Winix 5500-2 Review: The Best PlasmaWave Air Purifier!

Last updated on April 19th, 2021

The starters

An evolution of the older 5500 model with visual improvement. Winix 5500-2 air cleaner has an aesthetic design that is both modern and contemporary. The grey-black housing stands at 15 x 23.6 x 8.2 in dimension with 15.4 lb of weight. Build quality is solid with no visible gap as it should be. The whole body is made of durable plastic materials including the front removable panel. It is not the cheap, flimsy type that you feel it will release harmful ozone with any heat. Air ventilation placement is a typical console air purifier setup. You have the air inlet located at the front/ sides and the air outlet located at the top back. Lastly, there is a back handle slot that you can grab on to when moving Winix 5500-2 room to room.

Moving on to the usability, Winix 5500-2 slight slanting angle control panel at the top is easy to use and read. The entire control panel consists of a left Winix logo and five evenly spaced buttons (On/ Off, Mode, PlasmaWave, Fan Speed, Timer). Right at the center, there is an air quality indicator bar that cycles between blue (good), amber (fair), red (poor). There are also eleven indicator lights, a dual odor/ light sensor, and a small filter reset button. Skipping the self-explanatory On/ Off button, let’s go through 5500-2 buttons one by one. The mode button allows you to cycle between Auto mode or Sleep mode activation. The center dedicated PlasmaWave button activates or deactivates Hydroxyls function. Fan speed button that will cycle between the four fan speeds. The timer button will switch between off, 1, 4, 8 hours preset setting.

Continue on, the Reset button will reset the count and turn off the change filter indicator light after you have replaced the filter. The odor sensor detects the amount of odor in its surrounding while the light sensor detects room ambient light. Last but not least, remote control is included for added convenience.

For safety measures, do not handle Winix 5500-2 plug or controls with wet hands. Never cover the air inlet as it can impede the airflow distribution. Also never insert your finger or any small objects into the ventilation. As for the placement, do not leave Winix 5500-2 air purifier next to flammable objects or near the window that has direct exposure to sunlight. Never use a transformer to step down or up the power voltage. If you have a loose or damaged plug, send it back to the manufacturer for replacement rather than fixing it yourself.

Overall the controls are clearly labeled with many supporting indicator lights. The tiny complaint we had is the touch button lacks tactile feel like some of the older models.

Let’s round up Winix 5500-2 air purifier “complete purifying specification”. You have the 4-stage filtration with PlasmaWave Technology, 4 speeds with auto/ sleep mode, dual odor/ light sensor, a digital screen with AQ indicator, and remote control. Lastly, Winix 5500-2 is ozone-safe certified by CARB, AHAM listed, approved UL safety standard, ENERGY STAR rated, and 2 years warranty on manufacture defects.

Airflow, speed, and CADR

Winix 5500-2 air purifier carries on from the previous 5500 setups with an AHAM verified room size 360 square feet coverage at 2 air changes per hour. Suitable for medium size bedroom, living room. kitchen, dining table, basement, and garage. The airflow delivery rate is 53 to 226 cfm across its four fan speeds. Not bad as the airflow output has once again proven its consistency. Besides the 4 fan speed operation, the air cleaner also comes with the typical Auto mode and Sleep mode. Auto mode (enabled by default) will perform autonomous fan speed adjustment based on the surrounding air quality. In most cases, fan speed will be kept at low until there is a high volume of polluted air detected. Sleep mode is much simpler. It set the fan speed low and turns off all air quality indicator light when there is no ambient light. On day time with enough light source, it will switch to auto mode. Winix 5500-2 all three CADR passes our 200 cfm benchmark. Remarkable for an air purifier of its class. Dust CADR is at 243 cfm (upgraded marginally from the previous version). Pollen, Smoke CADR is at 246 cfm and 232 cfm respectively. From the figures itself, the airflow delivery output is at a satisfying level. There is ample airflow to swiftly remove all indoor airborne irritants and odors.

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What’s inside count

Let's talk about Winix 5500-2 superior 4-stage air filtration (pre-filter, True HEPA, Carbon Filter, PlasmaWave technology). The pre-filter traps large particles like dust, lint, and hair while reducing the work stress of the HEPA filter. The protected True HEPA filter would focus on capturing 99.97% of microscopic allergens as small as 0.3 microns like pet dander, mold, pollen, bacteria, and viruses. AOC Advanced Granular Carbon filter removes 93% of odors and toxic gases like VOCs, asbestos, formaldehyde, benzene, tobacco smoke within its proximity. PlasmaWave Technology produces natural water vapor and oxygen ion bonded Hydroxyls that safely break down tough allergens, germs, viral viruses, and odors.

There are sites suggested that PlasmaWave produces a very insignificant amount of ozone. Ignore all that as Winix 5500-2 is way under California Air Resources Board (CARB) ozone limit. PlasmaWave technology is safe and will not aggravate asthma or cause any lung damage. If you are still not comfortable with it, simply turn off the PlasmaWave function.

Overall, the filter size and quality are top-notch. The washable pre-filter is reusable and can be easily cleaned with a damp cloth or light vacuuming (brush attachment). You should clean the pre-filter every 2 to 3 weeks depending on the air quality level. The thick honeycomb AOC carbon filter is very effective in removing smoke particles from cooking, pets, and household chemicals. Best of all, you only have to replace the carbon filter annually together with the HEPA filter. When replacing the filters, remember to remove the plastics and switch off the air purifier before anything else.

Keep it down

Winix 5500-2 offers the same soft noise level output as the previous generation model. 26.6 dB noise level is reasonably quiet at low to medium speed. Great for watching movies, working, or reading without the background white noise. At 60+ dB high/ turbo speed, there is clear fan noise that might not be bearable for some. Fortunately, you can activate Sleep mode to lock 5500-2 at low speed while you're snoozing. PlasmaWave noise is neglectable and can be deactivated when not needed.

Being an Energy Star rated model, energy usage is low at only 5 watts minimum to a max 90 watts depending on the fan speed. You will not notice any surge in your electric bill. With a standard 12 hours daily runtime, the electric cost will be around $0.05 per day, or $1.6 a month, or 19 dollars a year. There is also the Auto and sleep mode that can help optimizing energy consumption by only using higher speed when necessary. If you have no issue with Winix 5500 noise and power consumption, Winix 5500-2 PlasmaWave air purifier will also serve you well.

At what cost

To our surprise, Winix 5500-2 air purifier online price is cheaper than the prior model 5500 despite having a newer design and an improved specification. The better specification is also well reflected in its mid-range group despite having a lower price point. That said, Winix 5500-2 filter replacement cost is not cheap at around 80 dollars annually. It comes with a yearly bundled pack consisting of a True-HEPA filter and a carbon filter. Filter availability is good as the filter set is compatible with a few other Winix models.

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