Product Review – iRobot Roomba: the Greatest home invention since the washing machine
Filed under: Home Organization, Organizing Products & Reviews
My daughter petting our Roomba "Bob"
Being the organizing and efficiency freak that I am, I have been fascinated with the iRobot Roomba since I first heard about it. What could be better than to have a Robot to do my vacuuming? But was it worth the $300+ price tag? I began my research in the hopes that the Roomba was as wonderful in reality as it appeared.
In my continuing efforts to simplify my life, we just built a new low-maintenance town home. We moved in during my kid’s 2008 Christmas break. How freeing it was when I sold all our yard stuff knowing that our move to a town home meant no more yard work! One more step to a simplified life.
After reading many glowing reviews and comparing pricing, I found the best pricing on eBay, so I rewarded myself with a Christmas present by purchasing the Roomba 560 on eBay! The retail price in stores, even with discounted holiday pricing was still about $100 more than the same product on eBay. I paid $254.00, when retail in stores and elsewhere on-line was around $360. Find Roomba on eBay.
There are several models of the Roomba available at progressive price points. Based on the reviews I read, especially from pet-owners (we have 2 cats), I decided the 560 model was for me. I’ve never been this excited about the purchase of a home cleaning gadget, but the Roomba promised to make my life easier and I was all for that.
When it arrived and we opened the box, we immediately felt a bond for this pancake-shaped robot, like we’d just adopted a new pet. He seemed to have a personality all his own. We named him Bob.
Roomba on its home base/charging station
Here’s what came with the Roomba 560.
- Roomba vacuum
- 2 Virtual Walls / Lighthouses
- Extra filters
- 1 set of attached side brushes
- Self-charging home base
- And very simple to understand set up and maintenance instructions
Set up
The set up couldn’t have been easier. All that was needed to set him up was to set him in the home base, set the date, time and cleaning schedule and charged him for about 12 hours.
How Roomba Works
The way that Roomba works is to move along the floor in a circular pattern, while somehow detecting and avoiding its home base so that it thoroughly vacuums the entire room before returning to its home base. The lighthouse/virtual wall serves as a barrier that tells Roomba to stay in and clean one room before going past the lighthouse barrier to vacuum the next room. Using the virtual wall function on this sensor blocks off an area creating a barrier that you don’t want Roomba to cross over. In our case, we still have some boxes stashed behind the sofa, so I set up the Virtual Wall in front of the boxes which created a barrier that Roomba won’t cross.
The front of Roomba has a bumper that, when it bumps into something, like a wall or furniture, it changes directions. A feature that helps with this is the visual sensors it has on the front that will slow Roomba down before it bumps into a wall or furniture. It travels in a slower speed than I would vacuum myself with an upright, so it takes about 30-40 minutes to clean an average-sized room. One of the great features of the Roomba however, is that it’s flat and round so it easily travels under and around tables and chairs getting to tough to reach spots that a traditional upright vacuum can’t. The photo here shows how Roomba is about to travel under a baker’s rack that I would have bend over or move the furniture to get under there.
Roomba traveling under a piece of furniture.
Attached on the bottom are a set of twirling brushes that spin as Roomba travels along the floor and baseboards, pulling in dust and debris to be picked up. Roomba travels easily over different floor surfaces. We have him set up to first vacuum our carpeted family room, then travel into our eat-in kitchen with hardwood floors.
Another cool feature is that he has a built-in dirt sensor that causes lights up in blue when it detects dirt in that area. He will circle around that area until it no longer detects the dirt.
Maintenance
We have scheduled Bob to vacuum twice a week and after each cleaning cycle, he needs to be cleaned out. He deserves that minimal amount of care ~ after all, he’s doing the work so that’s the least I can do for him. If his reservoir gets too full while in a cleaning cycle, he will stop and say in his computer voice “Uh Oh”. He will need to be cleaned out before he’ll start again. Obviously his debris reservoir is smaller than a traditional vacuum bag, but it’s a small price to pay to clean him out after each cleaning. Depending on if you have pets, the brushes can get hair tangled in it that needs to be cleaned out. But we have two cats and with cleaning two times a week, the maintenance is minimal. If we used Roomba less than twice a week, we’d probably have to clean him out half way through a cleaning cycle. But twice a week in both the family room and kitchen (both large rooms) he can finish both rooms without stopping to be cleaned out.
There are only a couple of parts that can wear out and will need to be replaced over time – the filter and the spinning side brushes, (the system includes and extra filter). Very clearly listed on the operations manual is the website for ordering new supplies.
Depending on the size of your home, you may want to consider purchasing an additional Lighthouse/Virtual Wall. The two that came with the system were sufficient for our needs.
When Roomba is finished cleaning a room, or the battery is close to being depleted, he will automatically travel back to the charging station to get recharged. Here’s the cool part … if Roomba wasn’t finished cleaning a room when he traveled back to home base to recharge, he will back out of the charging station once fully charged and will go back to where he left off and finish his job.
Because he got trapped under a recliner once, I feel more comfortable running Roomba when we will be home, so we’re there to rescue him if needed. And his sensors alert him when he’s approaching stairs so you don’t even need to help him in that regard. He’s very self-sufficient.
Do you need to still use your regular vacuum?
Since we just moved into a new construction home, the carpets are clean and new, so I don’t see a need to use the upright vacuum on the floor that Roomba is vacuuming. But for another household it would depend on the room size and if you have pets.
Overall, I think he does a great job on both carpeting and hardwood floors, and he transitions easily from one floor surface to another. The spinning brushes do a great job of getting debris out of corners.
So it is worth the price? MOST DEFINITELY! As I coach my clients, the goal is to set up systems and routines in the home that will simplify life, so you have the time and energy to spend your time in high meaning activities. Roomba definitely puts vacuuming my home on autopilot and frees me for other things. And the peace of mind that I feel from knowing that the task is getting done without me having to do it is priceless. I liken it to on-line bill-paying – the bills get paid on time without me having to spend my time to get it done. When you put a value on your time and sanity, any home maintenance process that can be set up on auto-pilot, not requiring me to fit it in my busy schedule is worth its weight in gold.
I’ve included some current auctions on eBay so you can see the discounted pricing. It was a very in demand item at Christmas time so the prices may be even better now that we’re past the flurry of gift-buying.
I hope you’ll find a “Bob” to welcome into your home to help make your life easier, like he has for us.
Originally posted 2009-02-08 15:00:39. Republished by Blog Post Promoter
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