Battling cigar smoke -- tips?

Hi all — Would love some tips on battling cigar smoke seeps into our apartment. The guy who lives in the garden apartment next door smokes cigars outside every night, and the smoke continually comes in through our windows, and into our bedrooms. He is well aware of the issues he causes — neighbors on both side of him have asked him to dial it back — and he does not stop, and I know it’s his legal right to continue smoking, so not trying to make that the focus here. What I am looking for are proactive/creative tips on keeping the air from coming in. We have single-hung windows, which I keep shut and locked, and have bath towels rolled up at the bottom of the window pane, as well as the middle point where the top of the bottom window intersects with the bottom of the top window. This helps, but the smell still leaks in. Has anyone tried using a window fan blowing outward as a method of defense? I’m hesitant to try this as I feel like smoke would still leak in. Something like this: http://www.walmart.com/ip/Lasko-Products-7-Twin-Window-Fan/16503207 Is there anything I could put on the inside of the window that would essentially capture the smoke on its way in? Would filter help, or is it more about Is there anything else that could help? I realize I can always just hang a sheet of plastic over the whole window, but I’d still like to retain the ability to open the window every now and then. Thanks in advance for the help!

Cocg

in Quality of Life 10 years and 1 month ago

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Cocg | 10 years and 1 month ago

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Thanks, everyone! Will have to look into positive pressure ventilation, and see if that helps. The guy actually smokes all over his yard, and the location doesn’t seem to matter. For whatever reason, the breeze patterns in the area behind the buildings on the blocks blows all the smoke straight into our building.

thetinkerswagon | 10 years and 1 month ago

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I have the answer for you. and I know it because in one of my prior lives I wrote and developed industrial manuals – and one of the manuals we worked on had been written for a fire ventilation fan company (super vac of loveland co.). what you need is positive pressure ventilation (ppv). a small fan placed at another side of the house and pushing air into that house against the still sealed windows may very well keep the cigar smoke out. Let me ad something else here, one reason the smoke may be pulled into the house is because a building is really a big chimney and worse, if you have a fire place and flue, that flue is pulling air all the time due to “stack effect” – the downward pressure on air closer to the ground with a route up the chimney and out into an area of lessor atmospheric pressure (a couple of stories up; when I pull the flue off my boiler in the basement, it is like a vacuum cleaner). You can try closing off openings above the suspected areas of entry to slow the air leaving the top of the house but if that does not work, a fan, somewhat sealed in a window, blowing in, may do it. if that situation creates discomfort during the cold months and hot months, you can find another way to do this very same thing someplace else in the house – just not on the same side as where Fidel sits. as for an outward fan any place in this situation, I doubt it will work. read about positive pressure ventilation on the ‘net as I am sure there is a lot more to learn than what i have relayed here. steve

slimc | 10 years and 1 month ago

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i think the window fan is a good idea. I wonder if the smoker would be willing to smoke further back from the house and use a fan as well…to blow smoke away from the windows out into the yard. If I were dealing with your problem, I’d be tempted to aim a garden hose or water gun directly at that cigar…..not saying you should, but it seems this person has little consideration for his neighbors.

bliz | 10 years and 1 month ago

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It’s possible the smoke is getting in from somewhere besides the windows.