A robotic vacuum is a great way to keep your home clean. Besides their powerful cleaning ability, they also have remote control and self-charging capabilities.
They can move around furniture and other objects without difficulty. Plus, most are cordless, so there is no chance of getting tangled up in cords!
Robot vacuums, however, are not all the same. When choosing a robot vacuum cleaner for your home, consider these 10 factors.
1. Mapping your home
The efficiency of a robot vacuum depends on how well it can map your home. Aside from helping your robot avoid dangerous spots, home mapping also increases efficiency.
This feature is present on most robot cleaners, but the methods used vary.
For example, high-end robot vacuums can identify boundaries intuitively through sensors and cameras, while lower-cost models rely on magnetic strips.
2. Auto-Emptying Capability
You should also consider if a robot cleaner can self-empty before purchasing.
After cleaning, some robotic vacuum cleaners empty themselves into a bin, but others need to be emptied manually after each use.
While emptying your robot yourself isn’t a problem, if you’re cleaning a large house, its inability to empty itself may require you to empty it many times before the job is done.
3. Cliff detection
There are cliff sensors in most robot vacuums, so they won’t fall from stairs or other uneven surfaces.
As soon as they detect a cliff, these sensors alert the robot to change direction, keeping it from falling and breaking.
Although almost all robot cleaners come with this feature, it should be mentioned here because of its importance.
4. Detecting obstacles
The idea of autonomous vacuum cleaners may sound cool, but the level of autonomy you’ll achieve depends on your own willingness to invest in these devices.
While sensors are standard on all robotic vacuum cleaners, they’re not all the same. How well do the sensors work on the model you’re considering?
Whether your robotic vacuum can sense objects in its path or not can mean the difference between coming home to a well-vacuumed home or a robot vacuum that’s caught in a tangled mess of cables.
If you plan to use your robot vacuum while you’re not home to watch over it, make sure you find a model that has either sensors or cameras that can spot – and avoid – items that can either damage or be damaged by your vacuum.
5. App integration
The most versatile features of robot vacuums are the remote-control options, and it is helpful to look at what the different models offer before making a purchase.
Additionally, most robotic vacuum cleaners come with apps that allow you to control them remotely.
Using the app, you can view the robot’s cleaning path and direct it to areas you want to be cleaned.
The app for most robotic cleaners allows not only monitoring and redirecting but also scheduling cleaning. Besides remote control, high-end robotic cleaners offer smart assistant control that can integrate with Google, Siri, and Alexa.
6. Mopping
Some robot vacuums will do all of your floor cleaning tasks at once. In other words, they will vacuum and mop your floors simultaneously.
It may not be an essential feature for everyone, but if you have to mop your home after vacuuming, then this is something worth keeping an eye out for when shopping for a robot vacuum cleaner.
7. Level of noise
Before selecting a robot vacuum cleaner, find out how loud it is in operation.
When buying from a physical store, be sure to test the noise level with the highest power setting before you commit. Check out customer reviews before purchasing online to see what other buyers have to say.
Although every robotic vacuum cleaner makes noise, knowing how much noise you can expect a certain model to make will help you purchase a machine that you can live with.
8. Battery Life
The best thing about robot vacuum cleaners is that they are cordless and can cover large areas. This coolness, however, comes at a cost; their batteries need to be recharged.
Most robot vacuums can clean for over an hour before requiring recharging, so this usually isn’t a problem. However, if you have a large house you will want a model that has a large runtime, otherwise you may have to stop in the middle of a cleaning job to recharge your robot.
And who wants to do that?
9. Maneuverability
Before getting a robot vacuum cleaner, one thing to bear in mind is that you cannot just keep it anywhere. The ideal position for the home base of a robotic vacuum cleaner, which also serves as the charging station, is against a flat wall with some free space surrounding it.
The robotic vacuum cleaner will then be able to return to its charging station once it has finished cleaning…an important factor to ensure that it’s always charged and ready.
Some robots require less space than others, which is something you want to keep in mind when looking for a cleaning robot.
10. Maintenance
To remain effective, robotic vacuum cleaners require regular maintenance. A clogged robotic vacuum can’t make your home sparkle. The bristles and brushes need to be cleaned frequently if you want it to keep cleaning.
Fortunately, cleaning a robotic vacuum is simple. It takes only a few minutes, and instructions on how to do it are included in the manufacturer’s cleaning manual.
Finally, matching your needs with the right robot vacuum isn’t hard. Think about your requirements and match them with the factors I’ve shared here to guide your search.
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