ozone generators: do they remove cigar smell?

[PAL]

Its perfect weather now for smoking on my balcony in tokyo now, but soon, especially with the "building winds" it will be cold out there. Now I dont smoke indoors as I am concerned having my place smell like an ash-tray and thus driving those with thos whow are sensitive to smells (chicks).... Smoking indoors would be great though and now I heard of Ozone Generators.

So, my question is: DO OZONE GENERATORS REALLY ELIMINATE OLD CIGAR SMELLS FROM A LIVING ROOM? To what extent are they effective? Any tips, comments or sharing of experience would be most welcome.

Thanks for your input!

PAL

[semery74]

They are very effective at eliminating odors and germs. I run one overnight in my man cave and the next day it smells like fresh rain. Gym managers use them to sanitize locker rooms where MRSA is a huge risk. Contractors use industrial size generators to remove odors from Smoke damage after fires.

[BradNC]

Works like a charm in my garage. I highly recommend it.

Brad

[DinoCop05]

I'm very glad you asked this question PAL. I've been considering an ozone generator as well. I plan on using it in my basement / soon to be man cave lol, which approx 1200 sqft. I found one specific brand called AIR-ZONE. The machine I will probably buy is called the Air-Zone Super 7000. I feel better purchasing one now that I've heard some input. Good luck in your search!

Dino

[BradNC]

Mine is an air-zone and works awesome. Very well built.

[DinoCop05]

Mine is an air-zone and works awesome. Very well built.

Thanks Brad. There is no doubt I will definitely go with this brand now.

[anacostiakat]

I have never used one mainly because of my dogs. I would love to run one overnight.

One thing I can mention for those that smoke indoors is to always remove your dead soldiers after smoking.

[HydroRaven]

I also live in Tokyo, so if you do end up getting one, mind letting me know where you get it? Thanks!

[BMWFan]

less than $250 but not by much. considering my low income, that is pretty scary lol

They work like a champ. I have 3 in a very large basement where I smoke occasionally. Only issue is my wife says the smell of the ozone make her sick. So the ones I have running on the other 2 levels of the house are running with just the filter & fan, but without ozone engaged. So it does the job, but would be even better if I could run them all full out.

[PAL]

Thank you all for the good input. Sounds like no man-cave is complete without an oversized chair and ozone-generator. The idea of being able to smoke stogies in my man-cave, where I actually live most of the time, without the aroma of living in an ash-tray is highly compelling. Already placed an order for one. I am such a cigar junkie...

Any particular advice on how best to use one from you veterans of ozone-generators?

PAL

[PAL]

I also live in Tokyo, so if you do end up getting one, mind letting me know where you get it? Thanks!

Well, I get all my cigar gear on line. shipping costs but net of net seems cheaper than the Japan-uplift on products that, anyway, are shipped here.

By the way, I am in the akasaka area and in the La Concierge quite often...

PAL

[Stalebread]

They work like a champ. I have 3 in a very large basement where I smoke occasionally. Only issue is my wife says the smell of the ozone make her sick. So the ones I have running on the other 2 levels of the house are running with just the filter & fan, but without ozone engaged. So it does the job, but would be even better if I could run them all full out.

Seems to me that I read there are some health concerns around using the ozone generators. Bad for pets, too.

I see that semery74 runs his overnight. What about the rest of you who are using them? Do you run them while you are in the room or after?

[laficion]

I have one in my cigar room that I only use mostly in the winter when I can't open the

window or other times when we are 3 or 4 in the room smoking.

When inside ,I run the fan & filter only and when there's noboby in the room,

the room is closed and I run the ozone over night.The next day, all is fresh and odorless.

[semery74]

My man cave is in the garage, I stopped using it inside the house, after several bad experiences. There has been much debate over the years on the healthful or harmful affects of O₃. I think the greatest danger from ozone is what it creates when it reacts with stuff around the house.

[TonyV]

My link

If this link is working,pro and cons of ozone generators.

[HydroRaven]

Well, I get all my cigar gear on line. shipping costs but net of net seems cheaper than the Japan-uplift on products that, anyway, are shipped here.

