Filters for Coway air purifier

October 18, 2021 12:55 PM

What is the deal with replacement filters for the very popular Coway AirMega air purifier? Prices are all over the place, from $32 at Walmart to $70 at BBB, with many, many reports of stinky chemical fumes. The ones sold directly by Coway are $57 which seems outrageous for a machine that I paid $150 for but maybe that's the only safe way to replace the filter? Help please!
posted by HotToddy to Home & Garden (7 answers total)

You may find useful information in the Wirecutter article (about 1/4 way down the page) where they discuss filter replacements. They have a couple of third-party filters they like as much as the official Coway ones. Not much cheaper than $57, however.
posted by General Malaise at 1:15 PM on October 18, 2021

This seems to be the case for all good air purifiers. I think we don’t realize that a third of the initial cost is for the filter that comes with the unit.
posted by Bottlecap at 1:29 PM on October 18, 2021 [1 favorite]

Well, that's how they make their money. Like inkjet printers. Same deal.
posted by dobbs at 1:47 PM on October 18, 2021

The demand for air purifiers and their associated filters spikes when there's wildfire smoke, which is becoming more and more frequent across the world, and when people realize that they are useful against virus particles in a pandemic. Supply chains across the world are still a mess and will probably continue to be for a long while. It's possible that in six months, supply will catch up to demand, right before the next US wildfire season. Wirecutter also says that they've run the same filter in the Coway long after its specified replacement date, and it did not perform markedly worse, so it may be ok to wait.

I have a set of the $30 Cabiclean filters mentioned in the Wirecutter article, and they fit fine. HEPA filters aren't rocket science. At least there are generics available compared to more complicated and proprietary designs, where you are more beholden to the original manufacturer.
posted by meowzilla at 2:14 PM on October 18, 2021 [2 favorites]

I have a Coway and bought some medium priced knockoff filters on Amazon, and they seem totally fine? I can’t test for benefit but I definitely haven’t noticed any problem with them.
posted by nouvelle-personne at 8:18 PM on October 18, 2021

I've experienced the same thing with the air purifier systems at Costco (Winix). Essentially it's like you're buying a subscription to access clean air at ~ $50/year. 21st century dystopian vibes for sure.
posted by flamk at 8:35 PM on October 18, 2021 [4 favorites]

The simpler filters are easy to replace by buying clones from Amazon, but the more expensive ones are... well, more exclusive. The BBB ones are probably genuine items with markup or MSRP, while the ones on Amazon are probably "compatible" i.e. they're the same shape but may not be the same quality unless it's sold by Coway.

I've been shocked at how fast the air filters go but my filter is simple enough to replace and popular enough to have many different clone filter sellers on Amazon so prices are reasonable.
posted by kschang at 3:16 AM on October 19, 2021