The Best Robot Vacuum for Hardwood Floors.
I’ve seen many people looking for a robot vacuum for hardwood floors, carpets, and other types of flooring. It is quite tough to find one that is equally expert for all kinds of floors. But we surely can find specialized vacuums for each type. Especially when you have a sensitive floor made of hardwood that can be easily scratched. A good robotic vacuum for hardwood floors can save so much of your time and energy, without causing any harm to your floor.
A robot vacuum is supposed to make your home clean automatically. If it gives you the hassle that you want to avoid every day by manually cleaning your home, then it is not a good robot vacuum. There are many robot vacuum models and brands available in the market. To find a proper robot vacuum you need to choose the correct one that can fulfill your needs within the budget.
What to Consider Before Buying a Robot Vacuum for Hardwood Floors:
Before investing your money in a robot vacuum you must know what specifications you should look at one. Here are the things you need to know to make a good choice over hundreds of robot vacuum cleaners.
Cleaning performance: There are robot vacuums powerful enough to clean your full-size apartments. If you think that robot vacuums should be only used for light maintenance cleaning, well those days are gone. Powerful suction and high speed make many of these vacuums a good cleaning solution for your home. Especially when you have a hardwood floor. To clean a hardwood floor you need good suction power from a robot vacuum.
Type of house: If you have a big house that contains different types of carpeting along with your hardwood floor then it is better to go for a multipurpose robot vacuum. These vacuums can turn on performance mode automatically while going from hard floors to carpets.
Battery Life: The requirement of the battery life of a robot vacuum will depend on your home size. If you have a big house then you must go for a vacuum that comes with good battery life. For big houses look for a vacuum that comes with two hours of battery life. Other than that, go for something that at least can work for one hour or more.
Wi-fi connection or Remote Control: Nowadays most good robot vacuums come with remote control and wi-fi connection. These features make usage easier and more convenient.
Auto-Schedule: Scheduling can is a very important feature for a robot vacuum. It is better if you can schedule the vacuum on a weekly or monthly basis. So, it can do the operation even when you are not home and does not interrupt you when you are home.
Return to Dock: Another very important feature of a robot vacuum is the return to dock memory. It is very necessary, especially if you have a big house. If it does not come back to charge itself to the dock then you’ll end up walking the whole house searching for it.
Navigation and Cleaning Pattern: The new era of robot vacuums contains many great features. One is room memory. It is best if a robot vacuum can navigate a room and memorize where it already is done cleaning. Also, a patterned way of cleaning is also preferable to random cleaning. It takes less time to efficiently clean a bigger area of space.
Specify Do Not Enter areas: Few robot models come with magnetic strips that you can place on areas that you do not want it to enter. It works as a virtual wall. It is very handy if you don’t want to let it go to any particular area.
Our Top 5 Hardwood Floor Robot Vacuum Reviews:
Neato BotVac Connected is one of the most popular vacuums available right now in the market. The performance of this robot vacuum has grabbed so much attention and many consumers reviewed it as the best-performing robot vacuum available in the market.
Navigation: This robot is a smart vacuum that uses a laser guide navigation system and works in a pattern to clean a room. The laser navigation let it scan the room even in the dark.
Performance: The powerful suction can pick up dust particles from the size of a grain of rice to pet hair, efficiently within the least amount of time. You can switch it between two modes, one is turbo and another is the eco mode. Where turbo mode is for high speed and high suction, eco is for a long time low-speed low suction cleaning.
Cleaning Time: I love the D shape of the Neato vacuum because it works much more efficiently near the walls and corners than any O-shaped robot vac. The wide brush is capable to clean a space much quicker than any other robot vacuum. The Lithium-Ion battery lasts 2 hours in eco mode and 90 minutes in turbo mode.
Neato App: This wi-fi-enabled device comes with a Neato App which can be one of your favorite things about this robot vacuum. The Neato app is very easy to use and very convenient. You can operate your vacuum with this app from anywhere in your home if you have internet. Not only that, if you want to manually operate this vacuum, there is also an option in the app that lets you drive the robot where you want. This is really cool when you specifically want to clean a spot by guiding it yourself.
Schedule: Along with the wi-fi, it has a panel on its screen to schedule and operates. You can schedule the cycle whenever you want to clean the house very easily with the app.
Return to Dock: After the cleaning is done no need to worry if it returned to its doc and started charging itself again. Because it automatically does, and you get a push notification on your phone. You also get a notification if there is an error while it is operating.
Boundary Markers: This neato vacuum also comes with easy-to-use boundary markers that the vacuum can recognize and avoid the marked space while operating. So, no problem if you want to automatically detect the places you don’t want it to operate.
