Robot Vacuum cleaner for a duplex house

S

sudokp

Disciple
Hi,

I am starting to explore options of buying a robot vacuum cleaner.
I see multiple challenges if it has to be used in a duplex house.
1) Manually shifting the robot between floors
2) Can the robot support multiple layout and schedules?
3) The robot goes back to its docking station once the cleaning is done. What happens if it is on a floor where the docking station is not preset?

Is there a product which supports multiple floors?
Please share your thoughts.

Thanks,
 
I bought a top of the line samsung one years ago. While it came with plenty of features including the ones you mentioned, it was nothing more than a fancy bug. The cleaning was nowhere close to efficient as comparable to manual brooming. It can pick big things but the surface was still dusty. Absolutely useless if you've carpets.
Fast forward now, the device that was supposed to clean dust has been collecting dust itself somewhere.
 
matoind said:
Using Roomba i7 since last 2 years. Does a decent job. Would suggest going for dust bin model.
Click to expand...
@matoind Appreciate your input. Can the i7 handle multi-floor setups?
I came across one for sale on Facebook Marketplace, about 3 years old, priced at 20k. Is it a good deal?

The listing claims it runs for 75 minutes on a single charge. Also, any other parts or consumables I should be aware of for potential replacements in the near future?"
 
I have not tried it in multiple floors. Considering that a new one may be available for less than 40K around Diwali sale, I would suggest that go for a new one. Battery may need change every three years. For a single floor, it can always charge in between the jobs and resume.

You have to prepare the room by removing objects like slippers etc. So normally I did a few rooms at the time by selecting in the app. So battery was never a problem.
 
That's a fantastic tip for the Diwali sale.
Amazon's Great Indian Festival sale is just around the corner, starting on October 10th. I'll hold off and see if there are substantial price reductions during the sale.
In fact, the irobot website already lists the i7 at 34900.

I've also just discovered that the Roomba i7 doesn't include a mopping function. Only the products with "combo" in their names come with mopping capabilities. Their naming system can be quite confusing. So if you want to get both mopping and vacuuming, I have to look for the j7 combo or the i5 combo.

The new j7 series, which begins at 58k, is rather expensive. With that amount, I could pay a housemaid's salary for almost three years. Additionally, there are ongoing costs for consumables, and battery replacements. While I understand that there's advanced technology involved, it will take more time for that technology to become widespread and affordable.
 
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Furthermore, the j7 boasts about object detection and avoidance, so it's not necessary to clear the floor of objects before setting the robot to clean. However, is this really a feature worth boasting about? If we don't pick up objects, those areas will remain dusty, essentially trading one problem for another. They even provide the example of pet poop. It seems like they assume that pets won't be trained not to do their business inside the house. Ridiculous!
 
I went ahead and purchased the Mi Robot Vacuum-Mop 2 Pro for Rs. 22,000 during the recent sale, along with a 1-year extended warranty for Rs. 1,500. I chose to buy it directly from the mi.com website because the extended warranty on Amazon was offered by a third party and costed Rs. 2,000.

I found valuable insights in this post on Team-BHP (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/gadg...-robot-vacuum-mop-p-review-8.html#post5294319), which discussed potential issues with robot vacuums.

Additionally, 'The Grapevine, India' on YouTube provided a high-level comparison of 40 different robot vacuum cleaners available in India (
).

From my research, it's clear that robot vacuums, regardless of the brand, can face hardware or software issues. If they work flawlessly for over 2 years, consider yourself lucky. Most of these companies outsource their servicing to third-party agencies, which can lead to inconvenience and longer repair times. A few companies like Eureka Forbes and iRobot have their own service centers, but even they have reported issues and a less-than-straightforward process.

Overall, I've learned that robot vacuums are efficient at vacuuming but struggle with corners and hard-to-reach places. They require some prepping, like clearing mats and obstacles from the floor, as well as routine maintenance such as cleaning tangled hair and emptying the dustbin. They are not entirely autonomous and demand human intervention. The mopping function is more like wiping and might not effectively remove dried stains.

In conclusion, robot vacuums are meant to assist with cleaning but don't completely replace manual cleaning. With these expectations in mind, I've purchased the robot vacuum, and I'll keep this thread updated with my experiences
 
Outsourcing service is pretty much the norm these days. For not-so-popular products like these, lack of experience & information among technicians could be a major factor as well. So, handle with a great deal of care.

You can use a handheld vacuum cleaner to assist you assist the autonomous robot :)
No, but seriously, this could be nifty; these are sold targeting car owners mostly and cost about the same as Amazon's extended warranty.
 
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