Eliminate Tobacco & Cigarette Odors

One of the greatest challenges for many people is how to remove cigarette and tobacco odors from their indoor space. Unfortunately, removing tobacco smoke is very difficult because the particulates which make up tobacco smoke are very small and can be as small as 1 micron (.01 µm) and consists of gases, vapors and aeorsols.

Currently the best way to eliminate tobacco odor is to ventilate the area. One of the major reasons for making use of the ventilation system is that the smoke (either from the tobacco itself or from the smoker exhaling) goes into the air and stays there, the particulates do not readily drop out, and so if one can control the air, one can control the smoke

There are three basic ways to ventilate an indoor area:

1. Dilute the air also called general  ventilation.

This involves the turbulent movement of the air which is caused by wind and temperature differences.
            a. Natutral diluation. This is a very common technique and one that has been used for millenia: open the windows and doors and let mother nature do the rest—‘air out the place’.
            b. Mechanical dilution

Diluting the air by both natural and mechanical means has been the most common technique for decades. However, with the construction techniques of the past half century, houses tend to be quite well sealed and this prevents the opening up of windows for allowing the free flow of air through a space. It is to then the mechanical techniques that air dilution occurs.

2. Displace the air
  
          With this method the air is introduced into an area, travels through the area carrying the pollutants and contaminants which then are deposited at the other end or pass through an outlet away from the inlet. There are a number of techniques that are utilized. One is the use of cold-air. Cold-air is released into the room at or near floor level  and exits the room near the ceiling. The warm smoke mixes with the cool air and creates a convection current that allows now the mixed air to continue its trip to the exhaust outlet. Because of this particular technique favors the air traveling in one direction, it is best to avoid overhead fans and other fan placements which then disturb the proper flow of contaminated air.  Smokers should be encouraged to exhale upwards.

3. Ventilate with a local exhaust system
  
          This is similar to the system normally used for kitchen stoves. This has not been a common technique for removing tobacco smoke, but it can be adapted for this purpose. If a smoker can be persuaded to blow the smoke towards an exhaust hood, the exhaust system will then finish the job. In this day and age, smokers tend now to be quite compliant and willing to observe these sorts of behaviors. Unfortunately, most homes do not have exhaust hoods over the dining room table or in the living room. But there is now the new, quieter, energy efficient ventilation fans which can be an option.

Do air purifiers work for eliminating tobacco smoke? Air purifiers can be used to help eliminate tobacco odor because they are capable of removing particles down to 3 microns. While this will not completely eliminate all the enivronmental smoke, it will remove quite a bit. For many, the installation of a complex home ventilation system may not be feasible and so a good air purifier which makes use of various types of air filtration, that is, charcoal filter, HEPA filter, etc., can be profitably used to reduce significant the odor caused by tobacco smoke.

One common non-ventilating technique is to use deodorizers. Unfortunately, deodorizers often use the same types of irritants that are found in tobacco smoke.