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rachelnevers · Feb 24, 2011, 04:53 PM

I live in a basement apartment of a house, with the people above me are smokers. We share the same furnace, so whenever the heat starts up I get all of their second hand smoke. My heat vents are in my ceiling.
I was wondering if there is a filter I could install so that I never get to smell smoke again. I'm grossed out to the point that I taped up plastic bags over these vents to stop any air/heat/smoke from entering my apt/lungs.

Hopefully someone can direct me.
Thank you!

cdad · Feb 24, 2011, 05:03 PM

You could try using a high rated filter at the intake. But those cost between $15 and $20. And you would have to replace them on a reguler basis. So if there are 2 registers then you will have to do both at the same time. Depending on how heavy they smoke you might need to replace them every month to every 6 weeks or so. The packages say 3 months but conditions can vary.

ballengerb1 · Feb 24, 2011, 05:32 PM

I doubt if an ozone generator or an ultraviolet filter would even do the trick. Have you complained to the landlord or health department?

rachelnevers · Feb 24, 2011, 05:35 PM

I have mentioned to the landlord about it. Nothing has been done yet.
Thank you for you advice.

ballengerb1 · Feb 25, 2011, 07:54 AM

In the meantime call your local health department to see if they have regs about 2nd hand smoke in an apartment.

lilpoppa · Mar 6, 2011, 03:59 PM

This is an issue your landlord needs to take care of, if he doesn't make any progress soon you should file a complaint at your local housing authority. The only filtration system that will take all the smoke out of the air is a high volume electrostatic unit, often referred to as a smoke eater. These systems are expensive and require regular cleaning.