As we head into the holiday season, two holidays on many people’s calendars is Black Friday and Cyber Monday. From Friday into the next week, stores across the country will be offering their best prices both in-person and digitally. This is often a time where many people look to buy new appliances for their kitchen, new gadgets, and new cleaning equipment. One high-end product that often gets a lot of talk around the holidays is robotic cleaning devices. These automated devices clean around your home or apartment while you are away and can even be controlled by your phone. But while their features are impressive, the most important question for many homeowners is whether or not they are worth the money and how much work they will actually save you.
If I Have A Robotic Vacuum Do I Still Need To Vacuum Manually?
The short answer is unfortunately yes. At present, there are no robotic vacuums on the market that are going to make you comfortable throwing away your upright. While a robotic vacuum can handle some tasks there are many tasks that they won’t be able to handle effectively. Consumer reports ran a test pitting a Miele upright vacuum against a leading robotic vacuum. The Miele vacuum cost about half the retail price of the robotic vacuum and picked up more than half of the debris while the robotic vacuum got less than 20%. Even outside of how effective they are at picking up dirt and debris there are just some jobs you are going to want to do yourself. Many people who have robotic vacuum cleaners don’t have their vacuums clean every single room or often notice that certain nooks and crannies are completely missed. Additionally larger spills require a manual vacuum to handle them quickly and effectively.
What Are Robotic Vacuums Good For?
Just because a robotic vacuum won’t be able to replace your upright doesn’t mean you shouldn’t get one. Robotic vacuums are great for touch-up jobs. If you vacuum once every week or every two weeks around the house, running your robotic vacuum while you are at work might be a great way to get a few extra cleaning sessions done. They are perfectly suited for handling the small jobs between upright vacuum cleanings. Think about it this way, if you dedicate one or two Saturdays per month to do a full deep cleaning of your home or apartment, your robotic vacuum can help pick up some slack during the work week when you have less time.
What Should I Look For In A Robotic Vacuum?
If you are interested in adding a robotic vacuum to your cleaning equipment, you should make sure you get the right one. Consider looking for the following:
- Virtual Walls: Some vacuums come with methods for creating virtual walls that prevent the vacuum from entering certain rooms in the home or certain areas. This can be helpful if you want to prevent your vacuum from cleaning areas where there might be wires (like around your TV) or cleaning rooms that you would prefer to clean yourself.
- Smart Device Integration: One benefit of robotic vacuums is being able to turn them on and off while out and about. Smart phone integration will allow you to set your robotic vacuum on its way while you are at the office or out running errands. It is perfect in a pinch if you have an impromptu event at your home to prepare for.
- HEPA Filtration: HEPA filtration is found in many vacuums and can make sure that dust isn’t kicked up into the air hurting air quality.
Shop For Upright Vacuum Cleaners in Plymouth
At Vacuum City in Plymouth we would be happy to help you find the perfect vacuum for your home or other property. We sell both Bissell and Miele vacuums at our location in Plymouth. Give us a call today to learn more about vacuums as well as our disinfecting and repair services and replacement parts.