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Although I’ve always cared about health and wellness, I never thought much about air pollution until I came across some staggering numbers. According to the World Health Organization, air pollution is so widespread that 99% of the world’s population breathes unhealthy air loaded with particles from the burning of fossil fuels. Air pollution is something I think about every week. And when it comes to the air quality in your own home, one of the only things you can do is invest in an air purifier, which I did two years ago when I bought the Coway Airmega Mighty.
Coway Airmega AP-1512HH Powerful air purifier
If you want fresh, HEPA-filtered air, try the Coway Airmega Mighty Air Purifier. It’s not cheap to buy or run, but its reliability and simple design make it a true ‘set it and forget it’ device that will last for years.
$180 at Coway
$210 at Amazon
What I liked about it
Its first-class, reliable performance
You could call the Coway Mighty the Toyota of air purifiers, because I’ve been running this thing nonstop for two years, and it hasn’t stuttered or failed once. That’s impressive for any machine, let alone one that’s on 24/7.
While I don’t have accurate air quality monitors to test the Mighty’s performance, I know it works. When I light a candle or smoke comes out of the kitchen, the machine’s fan comes to life and the smoke disappears in less than a minute.
It also performs excellently on paper. (Warning: data coming in.) At the highest setting, the Clean Air Delivery Rate (CADR), which measures the volume of filtered air an air purifier delivers, is 234 for smoke, 248 for dust, and 232 for pollen. The higher the number, the faster the machine filters air. The Association of Home Appliance Manufacturers’ air filtration standard says that an air purifier’s CADR should be equal to at least two-thirds of the room’s area. Long story short: For smoke, the Mighty should be effective in rooms as large as 350 square feet, making it suitable for most spaces.
The Coway Airmega Mighty also uses a high-efficiency particulate air filter (HEPA), which is integral to cleaning the air, according to Jill Heins, senior director of national health promotions at the American Lung Association.
“Mechanical HEPA air purifiers are designed to filter and capture particulate matter in the air,” says Heins. “Fine particles are one of the leading indoor air pollutants that can cause eye, ear, nose, throat and lung irritation; exacerbations of asthma and COPD; strokes and heart attacks.”
In addition to a HEPA filter, the gold standard for air purification, the Coway Mighty also has a deodorizing activated carbon filter and a pre-filter that captures larger particles, which you should clean every two to four weeks.
The carbon filter doesn’t seem to do much. When my landlord redecorated my room with some toxic-smelling epoxy, I kept turning my air purifier on high. And yet the smell persisted until I had them remove the offending paste. On the other hand, it is clear that the pre-filter works, as it quickly fills with dust, dirt and cat hair.
The easy-to-clean filter
Luckily, cleaning this thing is pretty easy. Once you remove the front cover, the pre-filter comes out easily and depending on how dirty it is, you can rinse it with water or vacuum the screen. I almost always opt for the vacuum cleaner because it’s easier to suck up the hair and dust (a 30 second process) and be done with it.
The only other maintenance you need to do is to clean the air quality sensor and vents every two months, and the front cover if it is dusty. Even though I almost always ignore these steps (I know, I know), my air purifier works just as well as it did when I bought it. The only caveat I would add is that the accuracy of the air quality sensor depends on its purity, so I would urge readers to be more careful than I was.
The easy to use controls
It is also easy to use. You don’t have to fuss with a bunch of complicated settings or tap an annoying touchscreen to adjust the fan. Instead, the Coway has a simple control panel with five buttons, many of which you almost never have to press. The only adjustment you can make is the air speed, which has five settings: auto, eco, and fan speeds one through three.
The first two modes are fully automated. On automatic, the fan adjusts depending on the air quality it detects, using a built-in sensor. If you light a candle or turn on the heater nearby, the air purifier’s fan will adjust and reach maximum speed, working hard to bring particle levels back to normal. This is when the Coway Airmega Mighty is at its loudest, around 60 decibels, according to my measurements. That’s about as loud as a dishwasher.
