5500-2

I’ve had a Winix 5500-2 for about a year. Seems to be decently built and works well. I know this isn’t exactly forever but so far so good.

adding more purifiers is no overkill. i have 11 winix 5500-2 units around here and i have a Iq air healthpro plus. They all do a decent job at what they do covering all rooms and spaces. i dont run them all the time in all spaces 2 units are only on when im working in the garage and back of the house. I find that the health pro plus is the most effective unit downstairs it is much more powerful then the winix 5500-2 units i own. but the winix units are great at trapping cat hair and particles linnencloth and dust on the prefilter. i can easily vacuum it off. it slowed down the dust build up around our house considerably. I wish that i could place a healthpro plus in my bedroom but there is too little space. the 5500-2 i have in my beds end is more practical for the moment.

try to improve your hob hood extractor first or replace it with a new one if needed. is it a unit that vents the air outside? is it a unit that absorbs the smells and has no venting outside? if its the latter you need to replace the carbon absorption cartridge first and more often, they only last 6 months or so if its a absorption based unit. and you can improve the grease and smell absorption with something like this picture i posted below of sheets for your hood extractor: If the fan inside the unit is already greased up i would recommend taking it apart and cleaning it or replace it for a new unit entirely because that too can spread smell inside your apartment. Ideally you want your hood extractor above your stove/hob to suck in most of the smell and oders and vent it outside through a exhaust vent. and you want the grease to trap inside a cloth as i showed you below that you replace every 2-3 months so the fan of the unit dousnt clogup with grease. A decent basic air purifier that is readily available and can deal with smells to some extent is the winix 5500-2 it has about 200grams of activated carbon which is not much but it dous something and its gas sensor kicks in increasing the speed when the level of t/voc increases. but again 200g of carbon isnt much it wont remove smells for a long time. on the german amazon and winix website for the netherlands there are often rebates these winix 5500-2 units sell for 110-140 euros. that makes it a very reasonably priced unit for what it can do. Purifiers that can deal with smell better are much more expansive like IQair healthpro plus which has 2.5kg of activated carbon or the Iqair multigas that has 4 cardridges totaling 5.4kg. but we are talking 1500-1850 euros they are very expansive in the netherlands with 21% tax upon them. https://preview.redd.it/98190o0t8aig1.jpeg?width=1495&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=d4dd59455ee64f802bb431c9dacee4e39da4b464

the mesh pre filter works very well with cat hair you can vacuum the hair off easily. i run 3 winix 5500-2s near my cats and their litterboxes. they trap alot of cat hair and fine dust and dander. i vacuum it off regularly. a cat brush like the furminator that can brushoff the undercoat also helps. your cats loose alot less hair and dander if you maintain their coat well enough with it.

the Air Purifier industry is a brutal one, competitors sue each other and want to ruin each others reputation. marketing terms gimmicks etc etc. claims that are much higher then what they actually deliver. Levoit for example isnt selling any hepa13 level filters had to remove it from their marketing. even Philips aren't real Hepa13 level they settled for something less so there is more air throughput and they consume considerable less energy to achieve higher CADR. The WINIX 5500-2 has a good filter but it has a side pass through issue. were some dirty air can pass through the sides because the filter isn't fixed in place with any gaskets it only fits in loosely. On purifiers like coway and other brands with rectangular boxes you will see most of them with filters that have a rubber gasket on the side to fix them in place and solve the same issue as i talked about. Its probably true that the winix 5500-2 isnt HEPA Filtration level if you dont fix the side pass-through issue first. watch airpurifier education he did a video on it : [winix 5500-2 passthrough issue](https://youtu.be/Ur6J6jqIEmY?t=1539) he shows the issue here. they have a side pass by issue. because the Hepa filter isnt fixed in with any kind of seal the dirty air can pass through on its sides. I own 11 winix 5500-2 purifiers and on all of them i fixed this issue my self by making a 1mm thick gasket inside the purifier around the filter fixing it in place more vacuum. I still think its a great unit for the price. And it gives a good base level of Air filtration. I find the winix very useful for larger particles. the pre-filter can easily be vacuumed off and things like linnen cloth/dust/cat hair are less of a problem for me. And if your concerned about the smallest particles getting through on a single pass you shouldn't buy a consumer grade purifier but rather something more professional like an IQ air healthpro plus. a €1500+ unit will of-course give you a better level of filtration then something that only costs €110-159 like the WINIX 5500-2. Its important to consider what your use-case is and what kind of things you want to filter from the air. edit: i dug a bit deeper in to this case and in the complaint it stated that they are suing them over this: 99.97% removal at any of the tested particle ranges. At 0.3 microns specifically, the filter only managed 98.87% removal. As such, Filter S is not HEPA-grade 13 each stage measuring the filtration efficiency for a subset of particle sizes (i.e., measuring how the filter performs for particles between 0.1 and 0.2 microns). 38. When Defendant’s Filter A was tested under the EN1822 standard the results were shocking. The filtration efficiency at the most penetrating particle size (0.0453 microns) was 93.480%, resulting in a grade of E10, the lowest possible. 39. Filter A fared no better under the IEST-RP-CC001.7 standard. At 0.3 microns the filter had an efficiency of 99.603%, well-below the HEPA standard. The following charts show the full results of both tests. The EN1822 results are on the left, the IEST results to the right [lawsuit case](https://www.classaction.org/news/winix-lawsuit-alleges-air-purifiers-fall-short-of-advertised-hepa-protection-standards) [lawsuit case PDF document](https://www.classaction.org/news/winix-lawsuit-alleges-air-purifiers-fall-short-of-advertised-hepa-protection-standards) Do with it what you like but for me as a consumer, I dont see that difference as big of a concern to my health or performance of the purifier.

