If you're going to buy a robotic pool cleaner for the first time, the tips here should help.

Assess your pool and your family's usage of it beforehand

Not all robotic pool cleaners are suitable for all types of swimming pools. Because of this, and because a pool cleaner is a big investment, it is important to assess your own pool and how you and your household use it beforehand so that you end up buying one that's perfect for you. For example, you should keep in mind that some robotic cleaners can only be used in over-ground pools, so if you have an in-ground one, you'll need to check that the model you're interested in can be used in this type of pool.

Additionally, you'll need to factor in the size of your pool. For example, for people with big swimming pools or pools with lots of deciduous trees around them, pool contractors will normally recommend robotic cleaners that have very large collection baskets, as the cleaners with small baskets would probably get filled up before the equipment has finished the pools. If you opted for one with a small basket for your own large or leaf-riddled pool, you would have to monitor the equipment and wait for its basket to fill up, retrieve the cleaner, empty the basket and put it back into the water so that it could complete the rest of the cleaning. This could be annoying, particularly if you bought the robotic cleaner in order to automate this tiring task.

Look for a pool cleaner with several different cleaning cycles if you use the pool a lot

Some robotic pool cleaners come with just one cleaning cycle that, for example, cleans for 60 minutes. These are great for those who don't spend a huge amount of time in their pools. However, pool contractors will often tell their clients to get robotic cleaners with several cycles if they use their swimming pools a lot.

The reason for this is that if, for example, your friends often call round unexpectedly for an impromptu swim, then it could be useful to have a cleaner with a cycle of, for instance, 20 minutes, that will quickly pick up the most obvious dirt and make the pool acceptable-looking. Likewise, if, due to being heavily used by your entire household several days in a row, the pool is quite filthy, having a cleaner that also comes with a 100-minute cycle (which will be more than enough time to clean the water very thoroughly) could be really useful.