Winix - C535/C909

If you have a Costco membership the Winix C909 is the absolute best bang for the buck. It has a much great air capacity than the 5500-2 which means you can run it at a low (not noisy) setting and still handle a good amount of air (general guideline is that you want at least 5 air changes per hour to have a real benefit from an air purifier). The C909 is the same as the 9800, but it is a Costco exclusive. It is $199 and comes with two years worth of filters.

Oh, I mean I don't mean to discount anyone else's experience with it either. I'm just adding to the sample size. Figure this sub has at least a few hundred Winix owners who can chime in and add to the sampling. I've just been using Winix for a while and replacement filters are cheap. I still have 3 original 5500's from Winix still in use today - which is nice because it generally shares the same filter dimensions (except thickness) as the 5300-2 and 5500-2 - letting me slap on the bigger pellet sized carbon prefilters (sized for the 5500-2) on all 3 of these models (edit: and the Costco specific C535 - that also has similar filter dimensions).

There's a guy who did a youtube video on it - essentially the same filters except some of the prefilter and filter depth area is different. Meaning - the carbon pellet prefilter WILL NOT fit the 5300-2/C535. Basically you can try putting the carbon pellet cartridge/rigid filter in - but the mesh prefilter that clips on won't be able to "clear" it and lock into place flatly. If you don't mind a bit of bending or don't care to have a prefilter - it'll "fit". - But the filter can "fall out of place" since nothing is clipping it in. If its installed and the unit is never moved or knocked, the filters will stay in place - suction alone at speeds 3 and above can keep it fairly in place even when knocked around. The C535 and 5300-2 are basically the same. The 5500-2 is where the differences start - since the 5500-2 basically allows you to run any filters you want because it has the filter depth area to hold anything. Performance wise, they "feel" similar; acoustically - you wouldn't be able to tell filter to filter which is which unless one was defective or had something lodged inside the fan. For full disclosure - almost every single unit except for maybe 1 of my C535's are refurbished from Winix (often resold through woot/meh) which is why I have so many. (Usually I get them for $69/ea or less). So the act of "refurbishment" might have saved me from any defective noisy units. That or my batch - all of my 5500/5300's are over 6 years old. A quick check puts 3 of my C535's at 2018 vintage - and these are my newest units of the "5500" series. Summary: \- Remote control differences \- Different Filter Depth acceptance (5500-2 is larger) \- C535/5300-2 is the same \- Same acoustic performance \- Same airflow performance \- Carbon Filter differences

Apart from the CADR rating and energy consumption. Here are other things that pushed me to Alen for a home. Build quality warranty: I had a panel failure 2 years after purchase and Alen got me a replacement quickly. filter replacements cost (frequency) Easy of pre filter cleaning. Noise With that being said. I initially bought a Winnix from Costco in 2019 for allergies but it was too small for my home so I went with an Alen breath-smart 75i Christmas time 2019. Both run basically 24/7 medium speed but the winnix has been getting in rough shape now. A lot more mechanical noises like squeaky fan noises and while’s its occasional it’s annoying to have to go mess with it time to time. Would I buy a winnix again? Depends on my use case. It would be more of guest room thing that doesn’t run often. With that being said. I live in CA and when the fires are in the area it can be a slap in the face walking out of your True HEPA filtered home air into fire are lol.

Hey OP. I've owned several different air filters over the years and they've all helped a lot to lower the dust level and subdue my allergies. Even the cheap ones do shit. One thing is you have to clean the filters! The pre- filter gets dirty. Fills up with dust. I do like the Winix filters from Costco. The one I've got came with extra filters, which is really nice, cause the filters are like printer ink.

I have the winnix models from Costco. I don’t know how great they are comparatively but they work well enough. There are also designs to make you own using box fans and hepa furnace filters. Downside is they’re pretty large. 

This question has been asked a lot recently. I really like the Winix from Costco, about $100 and then turn off ionizers (produces small amounts of ozone). I barely get dust in my house since we run a few of them throughout the house.