As I personally have seen and reviewed by hundreds of users, this vacuum is much more efficient than many high-end vacuums from popular brands like Roomba or Samsung. And surprisingly it costs less than these vacuums. So, it can be a great choice if you are looking for an automatic vacuum solution for your home.
Another powerful and efficient robot vacuum for cleaning the hardwood floor is the Yeedi K600. This vacuum is one of the smartest vacuums that can navigate your home and function without any hiccups. The popular brand Yeedi is manufacturing this robot vacuum with all the up-to-date vacuum technology and amazing innovation.
Performance: The performance of this vacuum on the hardwood floor is up to the mark. The suction is very powerful. As Yeedi claims, it operates with the world’s most powerful suction which is more powerful than any of the robot vacuums on the market. The design of the vacuum let it clean the floor edges properly. It is also efficient enough to handle lots of pet hair at a time.
Navigation & Mapping: This vacuum wins the navigating war. Systematic pattern cleaning makes you feel that it knows what it is doing. No other vacuum can efficiently navigate your living space as this one does. It maps your home with the help of a digital camera and contains multiple sensors to ignore obstacles in its path. In fact, it memorizes your home and syncs with the app. So, later you can access the map of your home from the app.
Select Where to Clean: From the app, you can select which floors you want to clean in what order. For example, you’ll have a guest in a few hours and you want to clean the dining area and a guest room for now. Just select it and it will clean the dining room first and then will go to the guest room. You can also schedule the cleaning, so it can operate when you are not home. After cleaning it comes to its dock to charge itself. It also comes with magnetic tape that you can use to prevent it clean any specific place.
Connectivity: It comes with both wi-fi connectivity and physical remote control. For a single spot cleaning, you just need to send it to the spot by turning on the point cleaning feature.
Battery Life: The battery life of this vacuum is not as impressive as the Neato vacuum I’ve mentioned above. The vacuum runs in three modes. And the battery can last up to 30, 60, and 90 minutes depending on which model you are choosing.
Size: The height of this robot vacuum can be a problem to access under much of your furniture. Sometimes this vacuum does a poor performance just because it cannot go to tight spaces.
If you are looking for a robot vacuum that will properly clean your wood floor, yet it will not cost as much as the above models usually cost, this Roomba can be a great solution. It is one of the best Roomba for hardwood floors. iRobot Roomba 690 is one of those smart vacuums that come within a less budget yet have most of the features a good robot vacuum needs to have. You may not find all the advanced features in this vacuum but it is efficient enough to clean your home.
Performance: The Roomba comes with good suction and the cleaning is pretty good when you are doing it in a wide space. The cleaning brushes can sweep dust and dirt from your hard floor and pull up with powerful suction. I have no complaints about the cleaning performance of this Roomba vacuum, but the navigation is not as powerful as the high-end models. The random cleaning way can make it time to consume to clean an area. Also, it can get bumped with the furniture in your room. The more furniture your room has the more time it will take to do the task.
Run Time: This Roomba robot vacuum can run for 70 minutes with a fully charged battery. The runtime is not very efficient, but good enough if you have a small apartment.
Wi-Fi Connectivity: You can operate this robot vacuum with your smartphone by connecting it to wi-fi. It let you operate, schedule, check the status, and also notify you if there is an error. It does not support manual steering by the app. But while vacuuming, if the robot finds some space that contains more dirt and mess, it does a spot cleaning by repeating that area a few times.
Docking: It is designed to return to the charging dock when the vacuuming is done. But sometimes the vacuum struggles to locate the dock if the place it is operating is far from the dock. In that case, you need to manually put it near the dock and it will go back to the park itself. This can be annoying sometimes. But this disadvantage occurs because of the poor navigation system.
Virtual Wall: To prevent an area from cleaning, you get a Dual Mode Virtual Wall Barrier with this robot vacuum. These small devices work like creating a barrier and do not let the vacuum go near them.
Value for Money: As I already said, the Roomba 690 can be your low-budget robot vacuum for cleaning hardwood floors. It could have been better in many ways, but you get a solid device that actually cleans your home for you automatically when you are not home. So, to any budget-concerned buyer, I’ll suggest going for a robot vacuum without hesitation and for less than $200.
Ecovac Deebot is another great automated robot vacuum for a house containing hardwood flooring. It is also a budget option for anyone looking for a vacuum that may not cost as much as a Samsung Powerbot. It is loved by many consumers because this powerful and convenient vacuum comes within a low-budget range. Though it may cost you more than Roomba 690.
