Question from Nancy
We just moved to a beautiful country setting here in NE Arizona, however the distant hills (about 20 miles away) have prescribed burns by the forest service and it’s quite often. (I learned this AFTER our move!) During sleep hours, the smoke rolls into our area and into our house. I have terrible allergies and have to close the vents, but it’s not enough. Is there any kind of vent filter I can use to keep smoke from coming in that way? I currently use 2 air purifiers in the bedroom, but it’s very frustrating knowing that smoke is always coming in from the attic, and the purifiers aren’t taking care of the problem the way I need. Any help is appreciated!
Debra’s Answer
It sounds like you need to seal up cracks and any openings that are allowing smoke to come through.
Do you know or can you find out when the burns are going to be so you can close your vents.
Readers, have any of you had this experience?
We also have prescibed burns here in New Mexico and have had to evacuate our house twice due to forest fires. Before we left we covered the vents as well as closed them. We had no smoke smell when we returned. Thankfully we had a well sealed house as well.
sealing areas in a house is a big job, with details that often folks are not aware of. windows and doors need to be inspected and sealed on the interior and exterior. often there is a space at the bottom of any door that needs to be sealed while smoke is occuring. under and inside cabinets anywhere in the house can have space so it is wise to clear our all cabinets and look as well as checking under where cabinets are hung above the floor. often there is space that we do not see between base boards and cabinets. stairways also have holes, especially hidden if there is carpet. check along the sides of where the carpet meets the wall on each side. check closets for cracks or holes. if you have a basement, check everwhere there too. i know this is a tough situation, especially with allergies and I am not sure all the sealing will be enough. you might want to consider having a furnace company install a good hepa filter for the entire house which works just like turning on an air conditioning or heater. also, find out how you can seal up your chimney if you have one. and remember to get your roof inspected for any weak areas that would benefit from extra caulking. i hope this will be more helpful than overwhelming. i wish you well, as i also have allergies and asthma and this situation would be a nightmare for me as well. Jeri
Yes! When we were recently painting the exterior of our home, we did a major job of sealing cracks and using filters. Now that the paint has off-gassed, we opened up the house, and when neighbors burn bad wood or there is “lovely cow smell” wafting in from neighboring dairies, we can really tell! We weren’t smelling those in the house at all when the windows and doors were sealed. Aluminum foil tape is your friend! I was shocked to find that it didn’t hurt our paint, while packing tape did. Also, carbon fabric from Nirvana Save Haven (http://nirvanasafehaven.com) over windows and doors is your friend. For air cleaning, I like a combination of an Airocide purifier and an AllerAir MCS-model carbon purifier.