5510 & 5520

I’m not the person you originally asked, but I also have MCAS and chronic migraines so I am super sensitive to smell. I got a winix 5510 a couple months ago and I love it. I haven’t noticed any smell from it. I don’t have any issues with the plasma setting, but you can always turn it off if it’s a concern. I usually just run the plasma when the bar next door decides to use their giant meat smoker + have campfires. I have a few other air purifiers and my winix is by far my favorite. I might try a coway at some point, but tbh, I am really pleased with what I have. I will get another when I can afford it. I didn’t have the weird filter smell when I got it that some of the others I have did. That is just my two cents as someone whose body also thinks everything is the enemy.

I second Winix if OP is dealing with pet dander a lot. Winix carbon filtration helps reduce it quite a lot. And the 3 stage filtration is what gets it across the market competitors. A quick decision guide: Pet odor? Winix Smart features? Levoit Overall better air quality for a small space but sacrificing smart features and app? Coway mighty 2 (it was just released 1.5 month ago, the successor to airmega mighty) Additional read if you want to: https://off-axisdiscussion.vercel.app/article/best-air-purifiers-2026

So imo the combined filter has its goods and bads but the main advantage is that on the previous model carbon filter usually lasted around 6 months while the HEPA lasted for 1 year. In the mighty 2, they combined the carbon and HEPA into one single filter with an increased size and its to last 12 months. So you don't need to change the carbon filter after every 6 months like in the previous model. The cost of the filter is almost the same, officially it costs $10 more than the last one but it's more cost-effective over time because you don't have to replace the carbon portion every six months like you do with the original model. The bads of the combined however makes sense too: carbon filters usually lasts less than the HEPA filters, so considering that your carbon filter gets saturated, starts smelling. You have to replace otherwise the functional HEPA filter with a whole new filter.

I think it depends on the air quality, they did last 6 months for some, 3-4 months for others. And the 12 months on this- it will only show results after the first year of use. Not to forget it's a thin sheet filter rather than the pellet based filter in the winix so it's not really doing a good job than the winix in terms of odor neutralization.

It helps upto an extent but still the hair part need vacuuming. Air purifier will clean the particles and odor which vacuum cannot solve and the vacuum will solve the hair part which an Airpurifier cannot solve. So in reality you need to have both for optimal performance. As OP, if you have a smaller space I'd just go with a Levoit 200s-p. P variant stands for pets. But it lacks the deep removal of odors from the air. For that nothing in the price point comes close to winix 5500 series. If you want to explore others and read more about it, I'd drop this here: [Airpurifiers for pet hair and odors](https://off-axisdiscussion.vercel.app/article/best-air-purifiers-for-pets-2026)

People keep recommending 5500-2 but it’s no longer readily available. Winix 5510 is the newer version with app connectivity. 5520 is the same as 5510 but it has a different style front grill. IMHO the 5520 grill seems harder to clean. I recommend the 5510 over smaller air purifiers. It’s night and day difference.

I wouldn't go any smaller, and realistically, that's probably the biggest room I'd go before considering getting a second purifier in that room. If its just you in the home (humans are a great source of dust), that's probably enough. Remember keeping the door open, or having a central air system that continuously blows air into that room, will dramatically affect that purifier's ability to keep that room air clean. As someone else mentioned, these are only AHAM rated at their max fan speeds. If this is your first air purifier (and no other good home filtration, such as central air filters) , and you live in a dusty environment - run it on max when you're gone and see how much crud it picks up after 2 days. Its crazy. I like doing this whenever I move to "catch up" to all the dust in the home/apartment, then turn it down once I get the dust levels "normalized".

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.

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…