I purchased this air purifier to help with cooking smells. We do not have a range hood and so every time I use the stove the air gets smoky and the cooking smells linger. I also run a home-based bridal alterations business and I can't have cooking smells lingering when clients come over with their priceless garments. I placed this unit right by my stove and set it to Auto. It is amazing to see the unit turn to red as soon as I start cooking. It does a pretty good job of controlling the odor and smoke. Not perfect, but way better than before. And usually within a couple hours the cooking smell has dissipated. I'm always amazed at the dust this thing collects when I clean the first filter every few months. I noticed when I want to use my oil diffuser, this thing does not like it. It will turn red and run like crazy trying to filter out the scent. I guess that means it is doing its job! Pretty impressive that it can detect things in the air like that. I'm considering getting another one for the basement to help with the musty smell down there.One thing I don't like are the 2 bright indicator lights. They look like owl eyes and I can't dim them at night unless it's on Sleep mode, but I want to keep it on Auto. I fixed this by facing the unit toward the wall. I think it also runs better this way because the air inlet is facing out now, instead of next to the wall, so I think it does a better job of circulating the air this way.