By the way, I am in the akasaka area and in the La Concierge quite often...

PAL

I usually smoke in either Ebisu or in my neighbourhood bar. Never heard of La Consierge in Akasaka. Where is it exactly?

[BMWFan]

Seems to me that I read there are some health concerns around using the ozone generators. Bad for pets, too.

I see that semery74 runs his overnight. What about the rest of you who are using them? Do you run them while you are in the room or after?

I run one inside the room with me and two others outside the room. They continue to run for a couple of days, after which the air is almost totally clean.

[zathan]

They do work great. There is one hotel I go to whom still rent smoking rooms. I ask the chambermaid to leave the generator in the room when I check in. It only needs to run for 30 minutes to get rid of the smell. I open the window for 15 minutes afterwards and you can't smell a thing.

[PAL]

I usually smoke in either Ebisu or in my neighbourhood bar. Never heard of La Consierge in Akasaka. Where is it exactly?

there are three of them around town: ginza (across from the davidoff shop), Roppongi (kinda across from R-hills) and the one in akasaka-mitsuke (across from a bar called Mermaid). Decent, though a bit pricey, places to have an elegant smoke. The carry quality stuff. Happy to meet you there some time.

PAL

[Fuzz]

For what it's worth people, here's an article from our Health Dept regarding ozone generators and its effects on health.

http://www.health.nsw.gov.au/factsheets/environmental/ozone_generators.html

I also remember watching a doco that mentioned ozone was great for purifying water, but dangerous if breathed in for extended periods.

I'd rather use an ionizer with a filter of activated charcoal/carbon plus a HEPA filter in front of the ionizer intake.

[DinoCop05]

Very interesting article. I have to rethink my possible purchase of an ozone generator. Thanks!

[BMWFan]

For what it's worth people, here's an article from our Health Dept regarding ozone generators and its effects on health.

http://www.health.nsw.gov.au/factsheets/environmental/ozone_generators.html

I also remember watching a doco that mentioned ozone was great for purifying water, but dangerous if breathed in for extended periods.

I'd rather use an ionizer with a filter of activated charcoal/carbon plus a HEPA filter in front of the ionizer intake.

Didn't realize there were two different products, an ionizer and an ozone(er). Just checked to see which one I have, since Fuzz and Summit posted the health warning links. Luckily I have the http://www.surroundair.com/ionic-air-purifier.htm

This appears to be safe and works great.

[Fuzz]

I'd be a bit wary of some of these ozone generators. Take for example the Air-Zone Super 7000 that was mentioned earlier. The website says it has a rating of up to 7000mg/hr of ozone production. Depending on the size of the room it is used in, this could potentially produce lethal amounts of ozone if left on long enough in a small enclosed space.

At it's lowest setting of 8mg/h, with the stated flow rate of 239 CFM, it would be producing 0.01ppm. However, at its highest setting of 7000mg/h, it produces 8ppm!

Maybe my maths are wrong, but if what they say is accurate that 0.04ppm of ozone is hazardous, I'd wouldn't want to be anywhere near that machine when cranked to full power!!

[Van55]

Worthless, in my experience.

[DinoCop05]

Statements from Professional Studies on Ozone

ASHRAE (American Society of Heating, Refrigeration, and Air Conditioning): "Ozone controls surface mold on packages and walls, and reduces scale development and decay. The presence of ozone . . . . significantly reduces the occurrence of mold."

Refrigeration Service Engineers Society (RSES): "Ozone is one of the purest and most powerful oxidants and germicides known."

How Ozone Purifies the Air

Ozone oxidizes airborne pollutants, then reverts back to oxygen, transforming polluted air to pure and refreshened air.

Here is how the process works:

Oxygen molecules (O1 and O2) are converted to ozone (O3) by either a high-voltage electrical charge (such as from lightning), or by ultraviolet light (such as from the sun rays).

One oxygen atom (O1) splits off from the ozone molecule, and reacts with other particles when it comes within range of a particle and/or pollutant. Ozone is highly reactive, so it never fails to initiate this reaction with other particles.