The german Amazon and winix europe still sells them. I bought most of my units through these channels. I did it like this and its not perfect but it should keep a decent amount from passing through on the sides as the filter is fixed more in place. As you see some dust on the gasket you see it has kept a decent amount of that dust from passing through on the sides. this is a 1cm 1mm rubber gasket seal. Im sure there are better solutions to this that can improve upon it maybe a thicker 2mm gasket or 2cm wide gasket that covers the whole filter side. Maybe the gasket directly on the filter instead of the filter housing. But the general idea is good to improve upon efficiency creating some kind of seal that blocks air from passing through on the sides. Ideas that i have to give a try some time to figure out what works best. https://preview.redd.it/l0ca1ofwkojg1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=1d35c28b5c7ca0737bd9813d540e5bba0e876b00

https://preview.redd.it/e7kg6vbr96tg1.jpeg?width=2268&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=7fba0c9f6cf17d01937ec567fd55df72c87b3122 this is the upgraded version of the dust bypass solution i came up with after some testing and experimenting, doing it on the filter is easier and gives a better seal 1mm thick 2mm wide. i tested the other measurements i mentioned also but this one was the best fit giving the best seal so far. the 1mm thick in the filter box still gets dirty and is harder to remove later. on the filter is easier and a tighter fit.

There's no (affordable) home solution for VOC based odors. If the smells are large enough to be caught in a particulate filter, then any of the above will be sufficient. I only have personal experience with the Winix 5500-2 - and the stock honeycomb filter smells great for about 3 days before its pretty much clogged up. And it won't be effective in heavy environments (such as a kitchen with zero ventilation). These filters aren't really designed for clearing out active sources of pollution (cooking, chemistry experiments, active woodworking, even soldering) - they're more of improving areas with less than ideal air quality. For things like the above (cooking, woodworking, soldering, chemistry) - active vent hoods, whole-room filtration systems are typically best and still often aren't enough for some of these tasks. For cooking? Absolutely need ventilation. These filters won't be sufficient on their own.

I use 5500-2's and C535's (costco's 5300-2 made for them) in all rooms, including the bedrooms. I would look at it more as where do you generate the most dust (human dust - aka skin cells). And that'd be the bedroom during sleep hours. I wouldn't go any smaller than the Winix 5500. The CADR / AHAM room size ratings is tested against max fan speed only. Keep that in mind when sizing the filters and the intended speed you're planning to run them at. Match the filter sizes, its easier. Easier when buying on amazon in bulk packs as well.

