Winix - ZERO+ PRO (AUS-1250AZPU)

Agree with the Winix. I have Two Winix 1250AZPU around $250 USD each. One in main loving room one in the bedroom. Winix has a great range of products so you should find one in your price range. The model I have are stated at 100m2 max or 1076sq feet. They are really quick to react on auto mode to smoke & quick to filter it out. I also have a Dyson air purifier in the bedroom that could never keep up to the job of filtering the air. We have two dogs and a cat inside. Since i added one of the Winix to the bedroom the Dyson air quality chart shows PM 2.5 & 10 sitting next to nothing. Prior to the winix the dyson struggled to get the chart down.

The 1250 is the Zero+ pro, which has some carbon. The black filter inside is pretty thick and heavy, at least it seems so from the product images. It should provide some gas and odor protection. The 850, however, has very little carbon. It can only mitigate the smallest odors - and only for a very short time if at all.

Yeah sorry if that seemed overly snarky but basically - although most people have stuff in their air, it’s not clear that everyone needs an air purifier. The first question I always ask is what problem you’re trying to solve - if the answer is (as it sounds like) “well I must have stuff in my air”, then I advise you to get a very basic unit and run it in your bedroom with the door closed to see if you notice a meaningful difference. At the $100 price point you could get a Levoit Core 300, of course we tend to recommend jumping up to $150 and getting a Coway Mighty or Winix. But without knowing your actual air composition or any health issues or concerns, all we can do is recommend a general purpose unit. And honestly it may or may not even be necessary.

Give the subreddit a read. It’s pretty clear what we recommend - Coway and Winix are the usual clear winners but we need to know how much space you’re cleaning and what you’re trying to clean from the air.

1. You don’t really want an app. It is t useful in any way. Why? Because the sensor on the unit isn’t accurate, so the app won’t really tell you if your air is clean. Also because the only way to clean air is to run the unit on a constant speed 24/7. So unless your use case is very specific (vacation home, away for long periods, etc.) then an app isn’t helpful. 2. Shark is junk. Levoit cleans air just fine but is not HEPA, if that matters. Blue air is the best of the three, also isn’t HEPA but has a static generator which bothers some people. 3. Consider winix or Coway. They’re better in every way.

My partner smokes cannabis and tobacco in a bong and I haaaaaaate the smell, especially the pungent, sticky tobacco. I just got a  Winix Zero+ Pro 5-Stage Air Purifier AUS-1250AZPU l. I had to- I don’ t want to resent him about it. We air out the house as much as possible but it still stinks. We got it today and after five hours, the air feels cleaner and the disgusting sticky tobacco stank is largely gone. Honestly after five hours I feel it’s money so we’ll spend. We’ll see how it goes long term but I’m so happy already, especially because we need to be warm and now it’s winter I don’t want all the windows open. 

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).

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.

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.

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.

Both of my Winix air purifiers started smelling like smoke, they are different models, cleaned weekly and filters changed regularly, I don’t recommend them.

you can't beat the physics. what you want is the big size as prioirty thing to look for first. then you can look into other things but the size of purifier(filter) has biggest impact. winix is solid imo for basiaclly 99% of the use case.