I wouldn’t recommend this model for a few reasons: The fan noise on high isn’t pleasant. For a bit more, you can get a much more effective air purifier. Units with filters on all sides like Blueair and Levoit models are more flexible to place in room and since there is more space on them, they last longer. A larger air purifier can be used on lower settings and get the same effectiveness, this also means lower fan noise. I recommend looking for a deal on the BlueAir 211i Max which was just $200 a couple of days ago. It is energy efficient, feature packed, and not noisy. Obviously, that’s twice the price, but in anything except for a bedroom - it’s worth it. Edit: for what it’s worth, I do own the model shown from Costco. It’s a bedroom air purifier for us.

That will go on sale from time to time for $99. The winix c909 costco carries is a better air purifier, which was down to $160 last week. it goes on sale every few months. the advantage of the costco air purifier is they come with a set or replacement filters so you essentially can run for 2 years. In my brief time in this thread, the square/rectangular purifiers are better then the circular ones. The winix c909 was a little to big for my bedroom, so I got the coway 160 which is plenty for my room. You need to figure how many square feet you need to clean, and then provide you with 4 air exchange an hour. The more the better, as you can run at lower speeds if noise is a concern.

yup had my winix since 2017. runs 24/7

Winix from Costco. It works well and at around $150 it comes with a bunch of replacement filters too

Also, I replace mine significantly less often than recommended. It is working just fine. Just wash the pre-filter screen and it will be fine. I got my winix for $99. I really do not care if less changes means more wear and tear.

We have a Winix from Costco. We got 3 of them for around the house. We love them!

i have a winix from costco, but not this exact model its great. the filter is good for a year and the prefilter is good for 3 to 4 months. filter replacements can get pricey though so consider that before you purchase. although that would be 2 years down the line

filters are WAY overpriced considering you can get the machine with 2 filters for $120..

You don't need an expensive one, you just need one that seals well around the edges with a HEPA filter. You could even make one with a box fan, a filter and some tape. More expensive ones might have higher throughput or some other small advantages, but we've always just bought more rather than more expensive which allows for better targeting of specific areas like the bedrooms. The best value one I've found here is by [Winix at Costco](https://www.costco.com/air-purifiers.html?brand=winix&refine=%7C%7CBrand_attr-Winix). NOT the one they sell online. There's a white one that they frequently sell in the store. I've gotten it for as little as $130 on sale. It comes with 2 replacement filters as well I believe. I don't like it in the bedroom because the bearings on the fan aren't as good as some others so it will occasionally make a little clicking noise as the fan spins, but its perfect for other areas of the house. For the bedrooms we got this model by [Coway off of Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01728NLRG). Nice and quiet, works well. Don't put humidifiers anywhere near the filters. It tends to trigger the sensors.

Winix from Costco tends to be one of the best bang for your buck and you can buy filter packs from Costco. Just turn off the ionize setting on them since ionizers create ozone.

I have one of the Winix ones Costco sells and a 3M one from Rona; the Winix one is prettier/quieter, the 3M one is much more powerful. When buying an air purifier, watch out for the smaller brands/discount units, they are often on the verge of being discontinued and use proprietary filters that will be hard to find. My 3M one uses a standard 3M filter that is used in other applications and super easy to find. The Winix filters are available on Amazon.

As an alternative to the 5500-2, what about the C535? I picked mine up at Walmart because I wanted one last minute. It doesn't come with a remote, but it works perfectly with the 5500-2 remote, which probably won't help you unless you have an IR blaster.

That's a good one. Just don't rely on auto mode and you may want to buy some blackout stickers to reduce the amount of light coming from those super bright lights.

Then that's good. I have the Winix Air Purifier, C535 with remote. $35 - $50 for a new generic filter. Winix filters are expensive.

Really! I bet $70 for 1. I buy the generic brand from Amazon for half the price and they work the same . My Winix is unbelievable. If you fart or even spray any chemicals, cooking. It turns red capturing all the odors from the chemicals. The orange, 10 minutes later it turns blue again. Even though the kitchen is far from the living room . I use my Dyson vac to clean the filter. Winix is a good product. I wouldn't buy yours because it's too small. $130 vs $200 = it's only $70 difference and I got the top of the line .

I have a couple Winix 535s and they still work but two of them are starting to have noisy/whiny motors. Last black friday I got a Coway Airmega 400 from Amazon when it was on sale and it is a beast - highly recommend it, it moves about twice as much air as the medium-size Winix.

A couple months ago, the Winix 535 was on clearance for $59.97, one of the best surprise finds I've had at Costco. They must've just marked them down because a pallet of them disappeared within minutes.

