Let's see, is it worth buying a robot vacuum cleaner: the pros and cons of an automatic device
Laziness is the engine of progress, no matter how strange it may sound. A long time ago, man was too lazy to walk long distances, so he invented the wheel.
Then, man was too lazy to weave his own cloth, so he invented the world's first machine tool.
Today, robots do a lot of work for us, which undoubtedly helps us and moves progress even faster. Robots are increasingly replacing us in physical labor.
But we are not talking about that, but about the robot vacuum cleaner, designed to help us in everyday life, how robot vacuum cleaners are worthy of our attention and how they correspond to their price tag.
Contents
The robot-vacuum cleaner capabilities and purpose
This robot is designed for cleaning rooms, it is able to:
- Recognize objects on the floor: thanks to a special camera, it timely notices all the objects that can interfere with the process of cleaning, and bypasses them;
- Automatically increase the power when necessary: in case of a large housing area and the presence of carpets, it is worth noting that the robot can automatically increase the power of operation by driving into the carpet. The standard mode is enough for hard floors, but the carpet requires more power.
- Perform dry and wet cleaning at the same time: the cleaning process takes much less time when the robot can both vacuum and clean at once.
Advantages and disadvantages of automatic vacuum cleaners
The advent of the robot vacuum cleaner has made human life easier. No time to clean - turned it on, and the house was clean.
But everything is not so simple in reality, as, in theory. An automatic vacuum cleaner has both advantages and disadvantages, so it is worth weighing the pros and cons before deciding whether you need such an assistant in the house, or it is better to do the old-fashioned way and do the cleaning yourself.
Advantages
- The first and most important advantage - it cleans itself, no fuss with the hose, no running from socket to socket. It is enough to press the button on the body of the vacuum cleaner - and the fight against debris began. The navigation system with various sensors helps it move without human intervention. In advanced models, you can build a map of the room, draw the wall, so it does not go where it is not necessary, and in general, control from your smartphone. Special attention should be paid to models that can return to the docking station if they need to recharge, and then go back to cleaning.
- The second advantage is that it is possible to clean the house even when a person is absent. This requires that the robot can be controlled via an app on a smartphone. You start cleaning while you are at work - and by your arrival the apartment is clean and tidy.
- The third advantage is compactness. But there is both a plus and a minus in one bottle. The advantage is that it can be stored on the floor at the additional station, and in the closet. You can't just put a vacuum cleaner with a corrugator against the wall. With cordless a little easier, but if there is no vertical parking - you also have to bother. And the disadvantage is that in such a compactness can not put a large container for dust, so it often will have to empty.
Disadvantages
- The first disadvantage on the surface - it does not know how to clean itself. There are brushes that clean themselves from hair and hair, but still the debris gets into the container, and it has to be cleaned. If the volume is small - then you have to clean often.
- You can't just turn the robot on, you have to clear an area for it. Of course, optical sensors will help to avoid obstacles, infrared sensors will save wires, help to drive on the carpet and not to fall down the stairs, and ultrasonic sensors will orient in doorways and under furniture, but sometimes some of them may be missing, or work incorrectly, and the robot will crash into anything and everything. In general, you need to prepare the area for cleaning. At a minimum, move chairs, remove boxes and all kinds of junk.
- Corners, furniture bases, baseboards. It's all about design. A round robot, at times, has a hard time handling a corner and cleaning out all the debris. Although, this problem is solved by the reinforced brushes when there are six bristles instead of three, but this is only partly solved.
- Cost. Robot vacuum cleaner can afford not many people, you only need to look at the prices and compare them with the prices of conventional vacuum cleaners.
And there are a number of points with which it is so easy to not decide the advantage or disadvantage, from which side to look.
- The first is related to the difficulty of entering under low furniture, if it is too high, and with overcoming thresholds. But if you choose to pay attention to this point, you can avoid the situations associated with this.
- The next point is about wet cleaning. Firstly, not all models can do this. And secondly, those that can do it are not so good that you can forget about the existence of the mop. They can go through and remove the dust, but to wash a stain is a bit difficult, more likely even impossible.
