Do you hate vacuuming? Or are you just hoping to save some time and have to vacuum less often? Then a robotic vacuum cleaner might be the answer for you. But before you run out and grab one, check out this summary of its pros and cons to see if it’s really worth the investment. With the advent of “intelligence” technology and the change to automated operation for many household appliances, it wasn’t long before cleaning gadgets joined the line. And what better tool for automation than the trusty vacuum cleaner, a staple in almost every modern household. What was once thought to be only a toy in a sci-fi fantasy film or a whimsical prototype being tested in laboratories has now become an accepted member of the household cleaning arsenal. Robotic vacuum cleaners can be bought just like ‘regular’ vacuum cleaners – and come in a variety of models too. The thought of a vacuum cleaner that can clean by itself and all you need to do is occasionally empty the canister is definitely very tempting.

But the real question is – can they live up to their promise? Can they really take the place of traditional vacuum cleaners? Will they really relieve you of the tiresome chore of vacuuming? hepa allergy vacuum cleanersAre they a worthwhile investment?youtube robot vacuum cleaner dogWhile they are not cheap, robotic vacuum cleaners are not prohibitively expensive either. small henry vacuum cleanerIn fact, they are on par with the most expensive models of traditional vacuum cleaners, which is not bad considering the advanced technology. Robotic vacuum cleaners are wonderfully little work. You just have to set it up initially and then you can forget all about it. You can programme a schedule for it to clean certain rooms on certain days or at certain times and there is no need to monitor its operation or worry about pushing the start button or remembering to follow a regular cleaning schedule.

This means that it does save you time in the long run. It also means that your house will probably benefit from being cleaner overall because the robotic vacuum cleaner’s automatic operation means that the floors will be cleaned more regularly than if they relied on you getting around to using a traditional vacuum cleaner. The design of robotic vacuum cleaners means that they are able to easily access and clean the corners of rooms and the small, hard-to-reach spaces along walls and behind and under furniture - which would usually need substantial moving around of furniture with a traditional vacuum cleaner. The robotic vacuum cleaner also picks up dust and dirt very well – in some cases, it can even extract dirt that a traditional vacuum cleaner may miss. Robotic vacuum cleaners are definitely at the high end of the market and you’ll be expecting to pay a hefty amount of money for one – which means that it must really provide significant benefits to justify the expense. Because of the way it operates – often seeming to follow a pattern at random as it negotiates obstacles around a room and re-visiting especially dirty areas – the robotic vacuum cleaner takes much longer to clean the floor of a room than someone operating a regular vacuum.

Also, as it is quite small, it will not hold a large amount of dirt. This may not be such a problem if you have small rooms but with larger rooms, you may find yourself having to empty the extracted dirt halfway through. Similarly, the battery life of the robotic vacuum cleaner is not extensive. It is often around 2 hours per charge – and can take a couple of hours or more to recharge. Therefore, again, this means that if you have large rooms to clean, it may take several hours to completely clean the room as the robotic vacuum cleaner will have to keep stopping mid-clean to recharge before it can continue. While the robotic vacuum cleaner is specially designed to negotiate around the obstacles in a room, it is not invincible. In fact – just like a regular vacuum cleaner - it can easily be clogged up by objects such as large pieces of paper, string, buttons and other similar items. Therefore, you will need to walk around a room first to pick up any such objects otherwise your robotic vacuum cleaner may jam and then you will have to spend additional time removing the offending object.

The robotic vacuum cleaner can also sometimes get stuck under furniture, requiring your help to find it and rescue it. In particular, it can have trouble with tassles, cords and low-hanging drapes and curtains. Finally, the robotic vacuum cleaner won’t be able to completely replace traditional vacuum cleaning – for example, you will still need to vacuum any steps with your regular vacuum cleaner – but it will certainly reduce the number of times you will personally need to drag your traditional vacuum cleaner around the floor. This very much depends on the type of house you have and what your expectations are. As mentioned above, the robotic vacuum cleaner certain won’t mean that you will never have to personally vacuum a room again but it can still definitely save you time and reduce your cleaning schedule. If you have a house with large, open-plan floor spaces and/or cluttered areas, then the robotic vacuum cleaner may not be ideal as any time you save may be cancelled out by the need to constantly empty or recharge the cleaner – or constantly rescuing it from jammed items.

However, for many of those who use the robotic vacuum cleaner, they feel that its benefits far outweigh its drawbacks and that the challenges can be easily overcome by a little re-arranging of furniture – a small price to pay for the benefit of only having to do “real” vacuuming once or twice a month! Why not be the first to leave a comment for discussion, ask for advice or share your story... If you'd like to ask a question one of our experts (workload permitting) or a helpful reader hopfully can help you... We also love comments and interesting storiesHome Floor ExpertsThe Pros and Cons of a Roomba Robot VacuumDo the capabilities of the robotic vacuum cleaners in the market ever fascinate you?A little investment in Roomba robot vacuum can save you the effort and time you spend cleaning the house, help achieve cleaner surfaces and minimize your exposure to allergens.Equipped with self-navigating, self-cleaning and self-charging features, you will need to carry out minimal maintenance on your Roomba cleaner.

Pros:Automatic NavigationUnlike the conventional cleaners, a Roomba cleaner moves itself around the room picking up all the dirt. Once you power it, two electric motors move the sensor-guided machine to areas where dirt is to be picked. Roomba wheels are set to turn in all directions even opposite to each other, meaning the machine can spin and clean any area. The robotic machine is small enough to fit even in constricted areas.Time SavingA robot vacuum cleaner can save a lot of time since you can program it to do the cleaning in your absence. The machine is in-built with a scheduling panel through which you can preset it for up to seven times a week. Additionally, you can set the Roomba for spot cleaning, quick cleaning or scheduled cleaning. You do not have to worry about monitoring its activities since self-adjusting sensors lead it under all furniture while picking the dirt.Random MovementFor effective cleaning, the developers design Roomba cleaners to follow several modes of movement.

In the random bounce mode, the cleaner moves randomly cleaning the surface until it hits an obstacle, from which it changes direction randomly. The cleaner may also move lineally along walls while its side mounted brushes sweep the corners. A piezoelectric sensor mounted on cleaners detect areas with high dirt concentration so it knows where it should spend more time.HEPA FiltersLatest Roomba cleaner models have double HEPA filters that help to pick up all allergens including dust, filings and pet fur.Cons:They are noisy – you may not be comfortable with the noise generated during normal operation, just like with any other robotic vacuum cleaner. You can avoid the noise by scheduling it to vacuum while you are away.They cannot maneuver around all obstacles – although it can find its way around furniture, you may come home to find it stuck in odd spaces with its battery dry. Before you can fully trust its capability, take time to monitor which spaces through which it can navigate.They operates on level floors – you will have to perform the traditional cleaning parts such as stairs since it can neither descent nor climb elevated surfaces.