Honeywell HPA250 in the bedroom. It's loud, power hungry, only has one pre-filter (whereas some others have two), but it's damn effective. In a bedroom which tends to be more dusty than other rooms due to storage of clothing, bedding, linens, shedded skin particles, and even toilet paper and tissue dust if you have an attached bathroom, it's good to have a powerful one. The amount of stuff it collects on the filter in a short time is just unreal. In other rooms I have Winix C535 units, and while they are highly rated and generally priced well, getting ones which didn't have noisy bearings required several exchanges and warranty replacements. The Winix units are also really only effective on the highest speed setting, as the first several speeds are all essentially the same for some stupid reason. However, even on the highest setting it's nowhere near as powerful or effective as the old Honeywell.

A good purifier will definitely collect stuff from the air, but only from the area immediately around the air purifier. You will still have a lot of dust and stuff even in the same room as the purifier, but the filters will also be loaded with crap before long, so you can see that it actually is doing something. You may need several for the same room where you're most concerned about the air quality. The small ones don't do much of anything. You would likely need something like a Winix 5300, 5500, C535, C545 etc. Not sure where you're located, but Costco often has some of them at good prices. If you get one without defects, they're quiet, filters are cheap, and they are often mentioned as the most highest rated air purifiers because of filtration efficiency and affordable price. They're also power efficient. I've also had good luck with Honeywell, despite a lot of people not liking them. The quality has gone downhill in recent years, and they use a lot of electricity compared to the Winix, but they are very efficient at filtration because of their higher speeds. They tend to be on the louder side, and they have only a single pre-filter instead of two. Generally you want to get the largest unit you can get. If on the rare chance it ends up being too large for the room, you can just run it at a lower speed. The smaller ones really won't do very much for you, even if they claim to fit the square footage of the room you're placing it in. You should also make sure the vacuum is a high quality bagged vacuum using multi-layered bags, such as Miele or Sebo. Cheap bagged vacuums, and almost all bagless vacuums will put dust back into the air. The Miele bags act as the filter and have something like 9 layers of filter material so you know that what you suck up stays sucked up. My suggestion would be to pick up a Winix unit and put in your bedroom and start there. But first, give it a good vac and damp wipe surfaces and floors to gather dust and dander. Then run the purifier with the door closed as often as possible.

Winix 535. Just set it and forget it. I've had a couple running pretty much non-stop for 8+ years now. Just required filter changes. I don't recommend the 545 since the filter is smaller. Unless someone has a use case for the wifi connectivity, I don't see a reason why it needs it. I think they would just report back to the company just so they can remind you to buy their filters.

I don't personally have real world experience with either of the following so this comment may not be that helpful, but I've also been trying to find something. I keep coming back to 2 purifiers that are pretty much out of my price range, the Rabbit Air A3 and IQ AIR GC. Rabbit Air reviews seem to come from people using it to filter cigar smoke and odor with one guy who seems pretty down to earth talking about it [here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_eCZKEQbmYQ&t=916s). My friend has an [IQ AIR GC](https://www.consumeranalysis.com/guides/air-purifiers/air-purifier-for-smoke/) and says it works incredibly well for everything altho he doesn't smoke pot and is in his own house. Looking at the science of it's system with gas-phase filtration media seems to check a lot of boxes that may be our best bet. Biggest problem with both of these is cost, the rabbit A3 is $750 usd with replacement filter pack($150) per year. The IQ Air GC is $1,400 and replacement cost varies on usage as the "hyperHEPA"($100) lasts 4 years with the catridges($350) and cartridge sleeves($100) can last up to 2.5 years per their website. My friend replaces his system every other year and for reference he lives in colorado which has gotten some bad wildfire smoke seasons the last few years. I currently have Winix C535 which is my only air filter experience so far and it does nothing for pot odor. Most purifiers will filter out particle size .003 microns while odors i believe are .0004 microns so we become reliant on systems beyond the HEPA filters such as polorization or ionization and carbon filters. Winix has "plasma wave" which is an ionizer and very innefective carbon filters imo so as mentioned doesn't do squat but that doesn't mean other ionizers/carbon setups might not help. It's hard to know how effective one companies tech is against another. It does seem that pricier purifiers are the only ones that stand a chance. Do let us know what you decide to go with and how effective it is! If i hit the lottery and get either the above mentioned filters i'll come back.

I have both and like this one better. The C909 is louder on low-high but about the same on turbo. You also can't turn the indicator lights off on the C909.

It does. If you don't mind it being slightly louder and somewhat bulky it's definitely a good air purifier. I like the filters in it better it has a washable pre filter. It also goes on sale occasionally

This one was $100 on sale and is supposedly rated for more Sq ft than the 535. I also have a C909 which is bigger and uses the same filters as yours but I personally prefer the 610.

I have Blueair purifiers throughout my house and have started switching away for 2 reasons: 1) The filters are very expensive (Costco used to carry them, but no longer) 2) The last few filters I purchased (genuine Blueair filters sold first party from Amazon) smelled like wet dog for the first few months of use and I've found similar complaints from others I am running a Winix unit in one of my rooms right now to see how it compares

They were shipped and sold by Amazon, completely sealed and brand new in plastic wrap.This was also over different shipments of filters many months apart. The Winix unit is C909 purchased from Costco

If you have an enclosed printer I really like the bentobox. You can build it yourself or buy online. I use mine on top of a winix c909 im the same room. https://www.printables.com/model/272525-bentobox-v20-carbon-filter-for-bambu-lab-x1c-enclo

I have a Winix C909 in the living room that I bought at Costco. I use the homebridge plugin to monitor when the TV is on, and then I have it automatically change from Auto mode to Sleep mode (quiet, but still on). When the TV is off, it goes back to Auto. Of course, if I had one that had a physical switch that could be left on auto/on, I could just have used a smart outlet instead.

We had a Winix C909 for a year and happy with it. Quiet, effective and filter life seems to be long.

Yes, it will still accumulate. Dust can be made of various substances: dead skin, hair, animal dander, insect parts, outdoor (e.g., vehicle) pollution, carpet/rug fibers, bacteria, other textile fibers, pollen, soil particles, mold/mold fragments, microplastics, and dust mites + their droppings to name a few. You might be able to noticeably reduce visible dust if you ran a wildly oversized air purifier in a small space. But for example, my Winix C909 with a Dust CADR of 336 CFM in a \~175 sq. ft. room with an 8 ft. ceiling does not eliminate dust on the windowsills. Then again, I don't run it at the very top CADR most of the time either.

I'll add to the consensus that Shark is poor quality. OP, do you know what substances trigger your child's asthma? The only issue is that if any triggers are gases or vapors, most common air purifiers do not have enough activated carbon for long-term removal. Furthermore, does air purification need to run throughout the night? Keep in mind most air purifiers' Clean Air Delivery Rates (CADRs) are for the highest setting which is the loudest. (I have a Winix C909 that's really loud on Turbo.) If you want to increase CADR without a tremendous rise in sound levels, you can place two purifiers in your asthmatic child's room and run them at lower settings. You also generally need an air purifier for each room or area if the asthmatic child will be present there. Freestanding air purifiers can't overcome walls and doors. Another helpful measure could be looking into [whole house cabinet air cleaners or purifiers like AprilAire](https://www.aprilaire.com/whole-house-products/air-purifiers). Instead of a standard 1" thick filter on your air handler or furnace, these filters are 4" thick. The thicker filters have more surface area to capture pollutants from being recirculated and usually create a lower pressure drop which is easier on your HVAC equipment. Obviously the exact cabinet air cleaner size needs to be assessed by an HVAC technician unless you are handy and know how to calculate proper sizing and filter choice via equipment design specifications. Just to be clear: whole house cabinet air purifiers don't target pollutants generated *within* a room immediately (from cooking, pet dander, dust mites, shedding textile fibers, burning candles, dead skin cells, etc.), but can reduce particulates from being recirculated by your HVAC and clogging up the coils. As for freestanding particulates air purifiers, I agree with on Coway being a higher quality brand. I think the [Coway Airmega 240](https://cowaymega.com/products/airmega-240) is very good for smaller spaces (or if you want to buy multiples of this model for the asthmatic kid's room in particular). The [Coway Airmega 400](https://cowaymega.com/products/airmega-400?variant=33436457009287) is excellent for pollen and very good for dust (it has lower performance for smoke particles) and is heavily discounted. Coway is having a Halloween sale as I write this, but I don't know how much longer it will last.

