Smoking Issues

Just a reminder for people to please, please be considerate of their neighbors when it comes to smoking. Numerous systems in this building connect, and smoke from one unit can seep into neighboring ones via the heating/cooling units, the kitchen/bathroom vents, and the fire corridors. There are health issues involved with second-hand smoke, and those folks with allergies or asthma have real and immediate problems with it.

Please consider taking your smoking outside whenever possible (and 30 feet away from any building entrances as per Association policy). We’ve been blessed with a fairly mild winter so far so a walk outside might offer a bit of relief from one’s pandemic-induced cabin fever!

If anyone has suggestions for blocking smoke from entering a unit, particularly through the HVAC system, any advice added in the comments would be much appreciated.

4 thoughts on “Smoking Issues”

  1. I bought a couple of Coway air purifiers for my place and I’m pleased with the results. No, they don’t stop smoke from coming in, but they do improve the quality of the air very quickly when it does. (Also clears up my own interior cooking smells!). Not necessarily a cheap fix, but it’s something. Prices around the internet vary, so don’t hesitate to shop around. This particular model has come out on top in a number of tests, including the NY Times. https://cowaymega.com/products/coway-mighty-br-ap-1512hh

  2. Simply avoiding smoking anything in your loo would go a long way to addressing this issue. As far as I can tell the bath and stove ducts vents to a shared ventilation shaft, while the HVAC units are self contained to each unit (intake at bottom, exhaust at top). Do I have that correct?

  3. There are gaps around the drains in each of the HVAC unit cabinets that enable smoke (and even mice) to travel between floors in the stack. Not as big an air channel as in the bathroom vents, but definitely an avenue for smoke to travel.

  4. Smoke (pot) was coming into my kids’ room between the wood beams. I used clear caulk and filled in the gap; also plugged the bigger holes. Seems to be working.

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