Self-emptying stations, also known as self-emptying docks or bases, are one of the biggest innovations in robot vacuum design. They can make a huge difference in the usability and usefulness of a robot.
Instead of having to remember to empty your robot vacuum’s little built-in dustbin, it’ll be done for you, so you can set a cleaning schedule on your smartphone and forget about it all.
If the dream of owning a robot vacuum is a completely self-contained experience, here’s how to get it. Or, at least, how to get much closer to it.
Self-emptying robot vacuums have many other advantages, but they also have a few disadvantages. They aren’t cheap, so before you buy, you need to know what you’re getting for your money.
To be clear, you cannot pair any robot vacuum with an automatic dump station. You will have to buy them together, from the same brand. Often you can get the same model with a regular charging station or an auto dump station.
If you already have a robot vacuum, you can check if the brand makes a compatible self-emptying dock.
In this article, we look at the pros and cons, so you can decide if they’re worth it for you.
Emma Rowley / Foundry
What is a self-draining hydrant?
Instead of a regular charging station, self-emptying robot vacuums come with a larger charging base that incorporates a vacuum bag in to the tower.
Each time the robot vacuum returns to its station to recharge, its bin is emptied via strong suction into a bag on the dock.
Typically the bag has a capacity of 2.5-3 litres, which usually means you’ll only need to change it every 1-2 months, but that depends on how much dust and dirt you get. the robot picks up.
The advantages of a self-draining station
Set and forget
The main advantage of an automatic dump station is that you can set a cleaning schedule and let your robot take care of daily cleaning, while you literally do everything else.
The bins of on-board robot vacuums are very small (usually around 0.4 litres) and will need to be emptied at least every few days. If your robot vacuum needs to clean and you forget to empty it, your robot won’t be able to clean effectively, if at all.
Avoid the dreaded “binteraction”
Another benefit is that a self-emptying dock will turn a robot vacuum from a bagless system to a bagged one. This means there’s no need to dig around inside the bin to dislodge hairballs and dust.
And instead of emptying the onboard bag straight into your kitchen bin and getting a cloud of dust on your face, you just have to pull the bag out and throw it away. This makes it a good option for people sensitive to dust or pet dander.
Thanks to the station’s strong suction, the robot’s on-board trash can will also be properly emptied. It’ll end up being much cleaner than if you just tip the contents into a kitchen bin – and you’ll inevitably have to follow that up by removing any trapped hair with a chopstick.
Cleaning and drying mop heads
Some robot vacuum models come with a self-emptying base that does more than just charge and empty the robot.
The Ecovacs X1 Omni, Ecovacs T20 Omni and Roborock S8 Pro Ultra are combined robot vacuums and mops. Their stations will also wash the robot’s mop pads and hot air dry them. It’s another job they take out of your hands, with the huge benefit that you won’t end up with a dirty or moldy mop attachment hiding somewhere in your kitchen. At this point, however, these are some of the most expensive robot vacuums you can buy.
And the downsides…
Size
Self-emptying stations are much larger than regular charging stations. This may affect where you place them. A good place for a robot vacuum is often under a couch. But given the station’s larger size and the fact that there’s often a ramp the robot climbs to get to it, it may not fit in the same convenient spot and it may be harder to hide.
If you’re looking for a smaller docking station, the iRobot Roomba i7+ has an incredibly compact one.
Emma Rowley / Foundry
Multi-purpose models that also clean and dry mops have even larger stations, to accommodate clean and dirty water reservoirs and drying technology.
In addition to being large, self-emptying docks can be less than attractive to look at. For our money, Ecovacs’ self-dump stations are some of the most attractive, with minimalist shells that hide bags and tanks inside.
Emma Rowley / Foundry
Ongoing charges
There’s also the added cost of buying the vacuum bags, as well as the environmental impact of buying and disposing of another part-plastic accessory.
Vacuum bags aren’t particularly expensive, but their cost will accumulate over the life of the robot vacuum and there’s always the risk that the brand will stop producing them before you want to stop using your robot. All in all, we think it’s worth it, but it’s good to know what you’re getting yourself into when buying.
Noise
Finally, there is the issue of noise. Automatic dump stations work by vacuum suction, which makes them efficient at emptying the bin but extremely noisy. The jet engine sucking sound only lasts a few seconds, but it’s loud.
Docks that also clean and dry mop heads are also noisy – and for a longer period of time. Typically, after washing mop pads, they use hot air to dry them, much like a hand dryer in a public bathroom.
This is yet another reason why you would want to keep your robot vacuum station away from rooms where you spend a lot of time. If you keep your robot vacuum’s base in your living room, you’ll find that’s no longer the best place for it.
If you have a large enough kitchen, this is probably the best place for a self-emptying robot vacuum. And in some cases, a hard floor is essential: the “RockDock Ultra”, the self-emptying base of the Roborock S8 Pro Ultra, must be placed on a hard floor for the robot to find its way.
Anyron Copeman / Foundry
But keep in mind that you’ll need a strong Wi-Fi connection wherever you set up your robot.
How much does a robot vacuum cleaner with automatic emptying station cost?
When launched, auto dump stations tended to only come with flagship or top of the line models and this is still the case when it comes to the Ecovacs X1 Omni, Ecovacs T20 Omni and Roborock S8 Pro Ultra. But part of the price here is the range of features: these models also clean and dry the robot.
The iRobot Roomba i7+ is a good mid-priced model and there are some great budget models too: the Dreamebot D10 Plus and Ecovacs N8+ are recommended options under $/£400.
For more recommendations and to see our top picks, take a look at our roundup of the best robot vacuums we’ve tested.
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