Absolutely need a prefilter. these are typically removable mesh screens (think like a storm door) that you can rinse under a hose or sink. This keeps the replaceable filters (especially HEPA) clean from large debris. I should take a video some day, but at a relative's house (its like a barn - shedding dog and more) - cleaning the prefilters is like getting a whole animal's worth of fur sometimes. Its amazing and disgusting - but seeing HOW BIG the fur is - its one less thing to vacuum up. CR box is absolutely the wrong solution for this. It doesn't have the quick ability to clean the prefilter and move on. If the CR box has enough suction - the bottom of the filter will clog with fur almost instantly. I would personally use a Winix 5000 series filter; but anything with an easily access prefilter \*and\* washable cover will be fine. I have to wash both the aesthetic cover and the prefilter on my Winix's. Keep that in mind - because some air purifiers might have some electronics or at least metal that may be prone to corrosion or shorting. (Example: Original Winix 5500). Anyway, prefilter, and size up. Don't bother with smaller filters. Just get a medium sized filter (AHAM 300-360ish sq ft) and run it on medium settings.

I would match all three for ease of filter stocking and replacement. I don't know any of these filters personally except the C545. The C545 is ... wasn't on my recommend list. I own, probably at least 3 across various apts and homes? My issue with it, is it basically was advertised as a replacement for the (now refreshed) Winix 5500-2 - even sporting a similar price point with added smart-wifi features. Except its slightly cheaper feeling, higher pitched wind/fan noise thats harder to block out, and many arrived with misaligned fans that clanked around. All three of my first batch were refurbs for $59 or $69/each and did not suffer from those problems. (Edit: I suspect Winix has a ton of refurbs that were repaired returns). Its been over \~6 years and they're still running great. But I basically only want to get 5500-2's or the costco C535 instead. I can't recommend them purely because there were better options in Winix's own lineup at the time - but if its the one on sale, I can say that my 3 have held up to dog hair and cat hair just fine. (HIGHLY recommend placing one right next to the cat bed - i mean literally on top - it will suck everything instead of letting it linger on the floor and get kicked around). The C545 also has great 3rd party filter availability on amazon - with upgrades available to replace the useless carbon sheet with a slightly less useless carbon pellet pre filter. Again - if you can find the 5300/5500-2 or C535 - go for those instead. And just match the filters. Don't bother getting a different one per room.

HVAC filters come before room purifiers. Get a high MERV rating for allergens and get those fans circulating. Vacuum and dust everything as well. If you can afford it, grab a central air cleaning service as well. Large room purifiers for bedrooms - larger the better. AHAM/CADR is rated for max speed, and you'll want something big continuously running at lower speeds for noise comfort. Bedrooms work best for air purifers since the air is typically "more sealed" in bedrooms allowing the rooms to act as a bubble of clean air. (Also, above - make sure HVAC filters are high rated, otherwise you're just circulating dirty air back into bedrooms). Open areas - grab big air purifers too. Run all purifers at the volume you can feasibly tolerate. They're ALL rated at max fan speed. Costco has a sale on a medium sized Winix filter that would be the smallest I'd run in a bed room - but your bedrooms are a bit big for the Winix to run on low speed. I would run two per bedroom and run good HVAC filter and set circulation on the HVAC to clean the air and see how far that gets you. Just for reference, creating a bubble of air with my first Winix 5500 literally made me go from "daily allergy medication plus sudafed doesn't work" to "i can go without medication if I stay in the room". Its an insane difference when done correctly. I also left the 5500 on full blown turbo all the time. Completely intolerable by the overwhelming majority of people. Edit: Sizing wise, I personally recommend AHAM sizing of going double the recommended at a minimum. I think AHAM's own recommendation is like 2/3rds the room size. At the end of the day, these recommendations are terrible since it largely depends on how well sealed the home is, how polluted the outdoor air is, and how often openings to the home are, well, open.

Going to provide some more experience with these filters comment, my C535/5500-2/5300-2 (I have all three, multiples of each) are run 24/7 on turbo for over 4-5 years just fine. I want to be explicit - my purifiers are not speed nor power cycled - which should help in wear and tear. I have three C535's specifically between 3 homes and they've held up well. I've only had a failure in the original 5500s (they make a whine on start up for about an hour) and the C545s have a manufacturing QC failure with some loose mounted fans which is why they're almost always available on Winix's USA open box/refurbished site. I've only got them as refurb - and they appear as new on every order. That being said, the C545 sound quality sucks (high pitched and noisy to the ear) compared to its physically larger 5500-2 series filters.

