Air purifier for cigarette smoke

January 31, 2021 2:26 PM

My top floor apartment has central heating and cooling through floor air vents. Unfortunately, my neighbors are chain smokers and there's a regular supply of cigarette smoke coming into my apartment and I don't want to die of secondhand smoke.

Are there any air purifiers that filter out the hazardous chemicals and gases in cigarette smoke (not just the odor)? I believe that a fabric filter on the air vent wouldn't work to filter out the smoke.

posted by kinoeye to Home & Garden (8 answers total)

I have several Coway air purifiers and they do a good job of reducing general smells, a lot of dust and pollution. (We don't have to dust as often, and the dust is not as sooty as it used to be.)

I suggest the Wirecutter review, which mentions the efficacy and overall ease of ownership/use/maintenance of many varieties.

https://www.nytimes.com/wirecutter/reviews/best-air-purifier/

They specifically mention the Austin Air Healthmate when it comes to VOCs.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0007WKZ1K/?tag=thewire06-20&linkCode=xm2&ascsubtag=AwEAAAAAAAAAAeBb

The reviews there mention second hand smoke. But they also say it's loud.

I have the Coway Airmega (a little cheaper but not much) and it's pretty quiet, seems to sense properly when things are dusty or when cooking odors have wafted in. I can't comment on cigarettes though.
posted by typetive at 3:24 PM on January 31, 2021 [3 favorites]

There have been a lot of questions on this precise subject on the green in the past, with a lot of people determined to rectify their situations with smoking neighbors. You're right, it's a pretty big deal for your health, not to mention your furniture, clothing, bedding, and even walls will reek of smoke.

You could start with your landlord - is he aware that your neighbors are smoking? Check your lease. Is smoking permitted in the building or is it against the lease? If it isn't permitted in your lease, are they somehow grandfathered in as smokers? I find it hard to believe that subjecting you, in a different apartment and a non-smoker, to smoke via the heating system is OK. And then go from there.
posted by citygirl at 5:05 PM on January 31, 2021

Response by poster: I practice landlord-tenant law and am aware of the legalities of the situation. Indoor smoking in this state is legal and the lease does not mention it. I have done a cost-benefit analysis and am more interested in an air filtration solution.
posted by kinoeye at 5:14 PM on January 31, 2021

HEPA filter.
posted by Grok Lobster at 7:32 PM on January 31, 2021

The Austin is great for problems like these. You could also give the IQ Air Healthpro Plus a try, though that one is a lot more expensive. A cheap option is the Germ Guardian Hepa Air Purifier with a UV light. I have used all these products and found them effective. YMMV.
posted by Armed Only With Hubris at 9:15 PM on January 31, 2021

Having a freestanding HEPA air purifier will not be as good as filtering all incoming air with a decent filter.

You need is positive pressure through the air filters. This may require bodging something up with cardboard and duct tape. On every air inlet, you should have a filter (MERV13) and ideally an activated carbon filter following it, with a fan sucking air from the vent into the filter. If you don't have the fan, unfiltered air will find other cracks to flow out and/or you won't get enough air to warm your flat. The fans shouldn't blow very hard; box fan on low setting is even too much but hard to get anything less so get the box fan. This will also keep smoke from coming back up the return registers, because there will be a slow steady flow of filtered air going out them.

Once you are doing that, then a freestanding HEPA filter can get most of the remainder of what gets by, but without it it's comparable to heating a house while the front door is wide open, it'll only make a little spot clean.
posted by flimflam at 11:08 PM on January 31, 2021

I believe you can get decent filtration by just adding filters to all the vents. They are usually made in standard sizes too, and should be easy to pop it off, add it to the box inside, and put the vent back on. If not, you can always kludge something by adding some rubber band or hook-n-loop solution to the vent cover.

That may require a visit to the home improvement store, AFTER you have measured you vent sizes, inside and out. Please wear a mask before opening the vent cover though, and you MAY want to vacuum it while you're up there.
posted by kschang at 3:25 AM on February 1, 2021 [1 favorite]

You might be interested into looking at units/ filters that contain activated charcoal.

It will get "consumed" over time (the microscopic/ nanoscopic nooks and crannies get "filled up") and you will have to replace it with virgin activated (dehydrated, electrostatically charged) charcoal.
posted by porpoise at 11:15 AM on February 1, 2021