Suction Power: With great suction power, this vacuum does a similar job to the Roomba 690. It comes in a similar shape. If your home contains both hardwood and carpets, then it is a great solution for you. But it contains a wet and dry mop that is very efficient while working on the hardwood floor.
The powerful suction is great for working on a bare floor. If you are cleaning only the hardwood floors you can also try operating the device by removing the brush roll.
Navigation: This vacuum works in an “efficient cleaning pattern”. It is designed to walk in four different modes that you can change depending on the surface. It can also properly come to its charging dock when it needs to recharge itself.
Control: You can control it either with the remote control or with your phone that connects it to wifi. You can also schedule the time when it will operate with your phone app. You can schedule it to start auto clean, and for daily or weekly cleaning. Also for spot cleaning, you can directly send it to a certain place. It gives an alarm if the device gets stuck in any place.
Run Time: The basic runtime of this vacuum is 90 minutes, which is not very great. While working on the max mode that increases suction, the battery does not run for up to 90 minutes. That’s why, while cleaning a big house it may need to charge itself in between.
Overall, the vacuum is excellent for cleaning a hardwood floor, especially with a dry and wet mop. It may not perform as well if you have a large amount of area covered in carpets. The slim vacuum can easily fit under your furniture and clean properly. More or less, it contains many important features that a good robot vacuum needs to have nowadays.
Eufy RoboVac 11 is another extremely budget-friendly robot vacuum that you can buy for your home. The only feature that it lacks from the high-end vacuums is wi-fi connectivity. You get a regular remote and the buttons on the panel of the vacuum itself to operate this device. No apps, no operating with your phones. Despite that, the device is an efficient vacuum you can own for your house.
Performance: The Eufy RoboVac 11 is great to clean your everyday mess from bare floors. It is also loved for efficient operation in carpeted areas. It is one of the quietest robot vacuums I have ever seen.
Cleaning Pattern: When you turn it on automatic cleaning mode this vacuum goes for a random pattern. It goes back and forth and over time is able to clean the entire room along with the corners. When needed you can use it for spot cleaning, by sending it to a specific area and activating the spot cleaning mode.
Remote Control: As the vacuum does not contain a wi-fi connectivity feature, it only comes with a remote control that makes it easy for many people who are not willing to sync it with the smartphone. The remote control contains a very classic design and it is pretty easy to use. You can manually navigate with it, schedule once a day, or call it to return to its charging dock.
HEPA Filter: Unlike many robot vacuums, this Eufy contains one high-performing HEPA filter along with two filters in it. That increases the quality of air which is great for people with a dust allergy.
Under Furniture: The vacuum performs great under the furniture as it is one of the shortest vacuums on the market. It can easily go under your cupboard. But it may not be good working on high pile carpets and dark space as said by the manufacturers.
This Eufy vacuum is ideal for small and cleaner homes with less traffic. If you have a small family and not a very big house to clean every day, this vacuum can be a great solution for you. Those who are not having a robot vacuum because of the high price range can easily effort this vacuum and go for a robot vacuum as a starter.
FAQ’s
What are the benefits of using a robot vacuum to clean my hardwood floors?
Because it is designed to navigate smoothly and easily on hard surfaces without damaging the floor finish, a robot vacuum is an excellent choice for cleaning hardwood floors. A robot vacuum, as opposed to traditional vacuums, can easily access tight spaces and difficult-to-reach areas, making it ideal for cleaning the entire floor.
Are robot vacuums effective at cleaning hardwood floors?
Yes, robot vacuums can clean hardwood floors effectively. Many robot vacuums have specialized brushes and strong suction designed to pick up dirt, dust, and debris from hardwood floors. Some models also include high-efficiency filters that trap fine dust and allergens, leaving your hardwood floors clean and healthy.
Is it possible for a robot vacuum to scratch or damage my hardwood floors?
The majority of robot vacuums are built to be gentle on hardwood floors, with features like soft rubber wheels and protective bumpers to prevent scratching or damage. However, before using a robot vacuum on your hardwood floors, always read the manufacturer’s instructions and recommendations.
Are robot vacuums noisy?
Some robot vacuums can be quite noisy, especially when operating at full power. Most modern models, on the other hand, are designed to be quiet and operate at low decibel levels, making them appropriate for use in homes with open floor plans or sensitive pets.
Can a robot vacuum replace a traditional vacuum for cleaning hardwood floors?
For cleaning hardwood floors, a robot vacuum can be a convenient and effective supplement to a traditional vacuum. While a robot vacuum cannot replace a full-size vacuum, it can assist in keeping your hardwood floors clean and free of dust and debris on a daily basis. Furthermore, many robot vacuums can be programmed to run automatically, allowing you to clean your floors while you are away.