So this year I decided that taking out the daily vacuum and handing it over to robot might be the way forward. My reservations were the effectiveness of having a blind machine rolling around the place sucking up the dirt because whilst they are quite large for a robot they are tiny compared to most vacuum cleaners.
Research took me to the main players namely Roomba and Neato. I settled on a Neato
because the technology behind how it was going to blindly bumble around my room seemed to have a bit more logic behind it. I was tempted to get the one that connected to the internet but with a price tag that broke an already stretched budget I settled on a Neato Robotics Botvac D85 Robot Vacuum
Which is one up from the basic model. The big box arrived home and setup was pretty straight forward.
- Turn it on and setup time and cleaning schedule. Since this it doesn't have a touchscreen you do this using the buttons located to the sides of the display.
All setup that's it! Just leave it docked. Four months in I can definitely say that these are well worth considering. Not only do my 3-yr old twins tidy up now that 'Bot Bot' came home and will eat anything left on the floor but the Neato never complains yet reliably comes out everyday. It has mapped the downstairs space and just makes its way around all the chairs, under the dining room table and all around the living room and kitchen meaning that I can come home to a lovely vacuumed house every day.
Using the boundary marker I can also indicate areas that I don't want it to clean- like the place room for example and whilst we usually keep the floor clean of any debris on the occasions a puzzle of toy has been left Bot Bot has done a pretty fine job of just going around anything he knows he shouldn't be cleaning. We have both tiled and carpeted floors and they are both tackled equally well with the unit transitioning from carpet to rugs and tiled floors to mats without thinking twice. He might get stuck sometimes and will beep until someone let's him out but usually learns how to tackle tricky areas. Noise level is the same as normal vacuum cleaner and he takes about as long as a person to do one level. No, he doesn't climb stairs, or fly - I have been asked.
In terms of maintenance on the Neato the bagless bin needs to be emptied once a week in our house and the cleaning schedule we have is Mon-Fri. The brush rollers should be cleaned and cut free of hair regularly - though check out the photo of all the stuff that was around the rollers today! I can safely say that a wipe won't slow these durable machines down! Ongoing costs to consider are the the filters which should be changed roughly once a month and can be bought in packs from the internet The great thing is that the unit 'beeps' to tell you if it needs something and a helpful message on the display will indicate what needs to be looked at such as 'please empty my bin', 'please clean my brushes' etc etc.
Research took me to the main players namely Roomba and Neato. I settled on a Neato
because the technology behind how it was going to blindly bumble around my room seemed to have a bit more logic behind it. I was tempted to get the one that connected to the internet but with a price tag that broke an already stretched budget I settled on a Neato Robotics Botvac D85 Robot Vacuum
Which is one up from the basic model. The big box arrived home and setup was pretty straight forward.
- Find somewhere to plug it in, dock it and leave it on charge overnight
- Turn it on and setup time and cleaning schedule. Since this it doesn't have a touchscreen you do this using the buttons located to the sides of the display. 
All setup that's it! Just leave it docked. Four months in I can definitely say that these are well worth considering. Not only do my 3-yr old twins tidy up now that 'Bot Bot' came home and will eat anything left on the floor but the Neato never complains yet reliably comes out everyday. It has mapped the downstairs space and just makes its way around all the chairs, under the dining room table and all around the living room and kitchen meaning that I can come home to a lovely vacuumed house every day.
In terms of maintenance on the Neato the bagless bin needs to be emptied once a week in our house and the cleaning schedule we have is Mon-Fri. The brush rollers should be cleaned and cut free of hair regularly - though check out the photo of all the stuff that was around the rollers today! I can safely say that a wipe won't slow these durable machines down! Ongoing costs to consider are the the filters which should be changed roughly once a month and can be bought in packs from the internet The great thing is that the unit 'beeps' to tell you if it needs something and a helpful message on the display will indicate what needs to be looked at such as 'please empty my bin', 'please clean my brushes' etc etc.
I have only had the need to contact Neato technical support once and I found them to be super responsive and very helpful. They also are more than happy to do straight swap outs in the event that something goes terribly wrong with the unit so the brand also comes with a 'peace of mind' that you would expect when you make an investment like this.
So do you need a robot vacuum in your life. I would say a resounding 'yes!' give it a go! Personally I am super happy with 'Bot Bot' it have given me back precious minutes in my day and if the price tag scares you then my recommendation would be to keep a keen eye peeled for sales and Warehouse deals.
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