Whirlpool WP500 Air Purifier: Trusted Review & Specs

The Whirlpool WP500 (formerly named the Whirlpool AP51030K) might not have launched with the fanfare afforded to the company’s latest air purifiers, but this chunky air purifier is another in an ever-growing range of practical air purifiers. It truly does a great job, and let us tell you everything you need to know in this Whirlpool WP500 Review.

Whirlpool WP500 ranks B- in our air purifier ranking list. We give the biggest and most thorough database of air purifier reviews in the world.

Update: The Whirlpool WP500, or Whirlpool AP51030K is the last device in the old Whirlpool lineup. If you’d like a new coat for this air purifier, you can switch to the brand new Whirlpool WP1000. Or you can top up $100 to select the flagship of this brand, the Whirlpool WPPRO2000.

In Breathe Quality, we have reviewed all air purifiers under these sections. Also, we guarantee that:

• We provide honest reviews (both pros and cons) so that everyone can make the best decisions.
• We do not (and never will) exaggerate one product just to let you click the links and buy that product blindly.

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Brands like Whirlpool are always in trouble when looking for a partner to make its specific home appliances, and in this case, the air purifiers. In the case of Honeywell, it choses Kaz Incorporated, a well-known manufacturer and distributor of health care products, to take charge of its air purifiers. However, back to Whirlpool, we don’t know much about Aroma Limited, and that gives us some doubt over its new products. Let’s see if this new air purifier is worthy in our Whirlpool WP500 Review.

Other Whirlpool’s Air Purifier Reviews:

Whirlpool WP500 Price

The device was sold a long time ago under the name Whirlpool AP51030K, when it was under the distribution of a company named Master Brands HK Limited. It was changed into Whirlpool WP500 when under the accountability of Aroma Limited Company.

To position the new name, this company also gave it different color options for finishing, Pearl and Black, to clear the old impression of a cheap product. In my opinion, the new Whirlpool WP500 is a little bit more premium, but it doesn’t matter at all because the Whirlpool WP500 is just a bait to lure consumers into buying the next-gen Whirlpool WP1000.

Other than that, it is a great air purifier that matches the performance of the old flagship, the Whirlpool AP45030K. The price is nearly the same as with the old device, and you can buy one Whirlpool WP500 for $289. Not a great deal? You can check Breathe Quality’s deal instead.

With its pure performance and fan power, the Whirlpool WP500 is another option for those who care most about optimal air filtration. It doesn’t have fancy features like the Levoit LV-H133 or Winix U450, and it clearly doesn’t try to follow phenomena like the Winix AM90 and Medify MA-40. But there are much more things to consider about the Whirlpool WP500, as you can see in our review today.

I have a great deal for you at the time of writing, so the Whirlpool WP500 is now just $259 Again, this price is still nearly the same as the Whirlpool WP1000.

Related post: Best air purifier 2023.

Whirlpool WP500 Design and Size

The Whirlpool WP500 looks simply like a fairly straightforward console air purifier with a large air intake grill on the front and another top air outlet to release the fresh air. However, its curved edge styling makes it a more sophisticated device to place in your room.

Featuring two new color options: the Pearl and the Black, the Whirlpool WP500 has even more selection to suit your taste than the modern Whirlpool WP1000. My testing unit is a pearl model named Whirlpool WP500P, but if you prefer the black premium version, you can search for the Whirlpool WP500B or check the price as below.

The good news is that with its new dimensions of 24 inches (height) x 20.55 inches (width) x 10 inches (depth), the Whirlpool WP500 increases the surface area of its air filters and therefore improves its efficiency. If you need a comparison with the old Whirlpool AP45030K, I will show you in the filter section below.

On top of this air purifier, there is no knob control like the predecessor, and Whirlpool switched to the traditional button control, as you can see below.

Source: Amazon.com

The Whirlpool WP500 weighs 25.5 lbs, and with a more convenient handle, we can move this air purifier much easier than the previous model, the Whirlpool AP45030K.

Related post: Best air purifiers for bedroom.

Whirlpool WP500 Filters

To check the performance of one air purifier, you need to know about the quantity of the air filtration system as well as the types of air filters being used. The Whirlpool WP500 just uses the same 2-stage air cleaning system as the previous Whirlpool AP51030K.

1. Activated Carbon filter – Covering the HEPA filter is the layer of Activated Carbon filter, which helps adsorb the odors, smoke, and VOCs before the polluted air reaches the HEPA filter.
2. True HEPA filter – We will have here a True HEPA filter to capture 99.97% of airborne particles as small as 0.3 microns, such as dust, pet dander, pollen, tobacco smoke, fabric fibers, and mold spores.

The Whirlpool WP500 uses a mechanical latch front grill, which acts like a pre-filter before the polluted air contacts the Activated Carbon filter. It has a safety switch to open and close easily.

The big selling point of this air purifier is its air filtration capability. It has a medical-grade (not confirmed) true HEPA filter that is attached to the so-called synthetic-based filter membrane to remove any allergens as small as 0.3 microns in the air.

