TL;DR: what are your tricks to keep the interior air of a house pleasant when living in a stinky locale?

For the next couple years, I am stuck on land* in a house that is occasionally downwind from a paper mill. Holy hell, the smell can be eye-wateringly bad when the winds blow just the wrong way. The house is ~1700 square feet with HVAC.

*I normally live on my sailboat and move around at will.

I have an ozone generator for serious de-stinking, but wow ozone is nasty even in small quantities. I have a Corsi-Rosenthal box, but that does nothing for smells. I was thinking maybe a big tray of activated charcoal in the HVAC intake and another in the CR box. In my experience, the tiny charcoal filters in most air cleaners get saturated in about 48 hours. What works for y’all? Super extra bonus points for ongoing maintenance and cost-reduction tips and tricks.

Thank you fellow Lemmings for anything ya got.

  • whyrat@lemmy.worldEnglish
    4·
    6 hours ago

    No one mentioned checking all the seals around the property?

    Since the smell is coming from outside, check that all your windows, doors, or any other openings are well sealed. As much as possible keep the bad smelling outside air from seeping in. You don’t mention the age of the property, but if it’s over 20 years old it’s probably leaky af.

    You do need some air exchange (clear CO2 & let in oxygen), but if you get it well enough sealed you can then look into an air exchange that you can filter (also reclaim heat / cool).

    After that all the air filter & deodorizer suggestions from others will help. But my first thought is minimizing the smell from getting in as best you can.

  • roofuskit@lemmy.worldEnglish
    181·
    24 hours ago

    Yeah an ozone generator is like fumigation, you should not be around when using it.

    You’re probably going to end up getting used to the smell. It’s likely that if you ask your neighbors, this is what they’ll tell you.

    Your only other option is an industrial scale carbon filter, those will be expensive. They sell them for ahem grow operations if you’re wondering where to start looking.

    • Cort@lemmy.world
      22·
      23 hours ago

      I’ll say it again for emphasis you don’t want to be in the same room or building as an ozone generator. It has been linked to lung cancer

  • bizarroland@lemmy.worldEnglish
    6·
    23 hours ago

    They make charcoal-infused filters.

    I bought a box of four and attached them to the outside of my CR filter. That dramatically lowered the stink in my house that comes from the previous owner having dogs and not taking care of them.

    I’ve already pulled the old carpet, scrubbed the entire floor, painted over the worst sections with odor blocking stuff, put in vapor barrier and a new hardwood floor, and run an ozone generator in my entire house while I was at work and there is still just like that faint whiff of dog odor in the house that I can’t quite get rid of.

    But the charcoal filters on the CR box fan does the trick.

  • neidu3@sh.itjust.worksMEnglish
    8·
    1 day ago

    I drilled 110mm holes in my walls, 3d printed and outside grille, a pipe to cover the wall thickness, and on the inside I added a 120mm computer case fan and picked up a cheap power supply locally. Does wonders for the air quality.

    And yes, paper mills smell like the kind of farts you have in between bursts of diarrhea