Because of the higher ceilings, your room's volume is 1,400 cubic feet. Divide 1,400 by 8 ft. to get **175 sq. ft.**, which is the figure you should be using. Air purifier coverage ratings are given in square feet, but they assume an 8 ft. high ceiling. I'm less keen on the HoMedics model because of the cylindrical design. Some cylindrical purifiers have underpowered motors which must spin at higher speeds to deliver adequate air flow. This causes them to burn out sooner potentially. Additionally, most cylindrical purifier filters have an integrated pre-filter. A separate permanent pre-filter is preferred for ease of cleaning off coarse dust without damage to the HEPA or other mechanical filtration underneath. Lastly, HoMedic's build quality and reliability may not be the greatest according to Consumer Reports feedback. Considering the AQI is very bad, I would consider the **Winix C909** which is sold at [Costco.com only](https://www.costco.com/winix-c909-4-stage-air-purifier-with-wi-fi--plasmawave-technology.product.100842491.html). It has higher CADRs including Smoke CADR which means it can clean a room faster and more effectively. Winix is more mid-tier in quality and their purifiers are known for being loud on the highest setting ("Turbo"). * AHAM Verifide: 4.8 Air Changes per Hour at 500 sq. ft. * CADR Dust: 336 CFM * CADR Pollen: 384 CFM * CADR Smoke: 323 CFM * Power Consumption: 95W * Price: $199.99 There's a potential problem with electrostatically-charged MERV filters and smoke: in short, smoke particles may significantly impact CADRs. This is from an article by the Healthy Buildings program at Harvard called ["Protecting your Health from Wildfire Smoke – Spotlight on Filters"](https://healthybuildings.hsph.harvard.edu/protecting-your-health-from-wildfire-smoke-spotlight-on-filters/). Skip down to the **Impact of Wildfires on Filter Performance** heading. I've quoted it below: >Wildfires bring an additional layer of complexity to this performance decline issue. It is postulated that deposited smoke particles, which carry a charge \[23\], on these electrostatically-charged filters can either mask or counter the intended filter charge, thus reducing the intended electrostatic removal mechanism \[9\], \[21\]. A recent controlled chamber study demonstrated that the Clean Air Delivery Rate (CADR) of a Do-It-Yourself (DIY) air cleaner using 1 inch electrostatic MERV-13 filters is reduced significantly when the filter is loaded with smoke \[9\]. The researchers observed that the CADR of the DIY air cleaners equipped with electrostatic air filters was reduced by 95%, while airflow through the filter was maintained (only 7% increase in pressure drop), pointing to a loss in the electrostatic attraction mechanism as the likely cause of filter performance decline since airflow appeared to be maintained. This occurrence has been observed in other studies with cigarette smoke and intentionally discharging the filter with isopropyl alcohol \[9\]. Other studies that investigated longer term and more realistic test conditions note similar findings, with one study observing a substantial reduction in particle removal efficiency over a 19-week period of operation in an air handling unit that supplies outside air \[19\]. The exact mechanisms and magnitude of the decrease is difficult to predict in practice, due to numerous factors, such as the amount and composition of particle loading on the filter \[21\]. Nevertheless, reductions in filtration effectiveness can be up to a factor of two or more \[21\].