- The third point is cleaning carpets. Yes, robots can go to the carpet and clean it, especially if the carpet is low-pile, but if the pile is high, then, with a high probability, the vacuum cleaner will fail.
How significant these disadvantages and whether they overlap the advantages, everyone decides for himself.
How to choose a robot vacuum cleaner and do not be disappointed
You never want to start cleaning, but sooner or later you have to. Fortunately, a robot vacuum cleaner can partially take on this task. But how to choose it correctly, so as not to make a mistake?
Here are a number of points to which you should pay attention:
Type of cleaning
First of all, you need to decide what kind of vacuum cleaner needed: for dry cleaning or dry and wet.
If you choose a vacuum cleaner with wet cleaning, then you should know that this vacuum cleaner can not be a full replacement for a mop or a washing vacuum cleaner, but just go over the floor and remove dust, he can.
Operating time and the claimed area
Also, the battery life and the claimed area are important.
When the area of the house is 150 square meters, and the robot can do only 50, you do not want to clean several times, or to decide what is more important to clean now and what can wait.
Sensors and navigation system
The next important point - the sensors and the navigation system - is what saves the socks and wires from getting jammed and the robot itself from falling.
Sensors come in a variety of forms.
Optical, which help to detect and bypass obstacles. A good option for a small apartment with minimal furniture.
Ultrasonic, which tell you where the doorways are, help drive under low furniture and move out from under it. Just a good option for a multi-bedroom apartment. But it is also necessary to look at the height of the thresholds, which the robot can overcome, the minimum should be 1.5 centimeters.
Infrared sensors are needed so that the wires stay on the floor, the robot does not fall down the stairs and can drive into the carpet. By the way, there are robots that can enter carpets with high pile, models with such sensors are suitable for those who have a multi-level apartment or house.
Laser - with their help, the vacuum cleaner can build a map of the room and remember it. In the case of a multi-level apartment or house, this is ideal, except that their vision is not ideal.
But the important thing is that no matter what kind of navigation system the vacuum cleaner has, judging by the reviews on the Internet, during the first start it will still hit everything and everything.
Types of movement
Next, the basic types of vacuum cleaner movement.
It can be a chaotic movement, in a straight line, a spiral, for a more thorough cleaning, and a zigzag, as in the case of washing robots.
Which of the three modes is better to decide for yourself, but cleaning an apartment of 60 square meters will take 40 minutes if the device is able to build a map of the room, and about an hour if the motion path is chaotic or spiral.
Also, the vacuum cleaner can repeat the already traversed area, which further prolongs the cleaning time.
Dimensions and shape of the robot
The smaller the body in height - the more chances that the robot will be able to get under low furniture. But there is a small nuance: the small body will not fit a large trash container and a large-capacity battery.
They are mostly round in shape, and there is one significant disadvantage: such a shape does not allow you to fully clean the corners of the room.
Also, there are square and D-shaped, in terms of walls and corners feel more confident.
Brushes
The budget models often have brushes, the more expensive models have turbo brushes, and some models have both.
The volume of the dust canister
If it is not enough, then even a long time of work will not save, and you will have to clean the dust container during cleaning, which is not very convenient.
The minimum value, which is worth starting from the area of the apartment of 60-70 square meters - 0.5 liters.
How to serve a robot vacuum cleaner after cleaning
To begin with, you should immediately unclip the container with water, unclip the rag and wash with soap and water. Pour the water out of the container, leave the valve on the container open.
Next, remove the waste container, throw out all its contents, unclip the filter and clean it with a special brush, which is included for this purpose.
Wash and dry the waste container. Next you need to wash the vacuum cleaner brushes, you can just rinse them under water and put them back in. Wipe the inside of the vacuum cleaner.
This procedure should be repeated every 2-3 cleanings.
Useful Video
The question of whether you should buy a robot vacuum cleaner, answer in an informative video:
