Let's try this: What air filter are you using?

[replicant_argent]

Originally Posted by Joseywales

As I research this, I am learning a lot about the UV bulbs and how killing germs is what "kills" smoke. I can also tell you there are a lot of medicine man air purifiers out there.

The bolded intrigues me, what kind of research points to that? My instincts tell me it approaches quackitude, but I am a cynical man. I use an exhaust fan in my man cave, but would like to supplement or replace the need for it in the winter so I don't flush nice heated air $ out to the frigid wasteland.
Considering smoke isn't 'alive' I don't know what a short burst of uv light is going to have on it. I am certain that UV sterilization works for organisms, but pushing it to "kill" smoke seems a stretch.
Tobii pointed me to these units, which seem like a decent cleaner for the money (which is more than I can afford right now anyway, so the point is fairly moot) but they do seem to work well, and are based on a fairly popular platform from Toshiba, as I recall my google-fu told me.
http://www.rabbitair.com/minusa2-spa...-purifier.aspx

http://www.rabbitair.com/minusa2-spa...-purifier.aspx

Yes, if you go to the site listed above, they review two Rabbit units. Not bad, for a 200sqf room, but mine's twice the size. The site rates them higher, but I want 7-8 turnovers per hour.

I agree about the UV on smoke, as I have learned more overnight. I got bad info from a filter salesman on the UV. Carbon is what will filter out the smoke. I knew that smoke actually attaches itself to bulbs rather quickly, so I guess it makes sense to remove the UV from the equation.

[lightning9191]

Originally Posted by replicant_argent

Considering smoke isn't 'alive' I don't know what a short burst of uv light is going to have on it. I am certain that UV sterilization works for organisms, but pushing it to "kill" smoke seems a stretch.

If I had to guess, it's possible that the UV light is breaking down the odiferous (you don't get to use that word often) compounds into something that either doesn't smell or smells less vile. UV light does a pretty good job of energizing molecules, thus leading to chemical breakdowns or skin cancer.

Edit: After writing this I checked out my sources (Wikipedia) and they back me up. Check it out here. It's under the heading of air purification