Robot Vacuum Buyer’s Guide: How to Select a Robot Cleaner for your Home?
A robot vacuum is an ultimate hi-tech vacuum cleaner that runs on its own. It greatly reduces your chores and also cleans your flooring off any dust and dirt that tends to accumulate daily. A robot vacuum cleaner, also called as a robovac, is designed with intelligent programming to do different kinds of tasks. Some are designed to do just a single task, whilst others can perform multiple tasks at the same time. You can select the one that best suits your needs. But, before you decide to go for it, you need to know how to choose a robot vacuum that’ll suit your cleaning requirements. Are robot vacuums really worth buying? What are features you need to look for before buying a robot vacuum cleaner? This comprehensive robot vacuum buying guide elucidates everything you need to know before you purchase it! Firstly, vacuuming in itself is quite a tedious job, unless you really like to do it. A good robot vacuum can handle daily vacuuming tasks for you and save you couple of hours every week, depending on the size of your home. Here are some of the benefits of robot vacuums. To conclude, time-saving and convenience are two good reasons that make smart robot vacuums ideal for your home. Busy professionals, pet owners and families with young children are really going to make the most out of robot vacuums. Based on type of design, robot vacuums can be differentiated into following categories: Every brand offers robot vacuum cleaners with different features, functionality, shape and size. When choosing your ideal robot vacuum, look for not just its cleaning power, but also at variety of factors such as its battery life, technology incorporated, types of sensors, filter, and many more things. Before making your decision, make sure you consider following factors: What type of flooring does your home have? Robot vacuum cleaners are designed to work on hardwood, ceramic, laminated floors and tiles. Some can even move over thresholds of rugs and carpets. Smart robovacs will move in precise cleaning pattern, so as to save the flooring from wear and tear. Suction power is measured in Watts, and most robots fall under the range of 10 to 30 Watts; 10 being lowest and 30 being strongest. If not charged properly, a robot vacuum won’t perform to its full potential, even if it has powerful suction. Manufacturers generally specify battery run time of the robot, after which it will need recharging. A 2000mAh Lithium battery provides enough battery runtime to handle a big house of 200 sq. meters. No matter what kind of battery the vacuum uses, its runtime will reduce over time and eventually the battery will need replacement. Make sure to look at the battery replacement options before making the decision of purchase. Walking towards the robot every time you want to instruct it, is quite tiresome. Which is why, some brands provide you with a remote control along with the package. With a remote control, you can activate your robot, instruct it with different commands and even direct it manually towards a particular spot for cleaning. A robot vacuum often comes incorporated with different cleaning modes, in order to cater your cleaning needs. Few of the most common cleaning modes would be: Manual Steering mode is also quite common, where you direct your robot manually via remote control or through app to clean small mess. Sure, robot vacuums can automatically clean the entire level of your home. But the real question is, when and how? Do you have to manually activate it every time you need it to clean the room? Or do you always have to reach out for the remote control? That’s when the “Schedule cleaning” feature comes into the picture. The ability to schedule cleaning cycles- any time of the day or once a week, is an important feature, especially for those who are mostly outdoors. You can schedule it for a time that is most convenient for your pets and family, and it will “start” cleaning automatically. This will practically make it more “automatic”! Instead of random cleaning patterns, intelligent robot vacuums make use advanced navigation system for smart mapping of the room. This improves overall cleaning efficiency of the robovac. Without any navigation system, a robot will clean randomly in any direction and might leave off few dirty spots. Wi-Fi enabled robot vacuums connect to your Wi-Fi network, allowing you to control them virtually, just like a remote control. All you need to do is install a particular app on your smartphone. Not just activate your robovac, but you can schedule it, check its battery life, cleaning progress and dustbin level. You will also receive notifications on your smartphone regarding the cleaning status of your bot. It’s practically impossible for user to shift furniture, or empty the house, every time the robot starts vacuuming. Hence, it is essential for a robovac to be integrated with smart sensors such as Cliff sensor, Drop sensor, Gyro, Collision sensor, LDS (laser distance sensor), Ultrasonic Radar sensor, etc., That is so the robovac can map a floor plan and avoid stairways, drop offs and obstacles. Some even have Dirt Sensors, so they can literally make sure the floor is crystal clear with no signs of dirt. Laser robot is able to save the map for future reference of cleaning cycles. While, high-end robots comprise of multiple floor plan feature, where it can save several floor plans at a time. Filter plays a vital role in vacuuming, as the job is not done by just suctioning dirt and dust alone. Collected dirt and debris needs to get caught on the integrated filter. Better the quality of filter, less allergens will be released back into air! If you are mostly going to be at home, whilst your robot vacuum operates, you might want to consider its noise level. Make sure you check the noise level a robot vacuum generates, before purchase. If you don’t want your robot to cross a certain area or room, you need to look for the one that comes with some kind of barrier. High-end robot vacuums include “Virtual Wall barriers”, whereas average ones come with “Magnetic tape” that is to be laid on the floor. These barriers will prevent your robovac from getting stuck into tricky areas or bump into your pet’s water bowl or floor vase. Few bots allow you to draw boundaries via smartphone app as well. Cheap robots won’t include any boundary markers at all.What is a Robot Vacuum and how it works?