I've used gas powered (water) pressure washers on them and they hold up just fine after over 6+ years of use. Also, its a -just- prefilter. The C535 pictured in the OP (The model number for USDM Costco models) takes those flimsy black fiber with carbon dust pre filters - can easily swap those out into the trash given how cheaply a roll (or even precut) can be had for the C535. I've personally removed almost all my C535 prefilters - I use 5500-2 filters instead (which uses a honeycomb carbon pellet carrier). The filter housings on the C535 and 5300-2 aren't as deep as the 5500-2. The filter stack for the 5500-2 is thicker than the C535/5300-2 so the prefilters no longer fit flush (can be forced). I just don't run them and opt to use the nicer carbon pellet pre filters filters. If one is inclined, these still use plastic mesh and can be vacuumed out (or even rinsed out) just like the original plastic mesh.

Sorry I was being vague. I meant, the prefilters are pretty worthless once you consider there's a carbon filter you can easily dispose of without the hassle of cleaning the prefilters - while serving a similar purpose (improve longevity of HEPA filter by blocking large particles from reaching it) And the honeycomb 5500-2 carbon pellet prefilters offer a similar plastic mesh that can also be blown clean with a blower, vacuum, hose, or pressure washer. So while prefilters are great, they do introduce another substantial time sink / house maintenance. And since the C535 in this thread can somewhat fit 5500-2 replacement filters; might as well run those filters instead of the 5300-2/C535 filters. You just need to remove the prefilter or be satisfied with it being tight/bulging.

Going to provide some more experience with these filters comment, my C535/5500-2/5300-2 (I have all three, multiples of each) are run 24/7 on turbo for over 4-5 years just fine. I want to be explicit - my purifiers are not speed nor power cycled - which should help in wear and tear. I have three C535's specifically between 3 homes and they've held up well. I've only had a failure in the original 5500s (they make a whine on start up for about an hour) and the C545s have a manufacturing QC failure with some loose mounted fans which is why they're almost always available on Winix's USA open box/refurbished site. I've only got them as refurb - and they appear as new on every order. That being said, the C545 sound quality sucks (high pitched and noisy to the ear) compared to its physically larger 5500-2 series filters.

I was one of the contributors to that mega thread. There's really not much to say other than - nobody else is getting tested. The lawsuit effectively means nothing since we have no idea any manufaturer's true performance really. The 5500-2 was a good performer based on user's experiences, and still is. Should it be avoided? Maybe? But for what model? Is that model also potentially not reaching its spec? The 5500-2 was available cheap for many, its been on deal sites for $69 refurb a few times, along with its carbon-pelletless siblings the C535 and 5300-2. If you can get them cheap, they are still one of the better performing filters on the market. Plus, once you change the filter for an aftermarket one - who the heck knows its filtration efficacy. Mine are still in service, and I don't intend on changing given how well these have run for nearly a decade plus, continuously, some at max the entire time. The only failures I've had are in two original 5500's - fans are noisy but they still filter and move air. And these only failed after a decade of use. "Failed". These are simple devices. They're fans with a filter. They're also not well regulated, so who knows what different devices can filter.

I was one of the contributors to that mega thread. There's really not much to say other than - nobody else is getting tested. The lawsuit effectively means nothing since we have no idea any manufaturer's true performance really. The 5500-2 was a good performer based on user's experiences, and still is. Should it be avoided? Maybe? But for what model? Is that model also potentially not reaching its spec? The 5500-2 was available cheap for many, its been on deal sites for $69 refurb a few times, along with its carbon-pelletless siblings the C535 and 5300-2. If you can get them cheap, they are still one of the better performing filters on the market. Plus, once you change the filter for an aftermarket one - who the heck knows its filtration efficacy. Mine are still in service, and I don't intend on changing given how well these have run for nearly a decade plus, continuously, some at max the entire time. The only failures I've had are in two original 5500's - fans are noisy but they still filter and move air. And these only failed after a decade of use. "Failed". These are simple devices. They're fans with a filter. They're also not well regulated, so who knows what different devices can filter.

