedge. Think treadmill. But that is a minor problem and easily monitored. Doesn't happen often. Emptying is easier with the higher end one as well. It is worth the difference to go with the more expensive model so I bought the best one for my other DIL after they treated me to a trip to DisneyWorld. They have two dogs and love it as well.

I always like the videos with a cat riding the Roomba.

My son and daughter-in-law gifted an iRobot to me for Christmas. I have a bad back and vacuuming is a real strain. This is, IMHO, the most useful appliance in the house after the refrigerator. I live in a 2400 sq ft rancher with carpet (living room, family room, bedrooms), vinyl (kitchen and laundry room), ceramic tile (bathrooms), and flagstone (foyer). Clive the cleaner (I've named him) roams all over the place for a couple of hours and I love it ! I did have to come up with a sneaky way to prevent him from getting trapped under the front edge of the dishwasher though.

I agree with what you've said--our, Thomas after the wayward Downton Abbey butler, gets stuck under the dishwasher too--so we just fold up the throw rug there.

OMG, you guys are such enablers! Sammy, my Neato D5 arrived today and is busy vacuuming the upstairs for me. I think I'm in love........

How long do the batteries last? Someone said cost of battery on eBay was $25-$30. I'm interested if they last a long time. And how many batteries do they take?

my Roomba recharges on a docking station that is plugged into an electrical socket--don't think it has batteries.

They don't work well with area rugs.

Battery type depends on which brand you go with. The older models use batteries that do not stay charged as long. The newer models (such as my Neato D5 and D3) use lithium ion batteries. These hold a charge much longer.

One thing I would mention to those consider the Neato D5 (the one I bought). I think you'd do better to buy the D3, which is $200 less. For about $65, you can buy the D5 replacement battery on Amazon and put it in the D3 and it will last like a D5. The D5 lithium ion battery is about twice the capacity of the one the D3 comes with. When you buy replacement filters, you can buy the upgraded filters that the D5 comes with and they too fit fine in the D3. It saves you over $100.

One thing I will mention is that the vacuum is noisier than I expected, especially on hardwood. It's not nearly as noisy on carpet. But I think it's just because any vacuum has to generate enough suction to pick up things. I mention this because I wouldn't like to listen to tv in a room where the vac is working, and my dh is afraid if I run it at night he will wake up and hear it (because he is very sensitive to unusual noises in the house). Also, a botvac doesn't completely eliminate the need to hand vacuum carpets. You still want to hand vacuum once in awhile to get enough suction to get more of the dust etc. out of carpeting. The botvac is enough for hard flooring, though.

Still and all, I love it. It does a good job, and it frees me up so I can be doing laundry or something else while it works. Also, it got into all the corners and under the bed where it is difficult for me to reach.

I do clear off the floor before I start it, moving cords out of the way and placing obstacles up on the countertop. But that is well worth it for the cleaning job it does. I'm hoping it will pick up a lot less each time I use it. This first go-through it is picking up a lot of dust bunnies, etc.

Edit: To answer your question, my dh looked it up and says the battery on our D5 can last 3 hours at a time on a full charge. I would expect the D3 battery lasts about an hour and a half. On the machine itself, it recommends changing the filter every 1 to 2 months, the brush every 6 months, and the lithium ion battery every 2 years or so.

All together it sounds a little pricey. I'll need to think on it more.