Can Roomba Have Two Home Bases? – All You Need to Know!

Wondering whether can Roomba have two Home Bases? Let’s find out!

When you’re a new user, one of the questions that come to mind is often whether Roomba can have multiple home bases for cleaning a larger home.

This is absolutely possible and in this guide, we’ll learn how the setup works, what we need to know, and what’s most important.

The iRobot Roomba can work with two home bases even if they are on different floors. Roomba will not fall downstairs and execute the cleaning schedule (learned path) depending on the closest base station. 

As long as the home bases are supported devices Roomba will return and dock.

About Second Roomba Home Base!

Roomba does not particularly look for a base station, instead, the iRobot goes to the closest docking point, based on a signal.

Therefore finding your Roomba charging in the second home base it’s not an exception and not a surprise. It’s based on how the decking stations are installed.

The second Home Base should be closer than 4,000 square feet from the original.

There is no point plugging our second Roomba Home Base into the same room as the original docking station.

Instead, we now have the opportunity to cover a larger area of our homes and even start taking Roomba to another floor. 

Roomba can’t go up/down stairs, therefore can’t return to the original charging station after the cleaning.

However, with the second Roomba Home Base, we can simply take the iRobot on a mission on a different floor, and later we’ll most likely find the robot charged and ready!

Tip: With the second Home Base you can also cover a much larger area of the floor as well.

Can You Have Two Home Bases for Roomba?

Absolutely Yes! The iRobot Roomba can use as many home bases as your home requires.

To clarify, the iRobot can support up to 10 floors of maps and cover 4,000 square feet on each is enough to cover the typical home. 

For larger environments such as halls, auditoriums, and sports fields, the multiple Base Stations have to be positioned in a manner that allows Roomba to always be within the range of one of them. 

The worst-case scenario would be for Roomba to get lost and run out of charge! 

It’s not a big deal. 

Installing Second Base Station?

There is no setup at all. When plugged in, the base station sends signals to the iRobot Roomba, allowing the robot to dock and charge when the battery gets low.

Simply locate a power outlet at least 500 square feet away from the original and watch your Roomba have multiple homes!

Here are the requirements in order for Roomba to be able to dock at the second base station:

• The space in front of the Base Station has to be free of obstructions and obstacles!
• The iRobot has to be connected to the Roomba Home application (WiFi connection).
• There has to be at least low ambient light for the Robot to be able to navigate.
• The Base Station’s LED has to flicker in green when plugged into the power.

When all of this is on point, the Roomba should occasionally find its way to the second base station, therefore covering a much larger area of our home.

When on a different floor, Roomba will have no choice but to use the Base Station plugged in on this floor.

Note: Roomba will not fall downstairs even if there is no Base Station on its floor!

Multiple Base Stations?

In case you really need to cover a super large area you might need more than two Home Bases for Roomba to operate automatically.

There is nothing to worry about since you need to plug in the Base Station and Roomba will be able to dock and recharge when the robot is in range.

Note: When Roomba is learning a new floor, it could take multiple runs to navigate better!

Why Can Roomba Have Two Home Bases?

The developers from iRobot have included this feature and did not lock Roomba towards only the original charging station for a pretty good reason – cover a larger area!

Yes, you can always create smart maps to relocate the Base Station as well as the robot without a second docking station but that does not sound right for automated cleaning, is it?

Here are the top reasons why users need more than one iRobot Roomba Base Station:

Automatization

We can assume that the greatest reason why Roomba can have more than one Home Base is due to the requirement of completely automated cleaning.

Relocating your setup every time you’re sending Roomba on a mission makes the investment, well, not that beneficial.

With two Home Bases, even the largest homes can completely automate the cleaning process, especially when users add an auto Roomba disposal station.

Let’s learn more!

Larger Area

Users mainly install multiple iRobot Roomba Home Bases to be able to perform a cleaning session in a large environment on a daily schedule.

Without the entire area covered by the Home Bases signal, Roomba would not be able to reach the furthest sides out.

In addition, installing multiple Home Bases for Roomba means more ways to charge, therefore the robot won’t be traveling all the way back when the battery starts to low.

It finishes faster!

Floors

One of the most frequently discussed Roomba topics is how the robot manages different floors in our home.

Due to the cliff detection sensor, Roomba won’t fall down even if its home station is located downstairs.

However, this leads to the battery dying therefore Roomba falls asleep.

One base station on each floor, allows users to simply relocate the Robot and go!

Reliability

After all, Roomba is a robotic device that can sometimes get lost and not be able to return to the Base Station.

The cleaning robot sometimes dies halfway back to the base station, especially when the floor area is large. This is what the second Home Base primarily solves.

Can Roomba Work Without a Base Station?

The iRobot Roomba comes with 2 general ways of charging.

Instead of using the Home Base, users can also plug the robot into a power outlet via charging cable just like our smartphones.

That makes Roomba completely usable even without a home base!

However, some challenges immediately occur such as Romba constantly not finishing its cleaning schedule due to low battery which impacts the intended automatization.

In contrast, this method works for users that don’t have much space for a Base Station perfectly.

Note: Not ALL docking stations online will match your Roomba model. Keep reading!

Buy a Separate Docking Station For Roomba?

You can purchase a separate Docking Station for your Roomba robot online but you need to watch out for whether it’s compatible or not.

We recommend using official sources such as Amazon and checking which models are supported. 

The average price of an Integrated Dock Charger for Roomba is $80 – $90.

In the description, you’ll always find the Roomba models that will work with the Base Station and all you need to do next is plug the device in the power. That’s all and you’ll be set up!

There are also self-emptying docking stations, perfect for users with pets where there is a high load of fur and hair on the ground.

It generally makes using Roomba even more automated.

Note: Without a self-cleaning docking station users need to clear the bin on alert.

Quick Recap:

Thus, Roomba can use two or more Home Bases as long as they are plugged into the power and within 4,000 square feet of each other. Then the iRobot Roomba will be able to cover larger environments and with a bit of human touch, even multiple floors!

Final Thoughts:

Now that we’ve answered whether can Roomba have two Home Bases or not we know how to establish our setup.

Based on our home environment, floors that we need to cover, or square feet we can determine how many docking stations we need.

We’ve also learned that in order to make the cleaning process 100% automatic, we need at least one self-cleaning docking station!

We hope that this post was helpful and that you’ve learned something new about your iRobot Roomba.

In case you’re interested in more relevant topics feel free to check our tech blog.