Robot Vacuums Pros / Cons

[Heather Loyal]

Is anyone using robot vacuums in their units? I would love to hear any pros or cons of this idea.

[Emily Wilson]

Quote from @Heather Loyal:

Is anyone using robot vacuums in their units? I would love to hear any pros or cons of this idea.

 That's funny. I was literally wondering the same thing this morning. I would like the idea in theory especially because I will allow small dogs and some of those vacuums are really good for that. However, they require floors to be clear and people to empty them, so I talked myself out of it 

[Scott Mac]

I use a Rumba at home.

The lower priced units are louder (whistling noise), and may not have as good of a guidance code as the higher priced units, making them run longer over the same space.

The make quiet ones with better guidance systems (extra cost).

The ones that do not empty their own trash, will just shut down and sit there, verbally telling you the bin is full.

If they get caught up on the edge of a rug, or a sheet hanging down from the bed, they are disabled until a human comes and rescues them.

Some do carpets, some do tile floors, some do both.

Mission critical cleaning with no human present, seems like it has some risk.

Co-cleaning with someone present seems like it works better, due to having someone to rescue it from the dreaded sheet edge hanging off the bed, or the T-shirt on the floor getting stuck in a wheel--and then it's Rumba Code xxxxxx Please Fix Me...

For home use, it works great, and the whistle is less loud than a commercial vacuum cleaner.

If your lifestyle is more on the messy side, with clutter all over, this is probably not a solution, because it needs to access the floor and cannot move things.

For convenience (they dock to charge and memorize where they are at) have one on each floor.

Just my 2 cents.

[Allen Duan]

I considered this for one of our nicer properties before but decided against it because of the high level of maintenance these vacuums need. I use one at home and we have to clean it out every 2 weeks for it to work properly. The costs don't seem worth the benefits compared to just providing an upright vacuum, which cleans better and is more familiar to a tenant for use and maintenance.