I would definitely address the airtightness issues with the windows if feasible—your energy costs and air quality control will improve greatly. Avoid both Bissell and Shark. What does your HVAC look like? If possible, you could upgrade to a "whole house" cabinet air cleaner. These are sold by HVAC equipment brands (Carrier, Lennox, Trane, American Standard, etc.) and by another company called AprilAire. Generally cabinet air cleaners have 4" to 5" thick filters, which offer more surface area, better filtration, and lower pressure drops than many 1" thick filters. While a higher MERV can capture more particulates, many residential HVAC systems cannot overcome the pressure drops of a MERV 16 filter. If necessary, you can consult a licensed HVAC contractor to do the load calculations and make a recommendation. If the budget's an issue, consider using 3M's 1" Filtrete Filters, specifically the Filtrete 1900 (MERV 13). In general, you will need at least one air purifier per room or area. With the high 12' ceilings, you need to calculate for room volume (W x L x H) instead of room area. Where air purifier coverage is given, it's in square feet. This measurement assumes an 8 ft. high ceiling. So if you want a purifier's volume coverage, just multiply the square footage rating by 8 feet. You can add multiple air purifiers to a space in order to increase Clean Air Delivery Rates (CADRs). Unfortunately most air purifiers aren't great for pet hair. Hair—relative to other much smaller particulates such as PM2.5—are large and heavy. Unless the hair is cast off very close to the purifier, it won't be caught in the pre-filter. Corsi-Rosenthal boxes using MERV 13 filters can have much higher air flow and capture more pet hair than most HEPA air purifiers. Vacuuming will be the best means of combatting pet hair. Generally Coway air purifiers are often recommended as they're higher quality and perform well. The exact model will depend on each room's volume. Winix is more mid-quality, but can be more affordable if you're on a budget. I own a Winix C909 which is sold at Costco and is a fantastic value given the CADRs. However, it is quite loud on the highest setting (Turbo). It's for removing particulates only and not gases. **Winix C909** * Room Size: 500 ft.^(2) in area or 4,000 cubic feet in volume * Tobacco Smoke CADR: 323 CFM * Dust CADR: 336 CFM * PM2.5 CADR: 330 CFM * Pollen CADR: 384 CFM * Power: 95 W * Price: $199.99 at [Costco.com only](https://www.costco.com/winix-c909-4-stage-air-purifier-with-wi-fi-%2526-plasmawave-technology.product.100842491.html) Other recommendations could be Smart Air, specifically the **Smart Air Blast MKII Air Purifier**. It's very quiet (43 dBA), has a metal body with locking wheels, and has a top Composite CADR of 559 CFM, but it's very expensive at $929.00. Power consumption is 118 watts. **Medify Air** makes some very high performance CADR purifiers, but quite a few—such as the [MA-112](https://medifyair.com/collections/all-products/products/ma-112)—are very loud (at 70 dBA). Except for their MA-112, most other Medify Air models have integrated pre-filters which are overlaid on the HEPA media. This is a problem as the pre-filter needs regular cleaning and it's very easy to damage the HEPA media underneath (especially if you're using a vacuum).

Winix is a good brand. I have the C909. You have to spend 5x more if you want true odor control. The little carbon filter isn't doing a whole lot. /r/AirPurifiers is a good source. Mine came with enough carbon filters to change them monthly. Set a remind to do it. If you clean week and there is a pre-filter vacuum that out every week.

I have a Winix C909 from Costco. It sucks up a lot of dust. I have two smaller units in each of the kid's bedrooms that also suck up a lot of dust and run very quiet. With that I doubt I'm even at like half of what I'd need for my modest 1900sqft house. Like the comment says they make their money on replacement filters. You can buy generic if true HEPA isn't import. My pre-filters before you even get the HEPA will fill with dust. Ikea makes more visually appealing filters that IIRC score well on filtering.

Air purifiers in the 250-400 CADR range are mass produced volume products sold at reasonably low margins. The filters are similarly more affordable and can be found everywhere. Larger air purifiers don't really have any advantages. They're generally more expensive to purchase, power and maintain for the amount of air volume they handle. For 950 sq ft I'd buy 3 Blueair 211i or 3 Winix C909 (Costco model) purifiers. Remember that the AHAM rated square footage on these units is based on (1) running them constantly on the loudest turbo mode and (2) having a lowish 8 foot ceiling height. The Winix C909's are notably less efficient, but they have separately replaceable carbon filters and easier to clean prefilters (washable screens vs fabric). Also, if you're concerned about noise you could buy 4-5 of either of these filters and run them on high (instead of turbo) to get similar coverage. The typical recommendation is to hit 5x air changes per hour - essentially to clean the indoor air at a rate faster than it's typically being exchanged with outdoor air. In my experience hitting 6-10x air changes per hour is actually a significant improvement over 5x though.

Get the C909 if you’re at Costco. Online only. Way better

I am a big fan of the Winux products! If you’re a member at Costco, they frequently have them in store or online, and sometimes they go on sale for substantially cheaper than the usually marked price. Each one has a hepa filter and 3 to 4 settings, as well as night mode. We have two of the smaller white ones and one of the bigger black ones in our home and they have worked great for years. I am so happy with them and impressed by the amount of dust they pick up but also how it seems to really help in other ways, such as illness prevention, as well.

I just checked on their website and the bigger black one is the Winix C909 for $200. We’ve had it for a year with no issues, but are so happy with what it provides to the home. When it is on the highest setting, it is probably twice as loud as the third setting, but the third setting still seems quite powerful and is much quieter.

