We hadn’t intended to buy a robot vacuum cleaner. Our Bosch Arriva cylinder vacuum cleaner was working perfectly well. Vacuuming is probably my least favourite part of housework, and I limited it to once a week, but then we only have one rug, in our living room. The rest of our floors are bare tiles, which I mostly swept with a broom and mopped a couple of times a week.
But we were in a local shop that sells electrical goods, and I noticed that there was a robot vacuum cleaner being promoted at half price. It was something like 150 euros, which is no more than the price of a regular vacuum cleaner. We had been given some unexpected money and I felt quite enticed by the thought of having a robot trundling about the house and cleaning the floors.
RESEARCHING THE OPTIONS
When we first heard of robot vacuum cleaners, they were very expensive - at least ten times the amount of the special offer we saw. So although one or two online friends had recommended them, it had never occurred to us to consider one. That meant that we had little idea of their capabilities, nor which were likely to meet our needs.
Since there were still dozens of the special offer robots available, and others in the shop that weren’t too expensive, we went home and did some online research. Were they reliable? Did they actually do a good job? Could they be left unsupervised? What happened when they ran upstairs - did one have to instal a safety gate at the top? And could they ‘learn’ the layout of more than one floor of the house? I particularly liked the idea of something that could easily vacuum under the bed, to reduce the incidence of dust and dust mites.
The special offer robot didn’t seem to be too highly rated, and was a brand we hadn’t heard of. A couple of the available robots had mopping options as well, but it sounded complex to change from dry to wet; a quick mop with a wet swiffer isn’t difficult, and would be so much easier if the floors were clean. And we have a carpet shampoo machine, if we need to wash the rug.
All the evidence pointed to the iRobot Roomba e5 as being the one to best meet our needs. It was 275 euros, more than we had planned to pay but there didn’t seem much point spending less for something that wasn’t going to do what we wanted. And by this stage we were enthusiastic about buying one.
TRYING OUT THE ROOMBA
The instruction guide is fairly brief, with a few diagrams, and explanations about how to clean it and when to replace parts. It came with one spare filter, something which we were told to replace every two months. We hoped the local shop stocked spares and that it wasn’t going to prove too expensive or onerous to keep replacing parts.
We learned that the dust container needed to be emptied after each time the robot ran, that several parts needed to be cleaned weekly, and that we might need to move small rugs out of the way. We were told, too, to make sure it didn’t run over water, which would invalidate the warranty. It all seemed a little scary…
So my husband installed the charging station under a convenient window, and after a few hours of charging we set the robot off. We watched it as it moved around the room in apparently random directions, gently bumping off walls and furniture as it navigated its way around. It was quite noisy; we weren’t sure if we would be able to do anything else while it was running, but we did like seeing it picking up crumbs and cat hairs, every so often pausing to turn in a circle with its light flashing, in what is called a ‘dirt event’.
There is an iRobot app which my husband installed on his phone, enabling him to start or stop the Roomba remotely, and giving updates each time it runs, telling us how long it worked and how many dirt events it experienced.
EMPTYING THE ROOMBA
After about an hour and a half, the Roomba’s ‘home’ light started flashing, and it set off towards the charging station. It wasn’t very good at that - it kept stopping to do more cleaning - but eventually it reached home, and started charging again. According to the app, it had done 39 dust events.
When we pushed the button to release the dirt container, we were shocked to find it completely full. It was spring, and the cats were moulting excessively, but even so it seemed like a huge amount of dirt from floors that really didn’t look dirty.
ADJUSTING TO THE ROOMBA
We decided to run the Roomba daily, at first, to see if the amount of dust collected would reduce. Upstairs, we run it just twice a week, as the cats don’t go there so much, there’s minimal dirt from outside, and of course no kitchen or eating area. And we had to adjust a few things: moving cables and wires out of the way, for instance, or placing them neatly in trunking. The Roomba seems to have a natural affinity for wires and we didn’t want them eaten.
We have to make sure there are no papers or small items anywhere on the floor, and we move shoes in the bedroom onto a box. We have a couple of lightweight rugs which it tends to ruckle up rather than cleaning, so I pick those up and give them a shake before draping them over a chair while the Roomba runs. Once a week I pick up all the dining room chairs and put them upside down on the table, so the Roomba can vacuum underneath, and I then mop the area.
As for upstairs, the Roomba will stop and send an SOS message to the phone app if it finds itself about to topple downstairs. But we don’t like to risk it falling. So I move the cat litter box to the top of the stairs and sweep up any stray cat litter before running the robot.
It felt like a lot of extra effort accommodating this little device, but it soon became routine. It’s definitely worth the extra effort. Not having to vacuum makes such a difference to my energy levels, and the house is cleaner than it’s ever been. The rug in the living room looks pristine - considerably better than it did with the other vacuum cleaner. We’re sneezing less, and snoring less too.
I don’t know that it’s really learned the floor plans; when we set it off each morning it seems to focus on a different room, sometimes missing one area altogether, although it then makes up for it a day or two later. But it has no problem working upstairs as well as on the main floor.
REPLACING PARTS
We replaced the filter after a couple of months; I have to bang it against the side of the kitchen bin when I empty the Roomba, as it gets quite clogged, but eventually it did need changing. We enquired at the shop where we bought it whether they had the parts, and they said they could order them, at some rather extortionate price. So we ordered cloned parts from Amazon UK, brought out by a visitor, and they work perfectly well. Replacing the green rollers underneath and the white brush were not difficult at all.
MINOR ISSUES
Although we have sometimes gone out before the Roomba has finished, we don't usually run it when we're out, nor do we set it on a daily schedule although the app would allow that to happen. That's because occasionally there are minor issues: a piece of paper that's somehow fallen on the floor, or some other small object. A change in the sound of the Roomba alerts me to a possible problem and I can quickly stop the robot, turn it over, and check to see what it might have discovered.
Another minor issue is that it sometimes gets stuck under the edge of a bookcase or cupboard door, or when trying to get on the carpet. I have no idea why it sometimes negotiates these potential hazards with ease, and sometimes not; possibly it happens when one of the little viewing windows gets a bit dusty and needs to be wiped. Or maybe it's just chance. When it gets stuck, the Roomba flashes a red light and sends a message to the app. If we don't notice that, I'll find it somewhere, unable to move. A little electronic voice will sometimes tell me to clean a wheel, or move it to a new location.
CONCLUSION
I am very glad we bought the robot vacuum cleaner, and love the cleaner, less dusty house. I'm aware that it's still considered a luxury 'first world' appliance, but prices are compatible with ordinary vacuum cleaners nowadays, whether you opt for a mid-range one like ours, or one of the pricier ones.
According to the app, it has run for more than 300 hours in the six or seven months since we bought it, and dealt with more than a thousand dirt events.& So from a financial point of view, that’s less than one euro per hour. Since its warranty lasts two years, we should expect it to work out at about 25 cents per hour even if it doesn’t last more than two years.
I hope it will be with us for many more years, but when it gives up, if it’s not possible to repair, it will be a priority to buy a new one.
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