Winix - ZERO-S

The winix 5500-2, 5300 and the Zero S all work up against a wall as they only pull in air from the front and sides

Freestanding air purifiers can't overcome walls and doors. You need one for each room or area. **Therefore we need each room's length x width x height to calculate Clean Air Delivery Rates (CADRs).** As for your questions: 1. Winix is good, but not the best. I'd generally say Coway is the best in terms of quality for consumer-grade units. 2. PlasmaWave is Winix's name for their bipolar ion generator. It can be turned on or off. PlasmaWave (in practice) seems to enhance Pollen CADR. I believe Levoit's PlasmaPro is also generates positive and negative ions. 3. HEPA vs. "True" HEPA is mostly marketing. What *is* important is listing the appropriate standard, the filter class (where applicable, like H13 or H14), and the filtration efficiency % at a particular particle size or sizes. 4. DIY Corsi-Rosenthal boxes can work very well, which typically use MERV 13 furnace filters. MERV 13 is a lower filtration efficiency than HEPA, meaning it captures fewer particles of certain sizes on a single pass. But... since MERV 13 is less restrictive, it can achieve more passes through the filter media faster which can result in higher CADRs. (Assuming sufficient airflow.) If you wanted to build a C-R box, I would recommend doing so with PC fans. Drawback: most C-R box configurations do not specify fine mesh pre-filters. Without these, the MERV filter media can clog sooner with coarse particulates such as visible dust and hair. 5. "Level of filter": I assume you mean filtration efficiency of a mechanical filter. Mold, fungus, pollen, and viruses are bioaerosols. They can be captured with HEPA, EPA, or certain MERV filters (generally MERV 13 and higher). EPA and MERV 13 filters are a lower filtration efficiency than HEPA, so it will allow more particles through on a single pass. But EPA and MERV 13 can achieve more filter passes and higher CADRs than HEPA with proper airflow for less money. 6. As for secondhand purifiers, that's up to you. Sometimes you can find items that are barely used. But it's also possible purifiers were used in highly polluted environments (e.g., lots of mold or post-fire remediation) or could have bed bugs inside. 7. The blue box looks like an air scrubber. These are meant for more challenging and large environments, e.g. during renovation, fire remediation, or serious mold remediation. Air scrubbers tend to be quite loud.

Avoid Sans and Shark. Both are mediocre at best and use deceitful marketing. Blueair performs and is reviewed well. However, all of their units feature an always-on ionizer to charge the mechanical filtration media. Some people want to avoid this as there could be changes in air chemistry or possible negative health effects. Clean Air Delivery Rates (CADRs) are an important metric gauging cleaning effectiveness. For rooms in meters, ceiling height is very important. CADRs should be *at minimum* 3 times the room's volume in m^(3). I'll assume a height of 2.4 meters for calculations. * Room 1: 108 m^(3) × 3 = minimum 324 m^(3)/h CADR * Room 2: 66.48 m^(3) × 3 = minimum 200 m^(3)/h CADR For each room, you could buy the [Winix Zero-S](https://winixeurope.eu/en/air-purifiers/air-purifier-winix-zero-s/) (top CADR: 390 m^(3)/h) or the [Winix T800 WiFi](https://winixeurope.eu/en/air-purifiers/air-purifier-winix-t800/) (top CADR: 500 m^(3)/h). Both models have PlasmaWave, which is an optional bipolar ionizer. If you have pet birds, keep this off as it could harm them. Note: PlasmaWave turns back on after a power off/on cycle. Keep in mind the CADRs listed for purifiers apply to the highest airflow speed/setting only. Lower settings have lower CADRs which reduces cleaning effectiveness.

