What can you tell me about a Roomba?

[LynnG in Arizona]

So our new (older, but new to us) house has all hard floors, a mix of wood laminate and tile.  And while I am very much enjoying that in some ways, I also feel like I could stand to spend a good hour per day sweeping and/or vacuuming.

 

DH suggested I consider getting a Roomba, but I don't know anyone in real life who has one.  Are they worth the cost?  Any special model or features I should look out for?  (We have a long haired dog, so I obviously would need a model that can handle serious pet hair.)  How many hours per day does yours run?

 

Where is the best and most cost effective place to get one - Amazon?  Bed Bath & Beyond with a 20% coupon? 

 

Any advice or input would be greatly appreciated.

[PinkyandtheBrains.]

When we had one I set it to run and took care if other things.

 

It takes longer, but I'm not doing the work.

 

It has the same issues as a traditional vacuum might of not fitting in some spots.

 

Woot.com has special offers on them occasionally.

[PinkyandtheBrains.]

Oh and keep spare parts handy, it's easy to change out a brush head or such if needed.

[TeacherZee]

I have a different brand but I LOVE it. Like Pinky says it takes longer but I'm not doing the job. I also think it does a better job then me :)

[trulycrabby]

Let's put it this way: If I were forced to choose between my husband and my roomba, well, I would do the right thing and choose my husband, but it would be painful. :o

 

 

Yes, get it at BB&B; use the 20% coupon, and get at least the 700 series.

 

Also, make sure to clean the brushes and wheels every week.

[Truscifi]

We got ours at Hammacher Schlemmer, which was more expensive (not as much more then as now) but came with a lifetime warranty. We did that because they have a kind of high rate of mechanical failure - not crazy high, but high enough. We are on our 3rd in 8 years. We use ours every day in at least one room, usually two. Oh, and in my experience the battery packs only last about a year before they have to be replaced because they won't hold a charge anymore. They aren't too expensive though.

[West Coast Mom]

I love my Roomba! We have hard floors, some carpet, four kids, and two cats. We also track in lots of sand because we live at the beach. I highly recommend the pet series, it does a great job on cat hair.  I run mine several times a day. It really helped me with daily straightening because things need to be off the floor before running the unit. I often start it before leaving the house and after meals. It does a great job under beds and other furniture. The electronic walls are a huge help if you only need to clean certain areas.

 

I’ve had mine for a couple of years and only had one problem with it. The company sent out a new part free of charge. We bought our unit at Costco. You do have to clean it periodically and change the filter and brush. It truly saves me an incredible amount of time and my floors are always clean. I only drag out the Kirby to vacuum the stairs and for deeper cleaning in the corners.

 

I am definitely grateful for this little wonder machine! Worth every penny for the time it saves me.

[Hypatia.]

Love our Roomba!  It motivates us to keep the floors clean enough for Roomba to run on an automatic schedule.  Yes, I could do it quicker, but there are so many other things on my list that it's easier to just have Roomba get it.  We have a lot of cats and a lot of tiny pine needles tracked in from the yard, Roomba helps keep it under control.

[Kim in Appalachia]

My mom has one.  It's the newer model, and she loves that thing. She calls it Rosie (the maid from the Jetson's).  It does take longer, but she has noticed how much better a job it does.  It does take longer to get the house done, but it's been worth it to her.  

[AMJ]

Toddlers think they are a lot of fun to play with.  Cats either chase them or run from them, or (in the case of my own cat) ignore them until they run over her tail, then she gives me dirty looks.

 

They can be a lot of help getting the "middles".  Every so often you do need to remember to use something else to clean the edges of the room and where Roomba can't get.

 

The best way of "Roomba-proofing" a room is to follow it around when you first get it.  Every time it gets stuck or gags on something you will have identified another accommodation to make.  Get rid of rugs with tassels, and put up dangling cords. 

 

Scooba apparently didn't do grout lines as well as SIL would have liked.

 

DH loves Roombas and will set them off regularly.  I don't like the added background noise, so I leave the room and go do other stuff.  We have owned several over the years, and have one for each floor of the house.  Of course, DH is an engineer who also used to have a RoboMower to cut the grass.

 

 

[TammyS]

OK, I've never had a Roomba, so maybe I don't know what I'm missing, but rather than do that I prefer:

 

1. Throw rugs on the outside AND inside of entrances.  They catch a lot of dirt.

 

2. Tying the dog brush to the dog leash, so that she get's at least 1 minute of brushing, outdoors, each day.  I have a Great Pyrenees, this massively cuts down on the dog hair in the house.

 

3. Central Vacuum!  Plug that sucker in (and it IS a sucker with much more suction than any other vacuum I've ever had) and suck up everything that is annoying (including wolf spiders occasionally).  You can also get them with a "dustpan" port, where you just sweep the dirt into an opening that sucks it away.

[jaderbee]

I had a Roomba and miss it. The trick with the Roomba, at least the one we had, was for it to work I had to do a quick pick up of the downstairs every night including putting up dining chairs. So every morning not only was my floor clean but my house was tidy. :)

[klmama]

We used to have one and loved it. Our cat loved to watch it, and eventually she learned to turn it on for entertainment. When it stopped working we replaced the battery, but that wasn't the problem.  I was sad.