Thirty years ago, a slick-talking vacuum salesman talked my grandmother into buying a fancy expensive Kirby vacuum.
He vacuumed our couches, carpets, and even large metal objects that he brought with him! My grandmother and I sat there in astonishment, witnessing the suction power and all the things this vacuum can do.
It wasn’t till many years later, in my late 20s, that I learned that the vacuum was a few dollars shy of $5000!
Nowadays, you spend a quarter or less of that on a comparable vacuum. What if I told you robot vacuums might not be as powerful as traditional vacuums, but they will outperform them in many other ways!
Robot vacuums are tremendous time-saving tools! Unlike traditional hand-operated vacuums, robot vacuums require little to no human intervention to operate. This allows you to use your time for more important things, like spending time with your loved ones, which is priceless and worth every dime!
Time-saving
If you’re anything like me and you value your time, then you’ll appreciate all the things a robot vacuum can do.
It’s been over three years since I ventured into the world of robot vacuums. The only time I use a broom is to sweep out deep crevices.
Other than that, my robot vacuum deals with 95 percent of the work when it comes to vacuuming the floor.
Other than essential maintenance, you can set it, then forget it.
Performance
In our home, we have a combination of tile, hardwood, and carpet floors. Our robot vacuum performs well on all of them.
We have light-colored rugs in our home, and sometimes it gets filled with dark-colored lint. Our robot vacuum can remove all of the dark-colored fiber.
Navigation
If you have stairs in your home, the more advanced robot vacs will divert its self away and not fall down the stairs.
Many Robo vacs will be able to climb thresholds.
If your Robo vac gets stuck somewhere in the house, you will be alerted via the app. No need to play, hide, and seek. The map will show you where your vac got stuck in the house.
Newer robot vacs can navigate around your dining room table and chair legs.
Convenience
No more lifting or moving furniture to clean underneath.
Because of the robot vacuum low-to-ground design, it goes under furniture like your beds and couches with ease.
The only adjustment we had to make was to our couches. We had to change the legs to accommodate the robot vacuum.
Our particular model needs around 4 inches of clearance to go underneath furniture.
Now any new furniture we purchase, we consider the clearance. It’s convenient having the robot vacuum clean under all the furniture in our home.
Schedule cleaning
Our robot vacuum is truly a set it, and forget it experience. We set it to clean twice a week, and that’s enough to keep our floors pretty spotless for the past three years we’ve been using it.
The only time we manually set it to clean is after dinners.
When we do taco night, food debris tends to get all over the floor. So I open the app and set it to go!
Improve air quality
Dust and cats make my allergies go crazy!
Ever since we started using the robot vacuum, I’ve noticed a dramatic improvement in the way I breathe.
I seldom wake up stuffed up nowadays.
It improves my mood when I breathe better!
I see the direct correlation between using the Robo vac and the improvement of air quality in my home.
App features
- Floor mapping – Every time your robot vac completes its cleaning cycle, it sends a report in map form. This shows you all the areas it’s been to. So you can check if it missed any areas of your home.
- Scheduling – With the scheduling set, you don’t have to think about cleaning your floors. The Robo vac will start vacuuming on its own.
When the battery runs low, it will go back to the charging station by itself, charge up and continue cleaning from where it left off.
- Spot cleaning – If you drop anything on the floor, you can manually move your Robo vac to the area and set it to spot clean.
The robot will clean in an outward motion focusing on the area where you set it down. Sometimes I even place it in the bedroom to clean up after the kids played in the room.
- Eco-mode -This function allows your Robo vac to run more efficiently. It reduces the power it uses, which will enable it to run quieter and longer in a cleaning run.
- Set no-go zones – In the app, you mark the area you don’t want your Robo vac to go — no need for additional specialized equipment.
- Remote cleaning – If you have unexpected guests dropping by, but you’re not home to clean the floor. You can set the Robo vac to start cleaning no matter where you are. All you need is an internet connection.
Maintenance
Maintenance is key to the life and performance of the device. Anything mechanical requires some degree of maintenance, no matter how basic it is.
In your robot vacuum’s lifetime, you will need to empty the dirt tray, clean or replace the roller, and clean the sensors.
We have a great article on robot vacuum cleaning and maintenance here
Prepping your house for cleaning
This might seem obvious, but be sure not to have wires on the floor when your robot vac is cleaning. Cables that are tucked behind tv units or dressers are okay. Also, cables clipped to the baseboard are okay.
Be mindful when you have pets. At this point, auto cleaning does not detect if your pet has an accident on the floor. So the robot vac will run over your pet’s mess and smear it around the house.
Pricing
Depending on the features you want, pricing will vary.
I broke down the quality of the bots into three price ranges.
$100 – $300 price range
Be mindful if you see anything that falls in this price range. There are so many cheap brands that seem like they have useful specs. But when actually using them, you’ll find out very quickly they are lackluster.
$300 – $600 price range
In this price range, you find many good entry-level brands. The more reputable brands have pretty good customer support. Many Chinese brands fall in this price range. If you choose to buy one, be mindful of choosing a brand with good support.
$600 – $1300+ price range
You’ll get some amazing features in this price range. However, It won’t completely be a hands-off approach.
You can expect features like a self-emptying dirt tray, mopping, advanced suction power for deep cleaning, and more.
Conclusion
If you were to put a dollar amount on your time, how much would it be? My time is valuable to me, and every second I can get back is priceless!
The time a robot vac saves me, I can spend that time doing something else. So even If I paid $5000 for a robot vac. I will eventually recoup the cost in my time savings.
Sweeping your floor can be an annoying chore. I believe most people want to spend their time doing what they love. One less task off your list can significantly impact your life! Robot vacuums are indeed a simple lifesaver!
