We took on a very lovable rescue dog last year and combined with routine debris from running two log burner in the winter, dog hair, dust/ash, firewood bits and pieces need to be constantly swept and hoovered. The floor is tiled. So I’m wondering if a robovac might save me a lot of time - or are they a waste of time… and money? Eager to hear experiences fur those who’ve got/used one. Thanks!
Yes - thankfully!
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My daughter swears by hers to get the dog hairs up and just leaves it going as it returns to it’s wall charger when needs a new charge. I did read about one in a hotel in Norfolk that escaped through the front door and got down the gravel drive before it was captured. The cheap ones are cheap for a reason though, you need to read up on them for the best report.
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Have you asked the dog? It may not want a robot friend. I’d like one, but dog says no.
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She hates the Dyson probably because of the high pitched noise it makes - a robovac is quieter and once the novelty wears off I think it would be fine. We have robomower and she didn’t like that at first but now ignores it.
I can imagine how a Robot Vac would cope with 9 cats and a mad schnauzer, it wouldn’t last very long 
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Or maybe has strong political convictions?
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My cats would have taken it prisoner and played with it to their own amusement, they did that with the vac, one used to climb on the cylinder part and take a ride.
About twice a year they have them in Lidl. Since our experience with Lidl products is sharply divided (some products are inexpensive, long lasting, effective and great while others die on the first outing), I wonder if anyone has bought one of those?
A friend of mine got a Lidl one a while ago and seems happy with it, but she has parquet everywhere not tiles and her house is relatively modern so it doesn’t generate a huge amount of dust and ous.
Edited to correct a typo, ‘sghe’ for ‘she’.
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That I can really relate to 
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We have a very cheap one. It moves randomly, but tends to get caught up in stuff.
It’s surprisingly effective. I don’t think the cat’s very keen on it, but he’s okay going upstairs.
Key points are the size of the “dust” receptacle (“casssette”) and battery life. The cassette is very quickly filled (it’s about the size of a couple of cigarette packs stacked) which is unsurprising given the amount of hair we get in the vacuum cleaner. The size wouldn’t be such an issue - because the battery is rechargeable - except for the fact that you need constantly to be emptying it and it takes a looong time to complete the job.
I don’t know how much a good robot vac with a decent-sized receptacle costs, but it’s probably not much different to the Dyson V10 (?) Animal we have, and I prefer the latter.
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Latest Which magazine says not yet, though I think my daughter’s going to buy one anyway to combat dog hairs. This is part of their review…
With some robot vacuums costing more than £1,000, you’ll want to be sure they will leave your home free of dust without you lifting a finger. Unfortunately, our experience with robot vacuum cleaners suggests that, unless you choose carefully, you’re likely to be underwhelmed.
Even the best robot vacuum cleaners can’t match a standard vacuum cleaner for cleaning power on carpets , and they can’t tackle the annoying little bits of your home such as stairs, crevices and upholstery. So, while they can keep floors looking spick and span during the week, you’ll still need to do a full-house vacuum every so often, unless you live in the most minimalist of glossy city apartments.
Our tough tests show that some robot vacuums do a much better job than others when it comes to navigating around obstacles and sucking up dust. In fact, some were just painful to watch. If you have a small, cluttered or otherwise tricky-to-negotiate home, you may find yourself spending more time freeing your robot vacuum from under sofas or chair legs than it will actually spend cleaning. Make sure you select one worthy for your home by reading our robot vacuum cleaner reviews.
If you don’t want to leave your home in the hands of robots just yet, check out our round-ups of the best vacuum cleaners or best cordless vacuum cleaners for a tried and tested dust-busting model.
Our pool robot did that last week, I thought I’d switched it off, bit spooky.