Air Conditioning and Ventilation for Smoking Rooms

Introduction

Smoking your cigar outside can be less ideal, especially when outdoor conditions deteriorate. The same case applies if you live in areas that experience severe weather conditions. Luckily, you can overcome these challenges by smoking indoors.

There are cigar-friendly pubs that allow you to enjoy your cigar. But, they’re either few or far from your home. For that reason, smoking at home is an incredible option. Unfortunately, you probably have a wife, kids, and pets sharing the same roof with you. So, it’s important to designate one area in your house as a smoking room.

Controlling odor in such rooms can be a challenge. This is because all the smoke can remain inside. To prevent that, you have to contain that smoke. This will help you to prevent it from migrating into adjacent rooms. To sum things up, the HVAC design for the smoking area will need ventilation, exhaust, and filtration. Here’s how you can achieve that!

Select the best room

Smoke can easily move into adjacent rooms through the air. This movement follows the penetrations in the ceilings, floor, and walls. It also moves through improper sealing in ductwork and building imperfections. Lastly, it can move through the building’s wind pressure and door opening. So, you need to create an HVAC design for a smoking area to minimize smoke migration.

First, you need to choose a room that is separate from other spaces. It should have doors that separate the room. Also, the air conditioning and ventilation for smoking rooms should only be serving that space. Otherwise, smoke will be distributed to other living spaces.

Exhaust system

Installing exhaust fans is simple ventilation. Besides, it effectively gets rid of the smoke as it’s produced. The best way to accomplish this is to install exhaust fans in the ceiling. Alternatively, you place a simple box fan inside the window. This will allow it to blow air to the outside, thus vacuuming smoke out of the smoking room.

There are advanced exhaust systems that you can integrate into walls or ductwork. However, some of these systems may require a professional to install. The exhaust system will be more effective if you cover the gaps at the bottom of the doors.

The rating of exhaust fans is done in Cubic Feet/ Min (CFM). Understanding this will help you determine the ideal exhaust fan to install in the room. Also, you need to consider the number of people the room will accommodate and the room’s dimensions.

Filtration

Filtration in smoking is ideal for various reasons. This can be achieved by installing air conditioning and ventilation in smoking rooms. Some filters depend on activated carbon to remove smoke and other smells from the air. This is activated carbon is very good are removing smells produced by tobacco smoke. On top of that, it removes any particles and contaminants in the air.

A 2” thick pleated filter is the best option if the smoke isn’t too much. However, a 25 pound/ greater air purifier is considered the most effective option. To achieve filtration, you should install a 65% ASHRAE filter on the supply side of the AC. Also, you need to increase the air conditioner’s fan motor. This will allow the unit to overcome the decrease in static pressure across both filters. You also need to need to note that filter maintenance and replacement are important.

Make-up air

In some instances, make-up air units may be necessary. Let’s assume the exhaust system drains all the air in the room in more than 10 hours. If that’s the case, then all air in your smoking room will be exhausted. For that reason, the return air needs to be drawn from an adjacent area, while your exhaust unit is in operation.

Also, there should be a make-up unit if the exhaust removes all the air in less than 10 hours. However, in this case, not all air should be exhausted. Instead, some air will be recirculated. To reduce the amount of moisture entering the room, ensure the make-up air is pre-treated.

Ductwork

Lastly, make sure the ductwork for the return, supply, and exhaust air is sheet metal. Better still, cover the return and supply duct with insulation. Also, remember to clean the pipework regularly.

Final word

If you’re not on a budget, you can create an HVAC design for the smoking area to handle the air in the room. This will ensure that the room has a dedicated system of insulated ductwork. It’s linked to the outdoors by electronic air circulation and cleaning system. The entire system should be separate from your building’s HVAC system.

We’d recommend your hire a professional for this option. And that’s where InnoDez Design & Engineering comes in, especially if you live in California. Our HVAC engineers will help you design the best smoking rooms!