From the specs paper, I can conclude the Whirlpool WP500 (or Whirlpool AP51030K) will have the same performance as the previous Whirlpool AP45030K. However, I made another test for this air purifier in a room of 300 square feet and let it run for one hour. I also used the Levoit LV-H133, Winix HR900 and Winix U450 as testing samples to compare with the performance of this Whirlpool WP500. As a result, our Whirlpool WP500 ended up with a high efficiency of 99.9% for trapping any particles down to 0.3 microns. However, the Winix U450 was still better, at 99.95%.

The Whirlpool WP500 (and the Whirlpool AP51030K) use the Air Filter 1183054K, which costs you around $94. You can also buy the air filter 1183054KC, which is a combination of both True HEPA and Activated Carbon filters. This new air filter will cost you $115, resulting in a savings of $20.

Related post: Best air purifiers for allergies.

Whirlpool WP500 Room Coverage

With an old fan of the previous Whirlpool AP45030K, the new Whirlpool WP500 didn’t disappoint with its large room coverage of up to 490 square feet. It is backed up with a high CADR rating, which is also another selling point of Whirlpool air purifiers, something that is nonexistent in many other well-known brands like Oransi OV200, Sharp FP-F60UW or even Philips 2000i.

The ACH of Whirlpool WP500 is 5x. Just like Honeywell, the Whirlpool air purifiers are designed to clean a room more often than other brands, and the Whirlpool WP500 can clean a room every 12 minutes.

The CADR of Whirlpool WP500 is 328 Dust/ 309 Smoke/ 331 Pollen (cfm). Like I said earlier, the Whirlpool WP500 is especially designed to clean a large room.

Related post: Best large room air purifiers.

Whirlpool WP500 Sound

Whirlpool is truly a brand that clearly emphasizes (in writing and speaking, of course) the importance of silent operation for its products. The Whirlpool Whispure WP500, right at its name, is meant for a quiet run, just like the Whispure.

But despite the advertisement and the so-called Quiet Partner system, the Whirlpool WP500 has a minimum noise level of 40 decibels, which is quite higher than the minimum threshold of other brands. The Levoit LV-H133 runs at only 25 decibels, or the Oransi OV200 trims it down to just 30 decibels.

Fortunately, the highest noise level of this Whirlpool WP500 is really good, as it reaches only 49 decibels (dB), which is similar to the noise of your electric air conditioner at 100 feet. As a result, the Whirlpool WP500 is recommended for use in quiet places, like your bedroom or office.

Related post: Best air purifiers for baby.

Whirlpool WP500 Power Consumption

One of our most FAQs is “Do air purifiers use a lot of energy?” An air purifier is meant to run for a long time to be efficient, which is why many air purifier brands consider the energy-saving standard, mostly in the form of the Energy Star rating, to be an important selling point.

The Whirlpool WP500 runs at 104 watts of power consumption, which is again a huge drawback even for an Energy Star air purifier. Do you know that the GermGuardian AC9400W runs at only 48 watts, and the Rabbit Air BioGS 2.0 is even lower at only 29 watts?

For using a Whirlpool WP500 for 8 hours per day, it would cost you up to $37 per year.

Related post: Best air purifiers for pets.

Whirlpool WP500 Additional Features

For the new Whirlpool WP500, this American company still sticks with the traditional way to control, so you shouldn’t expect any Smart features in this air purifier. Actually, it is quite common for an air purifier to run without fancy features in our country, especially when looking at the Honeywell or Austin Air models.

The Whirlpool WP500 is still better than the previous Whirlpool AP25030K or Whirlpool AP45030K because it has brought back the great Sleep Mode from the Whirlpool APT40010R. It will allow your air purifier to run at the lowest sound level, and you can set a timer for this mode for up to 8 hours.

If your family has a child, you can enjoy the fresh air uninterruptedly thanks to the Child Lock function. It will lock all the current settings until you press the unlock button again. This feature will also be available on the Whirlpool AP51030K. This model is really old, and I advise not using it anymore.

Finally, we still have the LED indicator for filter replacement.

Related posts:

1, Best air purifiers for smoke.

2, Best air purifiers for dust.

3, Best air purifiers for mold.

Whirlpool WP500 Customer Service

Whirlpool is a global leader in making major home appliances, and with more than 92,000 employees and 65 manufacturing and technology research centers, this company dedicates a lot of time to the customer service field. You can easily reach customer service via email at info@whirlpoolairpurifiers.com and/or info@aromalivingstyles.com or via phone at 866-666-1168.

The warranty policy of Whirlpool is only for one year. From the second through fifth years, the limited warranty is only on the air purifier motor. Also, Aroma International Limited (which covers the supply and warranty for Whirlpool air purifiers) will not pay when your air purifier is used other than for normal, single-family household use. How the company can know that is still unknown.

Our verdict

The Whirlpool WP500 is a good contender with its powerful fan and some new features compared with the previous Whirlpool AP45030K. But with a much higher price and a slightly lower performance, what is the reason to buy this air purifier over the well-known Honeywell HPA300?