Cigarette smoke coming through return? - DIY Chatroom

diyGK · 10-13-2009, 08:04 PM

Ok, forgive me if I am using the wrong terminology; what I believe is my central air "return" vent (mounted on the second floor of my condo) appears to be allowing smoke into my condo, coming from my neighbor. Is there any way I can put some kind of odor blocking/absorbing filter in there to block the smoke? Just to be clear, I am not referring to my furnace/furnace filter. Thanks.

yuri · 10-13-2009, 08:09 PM

THe only filter that blocks smoke is a carbon type and they are rare and hard to find and don't last long. Some buildings have a central exhaust for the hallways and building. I would talk to the landlord and see if anything can be done. If you interfere with it they can blame you. Does your building have no smoking rules, you should not have to put up with others smoke, talk to the landlord about it.

diyGK · 10-13-2009, 08:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by yuri

THe only filter that blocks smoke is a carbon type and they are rare and hard to find and don't last long. Some buildings have a central exhaust for the hallways and building. I would talk to the landlord and see if anything can be done. If you interfere with it they can blame you. Does your building have no smoking rules, you should not have to put up with others smoke, talk to the landlord about it.

It's not a building. It's a row of condo's, which resembles what people consider townhouses, so there is no landlord. We are all responsible for our own central air units (each condo unit has its own central air unit). So I kinda on my own here. So far my only solution is to block the return, which is fine until I need to turn on the heat.

EDIT: would I damage anything if I cut some kind of carbon filter and taped it to the inside of the return grille?

yuri · 10-13-2009, 08:23 PM

Your ducts should not be linked to the neighbors for fire separation/hazard/code issues. Not sure why his smoke would go to you unless you have a negative pressure and his is positive. Carbon filters plug easily and can restrict airflow and overheat the furnace. I would get a experienced servicetech to find out what is going on.

diyGK · 10-29-2009, 08:28 AM

I made a little bit of progress. I insulated the celing where our basements are split ( we each have half of the basement) and there's less smoke down there. I still have the problem upstairs however and I'm wondering if its coming from the kitchen stove exhaust, maybe the neigbors are using it to exhaust the smoke and its exhausting into my place? (his would be directly below mine).

beenthere · 10-29-2009, 01:19 PM

If your getting smoke from another condo. Then it is a condo association problem.
It is also a fire code problem.