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How often will you really empty it?
Updated
"Up to 70 days" is a best case. The maker does not say what home it is based on. Pets, carpet and a bigger floor plan all fill a bag faster. This calculator gives you a rough number for your home.
How often will you have to empty it?
Rough estimate. It assumes 0.04 liters of debris per 1,000 sq ft per run on hard floors with no pets, doubled for one pet, tripled for two or more, and raised 25 percent for mixed floors or 50 percent for mostly carpet. Your home will differ.
Where the numbers come from
We set the base rate so that a 2.7 liter bag in a 1,000 sq ft home with hard floors, no pets and daily runs lasts about 68 days. That lines up with the "up to 70 days" claim on the roborock Q10 S5+ listing. Then we scale up for pets and carpet. The scaling is our own assumption, not a lab result.
| Home | 2.7 L dock bag, daily runs | 0.6 L robot bin |
|---|---|---|
| 1,000 sq ft, hard floors, no pets | About 68 days | About 15 runs |
| 1,500 sq ft, mixed floors, one pet | About 18 days | About 4 runs |
| 1,500 sq ft, mostly carpet, two pets | About 10 days | About 2 runs |
What this means when you shop
- Pets and no dock: a 0.6 liter bin like the one on the eufy 11S MAX can fill in about 2 runs in a busy pet home. If you will not empty it that often, buy a robot with a dock.
- Bag or bagless: bags cost money over time but drop into the trash sealed. A bagless base like the one on the Shark AI Ultra costs nothing to run, but you tip loose dust into the trash. If dust bothers you, pick a bag.
- The dock does not do everything: you still clean the filter, cut hair off the brush now and then, and wipe the sensors. "Hands-free" covers the dustbin only.
Ready to compare? See our five picks.