The noise really bothered me on our old model, but it broke recently and we replaced it with a different brand. I cannot believe how quiet the new one is. I think it’s less powerful but it’s worth it just for the noise. It’s not just the suction that’s quieter either, it also runs into walls/obstacles much less aggressively.
Might be something to look into when/if you decide to replace yours! There’s probably a model out there that won’t bug your wife as much.
You’re right that I misread the hat part the first time, thanks. Still not an option for us though, and not one that would actually solve much in our case.
The lazyboy was just one example, there are other things (including areas of the floor itself) that the roomba gets stuck on. Just keeping an eye on the roomba when it runs is the easier solution for us.
3d printing is not an option for us. Also one of the places that the roomba gets stuck is underneath a lazyboy chair, which needs to rock. We can’t just permanently put something underneath it without sacrificing a main function of the chair. There’s a lot of things around the house like this, where a temporary solution exists but a permanent one either wouldn’t be appropriate, or just isn’t worth doing.
I prefer having my living area comfortably set up for myself more than making it roomba-proof. I’m sure it’s worth it for some people, but we don’t share the same priorities.
We exclusively run ours when someone is home. It often gets stuck in certain areas and near specific furniture. We try to prevent it as much as we can but we just don’t trust it enough to let it run without a little supervision.
Edit: I am not looking for solutions. Running the roomba when we are home works fine for us and we do not intend to change the way we live or get a more expensive roomba to accommodate it. This is a perfectly fine workaround that suits our situation well. I only made this comment to point out that not everyone runs the roomba when the house is empty.
I also use Calmer! I have both Calmer and the more intense Calmer Nights, and they are both absolutely fantastic. I can still hear what I need to hear, they just… take the edge off. I love how discreet they are too.