Roomba + Economy7

paulspiteri · Joined: 21 Jun 2008 Posts: 1

Hi
Call me a scrooge, but I like to charge / run all my appliances at night after 11:30pm when Economy7 kicks in (it delivers electricity at about 20% the cost of during the day).

I don't suppose the latest model Roombas offer programmable charging times, do they? If I had the "dock" plugged in to a timer that only turns on at night, would that hinder its operational ability (i.e. it wouldn't find its way home, when cleaning during the day, would it?)

Thanks for answering my questions
Paul

vic7767 · Joined: 14 Jan 2006 Posts: 3287 Location: Louisiana

If your Roomba is on a cleaing mission and then begins to seek to home base, if it is not powered on then the Roomba will not dock.

And no, there is no time of day charging feature on the new models.

_JP_ · Joined: 12 Dec 2007 Posts: 207

Send the robot out on missions when the timer turns on the charger. You might notice reduced run times after a while, they are designed to receive a charge full time to make up for the trickle of energy used by the robot when it is not on a mission.

debugger · Joined: 20 Jan 2007 Posts: 725 Location: UK - Glasgow

I think the Economy 7 Tariff times change with different regions in the UK, so excuse me if the times quoted are not exactly what you get.

I can think of 2 scenarios that would work, depending on how determined you are about this.

1. Use a timer - set the timer to switch on when Economy 7 becomes active (say 11:30 at night) and switch off when the Tariff expires (say 08:00 in the morning) this will kick in the main Roomba charging at 11:30pm - let that charging complete and the trickle charging to run for as long as possible - set the Roomba to Run on a Schedule so that it finishes while the Ecomony 7 Tariff is still active and can get back to it's base before the timer switches off the power. The Roomba will remain discharged during the day and will recharge the following night.

2. Leave the power on all the time - set the Roomba to clean in the evening so that it finishes it's cycle just after 11:30pm - it will then return to base and do its main charge on the cheaper Tariff, and will then trickle for the rest of the night and all through the following day - as it's only trickle charging during the day the consumption is next to nothing anyway.