Gas and Oil Home Heating Furnaces - cold air return filters?

I have a forced air gas heating system in my home. The tennant in the basement (very good friend of mine) smokes. No one else in the house smokes. I have no issue with him smoking in his apartment but when the heat comes on, the cold air returns in his apartment pull in the cigarette smoke and circulate it all over the house.

My furnace has a cage filter, with the blue plastic fibre, comes on a roll, style of air filter.

I have asked clerks at Home Depot, Canadian Tire and Home Hardware if there is an air filter for sale that would clean the smoke out of the air, to no avail. I thought I might be able to find a good charcoal air filter to mount in the return air vents.

Any thoughts?

Thanks kindly :)

Odors can be eliminated with activated charcoal lined filters but smoke particles are much smaller. There is a spray you can put on the polypads you now have, try checking with WWW.WWGRAINGER.COM or check with Johnstone Supply. Have you thought to ask your friend not to smoke inside the house? Your health and that of your spouce is at risk!, At what price is friendship? If your house burnt to the ground, you'd be kicking yourself!

phatman:

There is no filter that will do what you want. The closest thing would be an electrostatic unit, but it will not totally eliminate the odor.
Besides, you may be able to reduce the odor some, but you really can't effectively remove the toxic gasses that are given off by cigarettes.

The only effective way of fixing this problem would be to have separate ventilation systems for each occupancy.
Either that or cut off the air supply to his suite and install electric baseboard heat.

This is why you don't have mixed occupancy on one ventilation system.

My insurance agent friend thought he was pretty clever by renting a small office in his little building to a hairdresser, with a two year lease no less!
Fortunately for him she went broke in six months.