Cigarette smoke smell in apartment - how best to deal?

March 28, 2022 7:48 PM

Especially when it is the super who just recently moved into the unit next door? here's nothing against cigarette smoking in the lease (and my friend down the hall smoked in her apartment regularly). I never noticed a smell until the super moved in to the unit next to mine. Unfortunately his unit is right next to my bedroom, and the stale cigarette smoke smell has wafted into my bedroom. How best to handle this situation?

I could just ask him about it and to see if he can smoke in another part of the apartment/outside/with a window open/SOMETHING... but at the end of the day, there's nothing in the rules that says he can't smoke inside. Further complicating things, I'd also rather limit my contact with him, as he has expressed an interest in me in the past (I was clear that I didn't reciprocate, and he has respected that, but I still feel weird.)

I could also just get an air purifier, but I'm a.) overwhelmed at options/prices/reviews and b.) resentful at the idea of having to spend money to reduce smoke smell in an apartment where I don't smoke. Any recommendations would be helpful so I could feel more confident about spending money to solve the problem on my own.

For what it's worth, I occasionally smoke cigarettes outside or at other people's homes, so it's not like I'm completely adverse to smelling cigarette smoke sometimes. I also understand that apartment living means you just gotta deal with other humans in close proximity. It's just that this smell in my bedroom is that gross stale smell and I can't live with it as it is.

Context - I've lived here for about four years. There have been a couple unrelated issues with other neighbors recently, and I'm trying my best to balance my concern for everyone's well-being and safety with just minding my own business (not sure how that's relevant other than to explain why this cigarette smoke is really bothering me right now in particular and to highlight my desire to solve it without causing anymore problems).

posted by Shadow Boxer to Home & Garden (16 answers total)

There's other good reasons to run an air purifier in your bedroom, especially in an apartment where you do not have a ton of control over the damp/mold, pet, or pest situation in adjacent units (or your own!) either. I would recommend buying one of Wirecutter's picks at the pricepoint you desire. You get an acceptable end result without unnecessary diplomatic missions, and possibly slightly better sleep.
posted by Lyn Never at 7:57 PM on March 28, 2022

Is it possible to fit a fan into a window or other opening, to create some positive pressure in your apartment? if so, that might be a low-impact way to simply avoid the problem, depending on how the smell is getting into your apartment.
posted by dg at 8:08 PM on March 28, 2022 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: Thank you for the responses so far :) I appreciate it!

Lyn Never, I spent a bunch of time looking at reviews on Amazon for Wirecutter's picks today. I'm so overwhelmed at the options and some bad reviews. Does anyone have a recommendation for a reasonably priced air purifier ($200 or under) that doesn't have multiple reviews warning of safety issues, malfunctions, or expensive/hard to get filter replacements?

dg, yes, I could put a fan in my window when the weather gets warmer. Unfortunately, it's below freezing today and I want a solution that will last through cold weather (I'm in New England).
posted by Shadow Boxer at 8:27 PM on March 28, 2022

You're entitled to quiet enjoyment of your apartment. In some places this has been found to mean that other people cannot stink up your apartment. That is, even if smoking is allowed in your building, smoke smell that is coming into your apartment is not. It is your landlord's responsibility to make sure that your unit does not smell of smoke, either by sealing off the air flow or ensuring that nobody smokes in a place that will result in the smoke entering your apartment. Call the landlord and complain.
posted by If only I had a penguin... at 8:42 PM on March 28, 2022 [1 favorite]

I've been using a Honeywell that has a washable main filter so you only have to replace the cheap pre-filter. That said it's not the quietest. I think it was on a previous version of the wirecutter reviews.

It looks like there's a Cheaper version if your room is smaller that also has the washable filter.
posted by kbuxton at 8:42 PM on March 28, 2022

Two recommendations for air purifiers based on personal experience.

This one is a workhorse. I had it running at high during the worst of the fires and it was amazing.

