Coway AP-1512HH air purifier: a home review

I picked this model because it checked off several of my criteria boxes.

Room size: I want to be able to purify my sitting room. This is rated at 360 sqft, or 33 sqm for us Canadians.
Allergens: I have mild allergies and a dog who leaves a decent amount of fur floating around. This is HEPA rated.
Value: While I don’t want a weak entry-level model, I also don’t want to pay top dollar either. This model seems to sit in that sweet spot.
Noise: I don’t want to be drowned out by the sound of a cyclone. This model has variable speed and can be configured to preference.

Coway AP-1512HH unit sitting on the floor — The Coway AP-1512HH has an unimposing look

See it on Amazon
Coway AP-1512HH(W) Mighty Tower Air Purifier with True HEPA, White, Compact.

Unboxing

I’ve never tried an air purifier before. I read some reviews but I didn’t realize the size. I was thinking toaster oven sized, but in reality this model is closer to a mid 90s PC in that beige box.

It came well packaged, with lots of big bubble wrap and cardboard caps. Everything that you need to get started is included. What’s in the box? The manual, the unit, a washable pre-filter, a deodorization filter, and a HEPA filter.

The unit itself was shrink-wrapped and the odour and HEPA filters came sealed in their own wrappers. One thing that I appreciated is how light this unit is. Moving it around the house should pose no difficulty even for people with limited strength.

Coway AP-1512HH box — The box with all of its promises

Coway AP-1512HH with its filters laid out — Ready to assemble

Setup

The setup is quite easy. The filters are packaged into the unit but you need to take them and remove their coverings and stickers.

First, unwrap the HEPA filter. When you re-insert it into the unit, be careful to orient it correctly as shown by the arrow. See below.

Insrting Coway AP-1512HH HEPA filter — Inserting the unwrapped HEPA filter.

Next, you will unwrap the odour filter. The odour filter snaps into the pre-filter so you need to gently separate the two. Once the wrapper is removed, you can place the odour filter back in into the pre-filter and then insert both together. Be careful to orient it correctly, with the prongs at the top of the unit.

Coway AP-1512HH odour and pre-filter — Separating the odour filter from the pre-fiter prior to wrapper removal.

Inserting Coway AP-1512HH odour and pre-filter filters

Now it’s all set and ready to be powered on.

Placement and Operation

The manual recommends that the unit be placed in an unobstructed area. This makes sense, you need airflow for the particles to get to the unit. It doesn’t need to be on the floor but the manual also recommends not higher than chest level. Do read the list of cautionary details that are included in the manual, should you purchase the model.

I put the unit on the floor of my sitting room by the wall and powered it on. Be default, it selects auto mode. Auto mode idles in the lowest state, ramping up the fan accordingly if it detects that the air needs purifying.

An LED at the top is colour coded to the status, ranging from blue at normal levels, to purple at moderate pollution, to bold red at high air pollution.

The controls also allow for manual fan setting. In addition, a timer can also be set to instruct the unit to power off at one of the preset cleaning durations. Unfortunately, this model doesn’t appear to have routine cleaning schedules.

I do appreciate that the unit has an alert for HEPA and odour filter replacement as I tend to forget about those things. The manual recommends a HEPA change annually, and an odour filter change semi-annually. That seems like a fair run for the money.

Coway AP-1512HH running at high speed — It’s not pleased with my air quality, running at high speed

Noise and Observations

The noise ranges depending on the fan setting. At low speed it’s barely audible. At mid speed it’s comparable to a PC. At high speed it is comparable to a ceiling fan at high speed.

I’ve been keeping mine at auto, where it spends the majority of the time at low speed and occasionally ramps up to mid or high for a minute or so.

Environmental change can be hard to gauge but I do feel that I’ve been less congested with this air purifier running daily. If you want to try this model out too, you can find it here on Amazon. So far, I have not been disappointed.

Added bonus, dog is fine with it running. She doesn’t even notice.

Coway AP-1512HH(W) Mighty Tower Air Purifier with True HEPA, White, Compact.

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