Hello! I'll address u/ialwaysmisspenalties here too since they raised similar points. First: when writing my initial comment yesterday, I could have sworn the Coway Airmega 150 was £149.99. 🤔 But could have misread it. As for recommending Coway over Winix, it's because Coway is higher quality and tends to be a little quieter. Some Winix units develop bad motor bearings after the 2 year mark. This can manifest as a whining, whirring, or clicking sound. Winix's PlasmaWave and Coway Airmega Mighty's Vital Ionizer are bipolar ionizers. These are cheap means of enhancing one or more particulate CADRs. Any Winix or Coway model with an ionizer will be certified for very low ozone emissions via the [ECARF Directory](https://www.ecarf-institute.org/en/certified-products-services/). Some people opt to switch the ionizer off or avoid models with ionizers as they can interact with gaseous air chemistry or possibly induce negative health effects. People with pet birds should avoid ionizers or always keep the ionizing function *off*. In short... * The **Winix Zero-S** is very good value for money; I'd prefer this over the 5500-2. The Zero-S doesn't have a child lock. * The **Coway Airmega Mighty** is very good value. However, it's louder than other Coway models, isn't terribly energy efficient, doesn't have activated carbon pellets, and lacks a child lock feature. * The **Coway Airmega 150** has a lower top CADR, but will be quieter than the Winix units and the Coway Airmega Mighty. It lacks a child lock. * The **Coway Airmega Jet** has a child lock, high top CADR, and is energy efficient. But it's the most expensive. I'd also research filter replacement costs from Winix / Coway and various stockists.

I love my Winix. Quiet and effective. Also great for smells and smoke. I have large one in the main room and smaller ones in the bedrooms.

Mine has no specific setting for smoke. I have both the larger model with plazmawave (zero idea if that makes any difference) and the smaller models without that added feature. They all will filter outdoor smoke, including wildfire, quickly.

I rent with all hard wood/laminate floors. And a long haired cat. And I have sinus allergy issues. I have an air purifier in the main room and bedrooms. Couldn't live without them. I have Winix. They get me through wildfire season too.

I have 3 air purifiers in my house and my sinus/allergies are still exploding this really bad this year.

In Europe I’d recommend Winix (I have Zero) and it runs 24/7 for more than 5 years and works great and silently. Filters are reasonably priced.

That Coway should not be over the Winix. The carbon filters in it are trash. Also, Dyson combo unit on the list? 🥲

Just bought a Winix Zero S and really working wonders! It stopped most of my dust-related morning allergy. Would 100% recommend for the price. I know I’m gonna get flamed for this but my Dyson TP09 does an okay job too in my office. Just takes longer to clean the room (and it’s more noisy). At least it clears the high levels of formaldehyde that my office seems to have. (With severe allergies stay away from Dyson though)

My Winix Zero S has made wonders for my stuffy nose. I used to wake up and spend the morning blowing my nose. Now I’ll just do it after waking up and be good for the rest of the day (most of the time). The important thing is you have it running at full speed at least 30m before you enter your bedroom, then you can switch it to lower levels for the night. I have a Dyson TP09 running in my office as well, that might be helping too (this one starts running at full speed 2h prior to my arrival to the office, since it’s a big room with high ceilings).

I have a Dyson tp09 and a Winix Zero S. The Winix destroys the Dyson in every aspect. The only thing the Dyson has over the Winix is the fancy meters and cool app. If you are still gonna go for a Dyson I can sell you mine for cheaper (so that I can go buy more Winix purifiers).

If its just 1 room and youre on a budget you can try the winix zero (s). The zero was less than 100 pounds in the netherlands. No smart. But filters are very affordable compared to other air purifiers + good cadr. It wont help much with smells, but you said you care less about that.

The winix zero will be great. It is for bigger spaces, but that means you dont need to run it on max speed to keep your smaller room clear(less sounds than a smaller one). If there are a lot of VOCs everyday the filters will need replacement more often, but that is the case with every air purifier. There's many off brands that sell cheaper filters because its a popular brand.

Máme doma dvě Winix Zero a maximální spokojenost. Vyloženě ji doporučují alergikům, má několik filtrů a automaticky mění intenzitu čištění podle počtu prachových částic ve vzduchu + noční režim.

UK here, I got a Winix Zero a year or so ago. It has a carbon filter and HEPA filter and it hasn't flagged it needs its filter replaced so far. It has an air quality sensor and you can turn off the "plasmawave" if you wish. Very good, would get one again.

I use a Winix Zero for the past few years, bought from Amazon. I like the flat shape more than the round ones since it takes less physical space. Maybe it got a bit louder lately compared to when it was new but I'm not 100% sure. I'm generally pleased with it, the air is definitely better on days with lots of dust but on regular days I'm not sure I noticed much of a difference. As someone else suggested here I think generally you need one per room.

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.