I have three of these. They are great.
posted by Toddles at 9:11 PM on March 28, 2022 [2 favorites]

If I were to pick one from above for cigarette smoke in one room, I'd do the first one.
posted by Toddles at 9:12 PM on March 28, 2022

Based on Wirecutter reviews (back when Wirecutter did more in-depth long term evaluations) we also bought a Coway air purifier - actually two, one for the master bedroom, one for an office where I see clients. It is very quiet and seems to do a good job.
posted by metahawk at 9:25 PM on March 28, 2022 [1 favorite]

You said your lease doesn't prohibit smoking - does your city/county/state have a secondhand smoke ordinance? I'm a renter in CA; my city has a law prohibiting smoking in various places which include multi-unit housing. Things to search - "smoking ordinance", "secondhand smoke ordinance."
posted by rogerroger at 9:43 PM on March 28, 2022 [3 favorites]

Oh! And re: air purifier. If you have an FSA, you can use FSA funds to pay for one if your doctor writes you a "Letter of Medical Necessity" (LMN) - basically something saying that an air purifier is medically necessary, which it is since cigarette smoke is bad for you.

And if you decide to get a Blueair filter (linked above) you can get them more cheaply via Costco.
posted by rogerroger at 9:46 PM on March 28, 2022 [1 favorite]

I can also personally vouch for the Coway air purifiers, and these filters. I’ve never had trouble buying the filters, although I do make a point to stock up before fire season.

I get some pot and cigar smoke in my apartment from my neighbors who smoke on their balcony; if I turn these up to high while they’re smoking, they almost nuke the odor entirely. They also work well for all other odors we’ve encountered, though I don’t have experience with your type of stale cigarette smell specifically.
posted by CtrlAltDelete at 9:57 PM on March 28, 2022

We are happy with our Honeywell HPA200. Had an older, round Honeywell for years that I kept patching up, until the motor finally gave out for good. I went searching for a new filter, preferably one that I could get cheap(er) aftermarket filters for on Amazon. I am quite pleased with the performance and noise level of the Honeywell, and the very inexpensive filters and pre-filters from Amazon. Only thing I don't like about the new Honeywell is the capacitive touch buttons; I'd prefer regular tactile pushbuttons, but it works.
posted by xedrik at 7:38 AM on March 29, 2022

I have two of the square black Coway units and while I don't care for the shiny shiny they have otherwise been excellent. The controls are simple, easy to maintain, it filters well and they feature an ozone thing. They run on medium pretty much 24h7d and if someone is not staying in the room I'll often turn the ozone on manually.

A wall isn't particularly permeable - in a similar situation I have sealed around electrical outlets. It can make a big difference, and it's essentially an unnoticeable visual change. There is products for actually sealing inside the junction box but I didn't bother with that. I just used a small tube painters calk around the outlet (and my ceiling fan) and used kid safety plugs to block the actual outlets. And then I set up a small fan strategically placed to create positive air pressure in the room. I used a clip on fan attached to the top of the door to suck air in from the hallway. Yes I hit my head on it, but not often.
posted by zenon at 7:42 AM on March 29, 2022 [1 favorite]

Allow me also to reintroduce the positive air pressure idea rather than any kind of air purifier. Read the extensive explanation of how and why this works, here. As that page mentions, what you need is an an energy recovery ventilator, or ERV. Not a simple window fan blowing inward, which won't do much and will either heat up or cool your apartment, not something you want. An ERV introduces outside air and creates positive air pressure, without heating or cooling your place.
posted by beagle at 8:56 AM on March 29, 2022 [1 favorite]

I’ve had success with pointing a box fan at my front door. Even when the door is closed, it keeps smell from the hallway out.

I also recommend this Lasko air purifier/box fan. It’s cheap and powerful and just takes a regular house filter.
posted by Comet Bug at 10:23 AM on March 29, 2022 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: Thank you everyone for the air purifier recommendations! It helps narrow down my search.

@rogerroger Thanks about mentioning the FSA - I have an HSA with my new job, so I'll look into using that. Didn't even think of it!

@zenon interesting about the electrical outlets. I have a few that are non-functioning on the wall that we share, I wonder if that is making it worse.
posted by Shadow Boxer at 4:44 PM on April 4, 2022 [1 favorite]