Eco mode is like automatic except that the machine will stop the fan if the sensor detects no air pollution for 30 minutes. The appeal of these two modes is clear. Instead of having to adjust the settings manually, the air purifier’s sensor does it for you. In addition to the fan speed and power buttons, the Coway also offers a timer, so you can program it to turn off after one, four, or eight hours.
The attractive, unobtrusive design
The design of the Coway Airmega Mighty is forgettable in a good way. Rather than equip this thing with obnoxious blue LEDs (this isn’t a gaming console) or add an ugly perforated grill (see the Coway Airmega 200M), this air purifier’s design is understated, especially if you buy it in white. That’s a huge bonus, because it matches a variety of furniture and decor styles.
What I didn’t like about it
It’s expensive to run
Unfortunately, the Coway Airmega Mighty costs a pretty penny when you factor in the cost of electricity and replacement filters, but that goes for pretty much any air purifier. A year of Coway brand replacement filters (that’s one HEPA and two carbon filters) will cost you about $50. That’s not terrible. But if you add in the cost of electricity – I did a rough calculation using these electricity prices and this energy data – you end up with about $131 per year. Add in the machine itself, which hovers around $200, and you spent $331 in the first year. I don’t like that, although there are ways to reduce those costs. My advice: buy the air purifier on offer, opt for third-party filters and use the eco mode.
The ionizer is unnecessary
I was initially intrigued by the Mighty’s ionizer button, which releases electrically charged particles to remove pollutants and control odors. But ionizers also emit ozone, an unstable gas that is part of the type of smog that Los Angeles is known for. As you might expect, that’s not a good thing.
When I asked Heins about the American Lung Association’s opinion on ionizers, she said they should be avoided, adding that ozone (also known as smog) is “an irritant to the nose, throat and lungs.” The Environmental Protection Agency similarly discourages consumers from using ionizers and ozone-emitting air purifiers. “Under certain conditions of use, ion generators and other ozone-generating air purifiers can produce levels of this lung irritant that significantly exceed levels considered harmful to human health,” according to the agency’s website. Fortunately, you can switch off the ionizer of the Coway air purifier.
How it compares
The Coway Airmega Mighty is often found on lists of the best air purifiers on the market. That’s a testament to its quality, which cannot be overstated. But that doesn’t mean it’s the best air purifier for everyone. For example, homeowners with large open spaces and/or high ceilings should purchase something with a higher CADR.
Energy Star has a handy product finder that lets you search for air purifiers based on room size, CADR, efficiency and more. The Core 600S Smart Air Purifier from Levoit is an option for larger spaces. Or maybe you’re on a budget and living in a cramped dorm room. In that case, Clorox’s $60 tabletop model may suffice. As for the Coway Airmega Mighty’s peers, the Levoit Core 400S Smart Air Purifier, BlueAir 311i Max and Winix 5300-2 all have similar specs for around the same price.
Regardless of what you choose, there are a few things to consider when choosing an air purifier. Heins says all air purifiers should have inexpensive replacement filters, a HEPA filter, a high CADR that follows the two-thirds rule (meaning the CADR is equal to at least two-thirds of the room’s area), and a California Air Resources filter. Board certification (which is required to sell it in California). You should also avoid models that advertise ultraviolet rays, disinfection functions, ionizers and ozone generators, Heins says, explaining that these features can be harmful to your health.
In short
If there’s a unifying theme in this review, it’s that the Coway Airmega Mighty is very much a “set it and forget it” home appliance. You plug it in, turn it on and then forget about it – until it’s time to clean or change a filter. If it fits your budget and is suitable for your space, I’d say everyone should buy one, especially if you have allergies or live in a region prone to wildfires. After all, it checks all the boxes for a great air purifier, except for the ionizer function – although that can be turned off. The only thing that would turn me against the Coway Airmega Mighty is if it broke (and it’s still going strong after two years of constant use). So for now, I won’t shut up about how much I love it.
Note: The prices above reflect the retailer’s stated price at the time of publication.
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