I had some tenants who skipped out of my investment condo leaving it a total disaster. I had to remove all wallpaper, refloat the walls, repaint and toss all the furniture and carpets.

Despite all this, the place still reeks of stale cigarette smoke that is in the ventilation system. The system has a small total travel distance, and I have cleaned the coil and air handler, but the smell lingers, rather strongly. Cleaning the air vents is not an option as they are made of the old porous insulation material and cannot be brushed. Chemical air fresheners only sweetened the bad smell.

Even my mom who is a heavy smoker cannot stand to be in there.

Anyway, I once had an air purifier that made the whole house smell like springtime.

Was this device an ozone generator or an ionizer, and would that help?

What is the difference between the two?

All information and suggestions are appreciated.

Thanks for your reply

An ozone generator generates ozone, , which is not a good idea. Ozone can burn your lungs, even in small concentrations.

An Ion Generator generates negatively-charged ions that float around in the air. They do tend to agglomerate on dust particles and cause the dust particles to fall to the floor. Usually, there is a lot of dust that accumulates around this. This device is somewhat controversial and isn't real good at cleaning the air.

A standard HEPA air filter will remove particulate matter, but you can't expect to remove it once and have it totally gone. You'll probably have to use it for an extended period. I used one in a hotel room that smelled of smoke and it cleaned it up in an hour or so. This device won't take out material that is dissolved in the air (gases), but it will take out any particulates. The cigarette smoke smell is usually particulate in nature.

Which of the two (ionizer or ozone) produces that fresh spring like just after it rains smell?
:)

Ozone is generated by lightning passing through the air. That's the smell you're talking about, so the ozone generator is the answer. Nevertheless, I wouldn't put one in my house and I recommend you don't, either.

http://www.epa.gov/iaq/pubs/ozonegen.html

Thank you perito !