Hi I live in an apartment complex - 6 apartments on each floor sharing an unventilated corridor area. One resident is a heavy smoker and since he moved in, the smoke drift from his apartement enters the hallway/ common property area and hangs around - it stinks and causes coughing. Today I was working from home and at about 3pm, I could smell the smoke drift that had travelled down the hallway and was entering my apartment even though I have blocked the door gaps. My question is: I want to buy an air purifier so I can demonstrate that the air quality, especially in the hallway is poor and polluted, to aid my proposal to ban smoking via a change in by laws. What sort of measurement covers smoke – PM or VOC – I am not very technically minded. Thank you for your help in advance.
Hi @Limoncello,
Thanks for joining! I’m sorry to hear about your situation, but hopefully we can find some ways to help improve the air quality in your apartment.
I would recommend a monitor that monitors both PM and VOCs if possible. While most VOC sensors are relative, they can show trends and should be able to help you identify the impacts of the secondhand smoke. I imagine you would see less of a difference with PM, but that’s also a good metric to cover.
In the shorter term, I would also recommend getting an air purifier if possible. If the smoke is mostly entering via the door, a decently powerful air purifier placed strategically should be able to mostly filter the smoke that gets through the sealed door before it gets further into your apartment.
Would you like any further advice/recommendations regarding the air quality monitor? I am happy to help if I can.
Hi Ethan Thank you for your reply. I will buy a monitor for checking the air quality in the enclosed hallway/common property, which will help me to progress a by law change for the strata complex to No Smoking. The laws around smoking in apartment complexes are changing due to awareness of the health effects and various court ruling. I also am planning to buy an air purifier but the options available are somewhat mind boggling - I understand that I need one with a HEPA filter and the filter will need to be changed. If you have can let me know what criteria is for a purifier to filter cigarette smokes I would be very grateful – I live in Australia. Thank you very much for your website and the research you do.
Hi @Limoncello,
I would highly recommend checking out HouseFresh when it comes to air purifiers. They independently (and scientifically) test the devices they recommend, and you won’t find a better resource for air purifiers.
I would recommend starting on the linked page, where they list the best purifiers (and best affordable purifiers!), and going off whatever is most feasible in Australia: Air Purifier Reviews - housefresh.com
If you have any questions, please let me know!