Roomba is one of the best robot vacuums for vinyl plank, hardwood, tiles, and other types of hard floors. It also has an auto-adjusting head to ensure optimal results on your floors with part carpet. But then, how long does it take a Roomba to clean a room with such a flooring layout? Should I work on each surface separately to speed up the process?
Well, you necessarily don’t have to remove your carpet for Roomba to first work on the hard floor. Thanks to the auto-adjusting head, the vacuum cleaner is able to change between the two different surfaces without any issues.
However, the Roomba usually takes lesser effort to sweep on the hard floors than on the rugs. And in this quick guide, we’ll look at exactly how many minutes or hours the machine takes to complete the cleaning cycle.
What is Your Favorite iRobot Roomba Robot Vacuum Cleaner?
Like any other brand, iRobot has various models and variants of robot vacuums in its catalog. And this means how long it takes clean a room varies from one device to another from the different supported features:
- Do You Have the Basic Roomba 600-Series?
The Roomba 600 series is the overall bestselling robot vacuum lineup from iRobot. It’s like the budget Roomba, where you can get both models 692 and 694 for under $20 during sales.
But unlike the Eufy Robovac 11s, which is also under $200, the Roomba has built-in WiFi protocol and smartphone support. It also has built-in Dirt Detect sensors and usually cleans your floors in systematic, neat rows.
Nevertheless, none of the Roomba 600-series robots have smart mapping, targeted room cleaning, or smart recharge and resume option.
- Do You Have the Basic Roomba i2 Series?
The Roomba i2 series also falls in the budget lineup of iRobot. It has all the features on the Roomba 600-series but with more suction power, a self-emptying base, plus smart recharge and resume cleaning option.
Unfortunately, the robot vacuum doesn’t offer targeted room cleaning (individual room mapping) or compatibility with the Braava Jet mopping robot.
- Do You Have the Intelligent Roomba i3 EVO Series?
The Roomba i3 is yet another of the bestselling robot vacuum from iRobot, thanks to the reasonable pricing and amazing perks. It is one of the smart series with all the features of the i2 series, plus smart mapping with targeted room cleaning.

The Roomba i3 is also one of the best robot vacuums for hardwood floors compatible with the Braava Jet mopping robot. But it still relies on the basic tech to work around obstacles and doesn’t support the “Keep Out Zones” feature.
- Do You Have the Intelligent Roomba i4 EVO Series?
I’m not exactly sure what iRobot was trying to pull with the Roomba i4 series. The robot vacuum is about the same as i3 in features and capabilities. So, the few dollars you top will be for the extra 2 spare filters and a virtual wall device.
- Do You Have the Intelligent Roomba J7 Series?
The Roomba J7 series is another of the robot vacuums that iRobot added with multiple intelligent features for a smoother cleaning experience. It’s a little more advanced than the i3 and i4 vacuums as it has all their features and a visual navigation system. Thus, should be able to avoid obstacles like cords or pet waste and show a Livestream cleaning session.
The Roomba J7 is also one of the few you can enable cleaning & keep out zones. Then again, the motor suction is still slightly lower compared to the Roomba S9.
- Do You Have the Intelligent Roomba S9 Series?
Unfortunately, the Roomba S9 has not been the most famous on the market. While it should have been a series of its own, many still feel like it’s just an overpriced Roomba J7.
Nonetheless, the robot vacuum has all the features on the J7, plus a sophisticated 3D obstacle detection sensor and about 4x motor suction.
Other Factors That May Affect How Long It Take A Roomba To Clean A Room
Apart from the different features on board, the other factors that may affect how long a Roomba takes to clean a room include:
- The size of your home: what’s the total area of the floors you need to be cleaned?
- The layout of your home: how far will the robot have to run to cross all the rooms?
- The type of floor you’re cleaning: Do you have tiles, hardwood, vinyl plank, or carpet?
- The furnishing of your rooms: how are your rooms stocked up with furniture and how are they organized?
How Long Does It Take A Roomba To Clean A Room?
Roomba Robot Vacuum | Standard Cleaning Time | Recharge & Resume |
Roomba 614 | 1.5 hours/ 800 sqft | NO |
Roomba 692 | 1.5 hours/ 800 sqft | NO |
Roomba 694 | 1.5 hours/ 800 sqft | NO |
Roomba i2 | 1.5hours/ 1400 sqft | YES |
Roomba i3 | 2 hours/ 1500 sqft | YES |
Roomba i4 | 2 hours/ 1500 sqft | YES |
Roomba J7 | 2 hours/ 1400 sqft | YES |
Roomba S9 | 1.5hours/ 1400 sqft | YES |
The chart above shows a summary of how long it takes a Roomba to clean a room in standard American homes. But you might get different results due to the factors we mentioned earlier.
The only feature that’s relatively uniform across each robot vacuum series from the brand is the running time before the battery depletes. See below.
- Roomba 614/ 692/ 694 Robot Vacuum
As was mentioned, the Roomba 600 series usually don’t have sophisticated features as we have on the later series. All models in this family also have a similar runtime of about 90 minutes on hard floors and 60 minutes where there are rugs.
Sadly, the Roomba 600 robot vacuums usually don’t have a recharge and resume cleaning feature. Thus, you might come to find some of your floors still dirty.
- Roomba i2 Robot Vacuum
In the Roomba i2 robot vacuum, you can also expect it to run for about an hour on areas with rugs or 90 minutes on only hard floors. But unlike the 600 series, this model does support recharge and resume features, plus has a self-emptying base. You won’t need to babysit it so you can empty the bin or ever worry about dirty floors.
- Roomba i3/ i4 Robot Vacuum
Both the Roomba i3 and i4 are more or less an upgrade to the i2 series. The robot vacuums have a bit more features, which is why they only last 75 minutes/ charge on hard floors and 50 minutes in areas with rugs.
Fortunately, the two Roombas do support recharge and resume cleaning, plus you can get the self-emptying base. So, you’ll always find clean floors in the evening.

- Roomba J7 Robot Vacuum
As we said earlier, the Roomba J7 series is relatively smarter than all the others above as you even get visual navigation. But the battery still offers 75 minutes of runtime on hard floors and 50 minutes on areas with rugs.
Once the battery charge is low, the robot vacuum will go back to the dock station to recharge. Then come back to where it left off and resume cleaning.
- Roomba S9 Robot Vacuum
Similarly, the Roomba S9 is way smarter than the i4 series and earlier models. We saw it also has more suction power than even the J7 and iRobot also upped the battery capacity. How so?
The robot vacuum can run up to 1 hour 40 minutes on hard floors and about 60 minutes/ charge on surfaces with rugs. If the batteries are drained before finishing, the machine will track back to the home station to recharge, then resume cleaning.
Final Thoughts:
In a nutshell, knowing how long it takes a Roomba to clean a room can really help in making the right buying decision. Yes, we all have varying floor layouts and different room arrangements. But the average runtime can help you discern whether a particular model will meet your requirements or not.
All in all, the intelligent Roomba vacuums with a self-emptying base, plus a recharge and resume cleaning program will be much better than those without. They provide peace of mind knowing you’ll still find clean floors even when you enter the house from work at midnight.