Should I get a Robot Vacuum?
Types of Robot Vacuums
Factors to Consider before buying a Robot Vacuum
Types of Flooring
Battery Life
Automatic Recharging
Remote Control
Cleaning Modes
Scheduling
Navigation Technology
Wi-Fi Connectivity
Smart Sensors
Types of Filter
Noise level
Weight and Shape
Boundary Markers
Dustbin size
Size of the dustbin is not really a major deciding factor, as most bots have optimally sized dustbin.
If you have pets, the bin might get full quicker than you’d like. But, after few weeks of cleaning cycles, the robot vacuum will eventually have less buildup of hair to clean. Then, the size of the bin won’t be such a big deal.
Very few, high-end robots have Automatic Dirt Disposal feature, where users don’t even need to touch the dustbin for emptying. Such robot will automatically empty itself.
Transportation Wheels
Many robovac models roll over wheels or castors to navigate across home.
Very few models come with a track, instead of wheels. Even these robots can easily transition from hardwood floors to carpets, without getting stuck.
Floor Coverage
Make sure you read the specifications carefully. Some robot vacuums are only designed to use on solid flooring, whereas some can go over low or medium-pile carpeting.
How to Clean and Maintain a Robotic Vacuum?
In truth, robot vacuums demand regular maintenance for them to run efficiently.
Filters and other small parts need to be replaced timely. And, the dustbin also needs to be emptied when full or at least once a week.
Also, make sure the replacement parts of the robovac you want, are easily available in the market. You don’t want to install some cheap knockoffs into your robot, due to unavailability of original parts.
How long do Robot Vacuums last?
Robot vacuums can last anywhere from 4 years to 8 years, depending upon how you maintain them. This count can go down if you opt for cheaper robot vacuum cleaners; they won’t last as long as the high-end ones. Mostly, cheaper models don’t even come with replacement batteries or brushes, rather they are meant to be disposable, which is a huge downside.
As for high-end models, they can last for a whopping 8 years, if you do proper maintenance and use it in an efficient manner.
Are robot vacuums worth it?
Robot cleaners are great at performing cleaning jobs on daily basis. They can potentially reduce the time you spend in doing regular vacuuming, as all you need to do is just schedule them to run every day at a specific time.
Many robot vacuums are Wi-Fi enabled and also smartphone-connected, so they can efficiently map and clean the entire level of your home. And, you can even prompt them to start, stop or pause vacuuming via smartphone while you’re away.
They work best in picking up loose debris and dust on hard floors and low-piles, and some can even run on carpets too.
So according to us, robotic vacuum are definitely worth investing in, especially for people who don’t have enough time to vacuum daily.
Is robot vacuum good for Indian homes?
A robot vacuum is a perfect addition to a modern Indian home as this smart floor cleaning robot can go underneath the furniture like beds, tables and chairs that are often not accessible in regular cleaning. Also, it works on its own, making it ideal for smart homes.
Which automatic vacuum cleaner is best?
Now the real question most of you might have is, which automatic vacuum cleaner is best?
If you ask us, we think navigation is the most important thing in a robot vacuum. Good navigation programming will allow the robotic cleaner to smartly navigate across your home without getting trapped or lost. Your best robot vacuum has to be self-reliant, demanding less interference from users and traversing effortlessly across rooms.
Other significant specifications in a robot cleaner include strong suction power, good brush action, long battery life, and replaceable parts. Key specification may differ from person to person, as someone might require one feature, while others look for the complete opposite.
That being said, your best robotic vacuum cleaner might be the one that fulfils your cleaning requirements, whilst also meeting your budget.
Conclusion
Indeed, Robot vacuum cleaner is future of smart home cleaning!
If you want a spotless home, then robot vacuum is probably what you need right now. Anyone who doesn’t have the time to vacuum each and every day or week, is going to make the most out of an intelligent robot vacuum. They are smart, efficient and they clean like a boss!
According to our opinion, the best robot vacuum cleaner is the one that offers optimal cleaning path with good navigation technology, intuitive sensors, fairly long battery life and a detangling brush.
We hope this guide helped you understand different factors you need to consider before buying your best robot vacuum.
Best Robot Vacuum Cleaner in India 2022
Which robot vacuum to buy? Well, it all really comes down to your budget, desired features and cleaning requirements. Go for the one that fits well in all these factors.
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Top 10 Best Robot Vacuum Cleaner in India (2021) | Automatic Vacuum Floor Cleaners (Dry, Wet & Mop)
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