As the 2nd most powerful oxidant in existance, the single oxygen atom proceeds to "oxidize" the particle it reacts with. This means it burns the particle, which changes its physical properties. As a result, the particle will no longer be toxic, and will no longer be able to reproduce if it is biological. In other words, the particle becomes completely harmless.

When the single oxygen (O1) molecule oxidizes the particle, it too is destroyed. This leaves behind the O2 it split away from, or pure and clean oxygen. 

Effectiveness of Ozone

Effectiveness at Low Levels

In studies conducted at the Academy of Medical Sciences in Russia, Dr. Gubernskii and Dr. Dmitriev found that 0.005 ppm (parts per million) to 0.02 ppm of ozone added to normal indoor air (0 ppm) increased animals' resistance to the cold, to infection, to toxic substances, and to oxygen deprivation. A general increase in the immune "biological potential" and the vital capacity of the lungs was reported.

Dr. Gubernskii and Dr. Dmitriev also performed tests using less than .01 ppm of ozone in an air-conditioned office building, which revealed that "the levels of oxygen in the blood increase relatively quickly and remain at a high level for the duration of the experiment." They also stated that: "Atmospheric ozone has a positive effect on animals and people. It is important to note its positive effect on the breathing system, blood composition, arterial pressure, immune system, general feeling of well-being, and mental and physical work capability. The ozone-ion complex is a necessary component of fresh air that gives it a curative effect."

This same study, featured in the Russian journal Priroda, also reports a decrease in complaints of stuffiness (3.8 times fewer complaints).

Russian scientists performed a study to see how effective ozone was at improving indoor air quality in schools. Respiratory-related illnesses were drastically improved after the ozone systems were installed. The ozone concentration produced by the systems were 0.015 ppm (parts per million).

In testing performed by two scientists by the name of Elford and Van den Ende, it was found that ozone effectively destroyed bacteria at 0.04 ppm.

Many publications have published studies showing the effectiveness of lower concentrations ozone (0.01 to 0.03 ppm) at removing odors and pollutants. Some of these include the Refrigeration Service Engineers Society (RSES), U.S. Air Force technical publications, and Manufacturing Chemist.

Surround Air ionizers produce an ozone concentration of 0.02 ppm to 0.04 ppm.

Effectiveness against Mold

A 1999 study conducted at the University of Minnesota found that both ozonated air and water inactivate mold, rendering the mold cells harmless.

Safetiness of Ozone

Professional Studies

The Refrigeration Service Engineers Society has reported that electric-arc welders exposed to ozone levels of 0.2 to 0.3 ppm (parts per million) for a decade showed no adverse effects. The Surround Air Ionizers produce between 0.02 to 0.04 ppm of ozone.

Also, according to the 1961 Encyclopedia of Chemical Technology, "During the 80-year history of the large scale usage of ozone, there has never been a human death attributed to it." To this day, there has still never been a single human death or incident of harm attributed to ozone. 

This despite the fact that ozone was widely used in hospitals during the first half of the 20th century, and is still widely used in European hospitals. In addition, millions of ozone air purification systems are in use worldwide, both commercially and residentially.

By Contrast, well over a million people are hospitalized, and well over 100,000 are killed every year due to medication side effects, according to the FDA.

Ozone is completely safe and effective when occurring within FDA and OSHA standards of 0.05 ppm (parts per million). In healthy and clean outdoor environments, ozone occurs between 0.02 ppm and 0.05 ppm. Ozone has not been found to be harmful to the lungs until occurring at concentrations of 0.1 to 0.2 ppm. However, it is very difficult (if not impossible) to adjust most ozone air purifiers to produce anywhere close to this amount of ozone. 

Self-Policing

In addition, the smell of ozone will become unpleasant and obnoxious well before reaching harmful levels, serving as a built-in and self-policing safety mechanism. If this happens, you know to make an adjustment (i.e. adjust setting of machine, increase air flow, place in more open/larger area).

However, at proper levels (0.02 ppm to 0.05 ppm), it will have a pleasant and clean smell to it, reminiscent of the smell outside after a lightening storm.

Surround Air Purifier Products