Absolutely need a prefilter. these are typically removable mesh screens (think like a storm door) that you can rinse under a hose or sink. This keeps the replaceable filters (especially HEPA) clean from large debris. I should take a video some day, but at a relative's house (its like a barn - shedding dog and more) - cleaning the prefilters is like getting a whole animal's worth of fur sometimes. Its amazing and disgusting - but seeing HOW BIG the fur is - its one less thing to vacuum up. CR box is absolutely the wrong solution for this. It doesn't have the quick ability to clean the prefilter and move on. If the CR box has enough suction - the bottom of the filter will clog with fur almost instantly. I would personally use a Winix 5000 series filter; but anything with an easily access prefilter \*and\* washable cover will be fine. I have to wash both the aesthetic cover and the prefilter on my Winix's. Keep that in mind - because some air purifiers might have some electronics or at least metal that may be prone to corrosion or shorting. (Example: Original Winix 5500). Anyway, prefilter, and size up. Don't bother with smaller filters. Just get a medium sized filter (AHAM 300-360ish sq ft) and run it on medium settings.

I run four Winix 5000 / 545 series filters with aftermarket honeycomb carbon filters in a \~1200 sq ft apartment with a rangehood that plumbs outside. Two of these filters are within 15 feet of the range. Even when I'm cooking with the air being blasted out, the Winix cannot keep up. If i'm burning oil or let the pan run too hot when searing steak - my smoke alarms still have the potential to go off. Do they help with particulate? Absolutely. But they were never ever intended for an active source of particulate. Smell? VOCs? Even less so. The VOC removal on these units are essentially there for marketing. They're basically ineffective, period. Especially after a week of use, or less. (Genuine carbon filter or not). As for lessening smells - this falls more in line with those who have pets waste and thinking it'll improve the smell. If the source is there - no - the filters won't really fix it. The smells - since they're not being ventilated - will quite literally settle into fabrics - the sofa, couch, bedding, clothes (close your closets!), shoes, bath mats, dish rags - and continue to off gas and lift off the fabrics as they move, as people walk past and its wafted. If its not being blown out of the home, its sitting inside your home. The source needs to be removed - full stop - and this is for any source of smell. Given that burnt pepper smell is still evident after about a day of cooking WITH filtration on for me - i'd say it would absolutely improve the situation, but there's no way people are walking into the home/apartment with no cooking ventilation and not immediately smelling the food. It's already settled into the home. tl;dr A good range hood is the absolute clear solution. Work a way to ventilate out - consider window mounted fan sucking air out close to the cooking source Consider fresh air in - another window providing positive pressure bringing in non-cooking-air Filter stale air (air purifiers) as a final step.

I say about 1/3rd of my Winix's have a bit of a smell that dissipates quite quickly.

If you're in north america, use the buying guide and grab whatever is cheapest. I recommend going oversizing twice the AHAM/size rating - as purifiers are rated at max speed and most people are unlikely to run it at that speed. I'm partial to Winix (as they tend to be the cheapest both new and open box from Winix/resellers), but anything on the guide will be fine. If you're going for the bedroom, go as big as you can afford - larger fans typically can be run slower and quieter while providing more airflow than a smaller fan. There's more to sound than volume and size, but its a good starting point since sound quality and levels are poorly documented and are difficult to compare across models. Purification is always the last step - vacuuming, good HVAC (good central air filter), and washing sheets/textiles properly is essential. Do not neglect the other steps first; as they're likely to make more profound impacts than the purifier. I have a dust mite allergy, and no amount of purification would ever compensate for regular sheets washing in hot water (and appropriate detergents, ty r/laundry) and clothes washing.

1) I have a Coway 1512HH Mighty and 2 of the Winix 5500s... and they are both really good units for particle filtration for the money.  I've also dealt with a lot of customers with both units, through the years, who were quite happy with each of them.  2) Are you Chemically Sensitive? 3) If not, I’d try to get another Coway 1512HH Mighty to see if it offgasses less.  It is currently on Amazon at a really good price. I’m new to Reddit, so IDK if I’m able to mention the pricing specifics of units. 4) I am currently not a big fan of Filter Monster replacement filters - I think they are possibly not as good as the filters coming from the actual manufacturers.  As, I got one that is supposed to be the exact same filter as the one I have in my Austin Air Healthmate.  However, it was about 23% lighter in weight and didn’t seem to be of the same quality… so, I’m not 100% sold on the quality of the Filter Monster brand. 5)  The Winix 5500 was recently replaced with the 5510 so, that would probably be the next unit I’d consider, in the same price range. I think the Coway Mighty is sealed a little better than the Winix… but if you can’t use it - you may be happy with the Winix solution… 

WINIX 5300-2 Air Purifier is also significantly better then the levoit since they have a higher cadr rating this or the 5500 model will be my next one I buy