I bought a few during COVID. A couple are cheap Costco ones (Winix), but one is a fairly expensive Coway Airmega 400. Can't say I noticed any difference in my health or in the amount of surface dust landing on furniture. I think to see any real reduction in dust settling on furniture, you would probably need to run them on high to get a lot of air movement, but the noise of them running on high is annoying IMO.

I’ve been really impressed by my Winix. I have a huge one that really seems to do the job. I change the filter once the year but vacuum it all out more often than that to keep it running really well.

Did you try turning off Plasmawave? I found that was the cause for my Winix models rather than a mechanical fan issue.

I’ve been using my Winix with Plasmawave since 2019 without issue, and that includes moving about once per year. These units have held up to that. I can tell you they really work. I have a mold allergy, and mold is literally everywhere in outdoor or indoor air with spores just waiting to land in a suitable environment for growth, but I have no symptoms at home with my two small Winix. I also have pets. These reduce any odors from that, and they are at what one might consider end of life for a typical air filter system. 5 years is typical. 10 is incredible. I am not washing the pre-filter nearly as often as I should and am slow to replace the carbon and HEPA filters sometimes, so 5+ is just astounding in my case.

The PlasmaWave I looked at used an ionizer which is a huge no for me.

PlasmaWave is just a glorified ionizer. I personally cannot stand the scent of ionizers, it gives me headaches.

You want a HEPA filter and actual activated carbon granules-sometimes the activated carbon is just a paper thin layer-not doing much. For cost, consider replacement filter costs not just up front ones. I also like ones that have a sensor so you can leave it on “auto” and it will kick on when you cook or air gets worse without you having to keep track of it. Also don’t splurge on plasma ion or ozone or whatever else-mixed studies show it can react with chemicals to form more dangerous ones at worst and generally not much better at best. Right now you may want to sacrifice optimality for actually having something going to clean your air since it’s a time of high uncertainty. What’s in stock at home depot may be superior to the “best” air purifier that arrives in 2 weeks. Those caveats-no one can give better advice based on “feel” than what’s tests show-and wirecutter actually tested performance https://www.nytimes.com/wirecutter/reviews/best-air-purifier/ . If you prefer anecdotes, here are some of my experiences: Winnix has been in stock at home depot. I evacuated with my air purifier and I needed something to leave during cleaning to try and detox my pasadena apartment. It was in stock and had hepa+carbon-it seems to be working. Oransi is the one I evacuated with, love the looks, it really seems to work well, lots of aftermarket filters available-downside is that sleep mode sets fan speed to auto, I want it to just turn lights off and leave the fan mode. But It has lasted at least 6+ years. Levoit is what was at the apartment I evacuated to. It seems a little less powerful per dollar spent than my oransi, but it’s night mode turns off the lights while still letting you set the fan speed. My roommate left a Coway going in his room and that thing worked very well to prevent any smoke smell from settling, and it’s highly recommended by wirecutter. If I had to buy right now and I could get one in a reasonable timeline, it’s how I would go.

Any filter with a charcoal filter layer will help some (Winix is one brand commonly available at Costco…I also have a more elaborate Rowenta)…my Winix came with multiple charcoal layer replacements. Dealing with total incontinence here, and not to criticize your MILs efforts, but you might want to look into the actual sources of the odors. Chairs, clothes that sit around waiting for wash, previously soaked furniture or carpet? If bedding or fabric furniture smells and you can replace it, do so. I use a combo of Depends on my father, and all his sleeping or seating surfaces have a first layer of puppy pee pads (Costco has large ones that work well and are cheap), and then a fabric layer on top (whether sheets or a chair cover or towel, tucked into the sides of the chair). Once he’s wet, after I changes his pants all clothes and chair covers and bedding goes in the wash (3-5 loads a day).  For the mattress you can find on Amazon washable mattress covers (the whole bed ones don’t work that well but that’s my base layer and then a thicker more absorbent one that I fit across the middle section of his bed, and on top of that layered dog pee pads).  So again, not sure if any of this advice helps but this method works for me.

I have 2 Winix HEPAs that have been running 24/7 for 6+ years. I clean the screen every week or so, replace the carbon every month, and the HEPA every ~8 months.