Some dehumidifiers come with air filters that enable them to moonlight as air purifiers. These filters come in handy in trapping airborne pollutants as the air gets drawn into the unit. As a result, these appliances produce drier and cleaner air through the outlet grills.
Here are some vital steps for extracting cigarette smoke from your indoor air using dehumidifiers.
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Reduce the Smoke Physically
Cleaning the air is not the primary purpose of dehumidifiers, so they cannot cleanse a room of all airborne pollutants completely. As such, you need to help them out by removing ashtrays and cigarette butts from the room. You may also increase air circulation by opening windows and running a fan.
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Replace Or Enhance the Effectiveness of Your Filter
- You can improve the air cleaning efficiency of your dehumidifier by replacing the standard G3 filter with a HEPA or carbon activated filter.
- HEPA filters are capable of capturing airborne particles as small as 0.03 microns, including those comprising cigarette smoke.
- Carbon activated filters come in handy when looking to remove smoke particulates and odor.
- You may also improve the efficiency of the current filter by attaching a thin sheet of activated carbon filter on the back of the standard G3 filter. Attach it using a duct tape along the sides to avoid blocking sections of the filter.
Related: Finding an efficient HEPA or Carbon filter with the same shape, size, and configuration as your current dehumidifier’s filter won’t be a walk in the park, and there’s a chance that it may not fit properly into the filter’s cabinet. However, this is worth a try.
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Make Full Use of the Dehumidifier
- Place the dehumidifier in the middle of the room and let it run on the highest settings for a while.
- Ensure to empty the condensate as soon the tank becomes full as most dehumidifiers have an auto-shutoff feature that stops operation until the reservoir has been emptied and reinstalled into the unit.
- It would help if you used a dehumidifier with a continuous drain option.
- Also, replace or wash the filter regularly to keep the dehumidifier in optimal performance.