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Welcome to the Bunnings Workshop community @rosietaylor. It's brilliant to have you join us, and many thanks for your question about robotic pool cleaners.
Robotic pool cleaners can be a great investment for large pools, but it helps to understand exactly what they do and what they don’t do so you can decide if they suit your situation. They excel at collecting debris from the floor and walls, and they operate independently from your pool’s pump, which means they don’t rely on suction or pressure from the filtration system to move around. This makes them very effective for heavy leaf litter, gum leaves, acorns, and general debris that standard suction cleaners often struggle with. I use one for exactly that reason. With a lot of leaf drop, my traditional cleaner simply could not keep the floor clear, whereas the robot has no trouble picking it all up.
The trade-off is that robotic cleaners do not circulate or filter the water in your pool. A traditional cleaner is part of the system that keeps the water moving constantly through the filter, which helps remove tiny suspended particles and prevents debris from settling. A robot only collects what it physically drives over, and all that debris goes into its own basket or filter canister. Once that fills, you need to empty it. If you have a lot of organic material coming into your pool, you may find yourself emptying the robot’s basket frequently. This is much the same as needing to keep an eye on your skimmer baskets, but it is a separate job that has to be done for the robot to keep working efficiently.
In terms of running cost, robotic cleaners are very cheap to operate because they draw modest power from a standard power point. The extra expense comes from the fact that you still need to run your pool pump separately to maintain proper water circulation and filtration. A suction cleaner uses that pump pressure to move around, so in many cases it can be more energy efficient overall because you are essentially doing two jobs at once, cleaning and filtering. With a robot you pay for both tasks separately. This doesn’t mean they are expensive to run, but it is worth noting that they cannot replace your pump or reduce your filtration run time.
For convenience, robots have a huge advantage. You drop it in, press a button, and let it go. There is no long hose snaking through the water, nothing to disconnect when someone wants to swim, and no fiddling with valves or flow settings. For large pools, this ease of use alone can make a big difference, especially if you prefer a low-effort approach to regular maintenance. They are also brilliant for spot cleaning, for example, after a storm, but the water itself is still clear.
If your pool sees a high amount of leaf litter, a robotic cleaner is often the best choice because it keeps up with debris far better than a traditional suction cleaner. If your pool collects very little debris and stays mostly clean, a standard suction cleaner may still be the more efficient option because it filters and cleans at the same time. I would consider how your pool behaves throughout the year and how much manual involvement you want in your cleaning routine. A robot is an excellent helper, but not a complete replacement for the filtration system.
If you can let me know more about whether you want a corded or cordless model, what sort of debris usually ends up in your pool (fine dust, leaves, gum nuts, or heavier items), how often does this debris drop and roughly how often would you be comfortable emptying the cleaner’s basket or doing maintenance, I’d be happy to help you shortlist a few specific models that match your pool and lifestyle.
Please let me know if you have any questions.
Mitchell
