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Tuesday, March 16. 2010Marriage with Cigar SmokeI suspect that it is a genetic defect specific to married women which causes them to object to the heavenly fragrance of the finest legal and illegal cigars. Before you marry the gal, she will have no problem with the habit. After you marry them, all you hear about is how the smoke gets in the draperies and upholstery and the insanely-expensive "window treatments." I have a friend who installed an old 12" brass ship ventilator next to his desk in his library containing a powerful fan, exiting out the wall. A custom design with a baffle to keep snopw from blowing in, and very cool. In order to preserve an otherwise acceptable marriage, many hedonistic fellows have thought long and hard about how to smoke indoors, and to avoid the humiliating and less-than-relaxing experience of having your smoke out in the rain and blow and snow like a naughty child who has been banned from home and hearth. As a commenter on a relevant site says:
Well, OK. I guess every married guy is pussy-whipped to some extent (and often enough for good reason - many males seem not to domesticate well). The cheapest solution is to create a negative pressure in your home smoking areas with a cheap window fan like this. A more expensive solution is a powerful ceiling vent, like a kitchen fan. The so-called "air purifiers" are a joke, in my view - and especially if you are the sort who likes to have some windows open in your house. Unlike Al Gore, you cannot purify the planet. If you have a basement man cave, something like this makes sense. If readers have any useful ideas short of evicting the spouse or of provoking one's own eviction, please share them. Trackbacks
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...quit work and become an obnoxious stay-at-home drunk. After a few weeks, reform yourself with, "i think these cigars maybe can turn around my nervous breakdown...." ?
English chaps tend to retire to a rather comfortable garden'shed'.
The trouble with fans and "air purifiers" is the noise, which is anything but relaxing. The noise is from air turbulence, which increases with the velocity of the air.
so a big window fan in a big window can move 300 cubic feet per minute with the same effectiveness as a kitchen blower blowing into a 6" duct, but with much less noise. One can also borrow a trick from recording studio designers, and put the fan at the far end of a long duct from the quiet room. With an insulation-lined duct or flexiduct, so the sound doesn't just reflectively bounce its way down the duct, you lose about half the noise of the duct again for each time you double the distance of the fan from the room. http://www.gearslutz.com/board/bass-traps-acoustic-panels-foam-etc/191876-ac-duct-sound-dampening-diy.html The best way to remove the smoke (not the smell - that's a whole different subject) is using either positive or negative ventilation - an updraft venting is better for cigars than a downdraft system, but with sufficient power and air flow, either will work well.
Activated charcoal filters (either desk top type or the tall, in the corner type) will remove the smell quickly. The only problem is that they require replacement fairly often, but if you want to smoke inside, that is the only way to go. There's another age old trick that I've used in the past - mainly, keep a lamp with a 60 watt incandescent light bulb on your desk and spray it with an air freshner or ordorizer - I've used Fabreeze Super neutralizer which works great - while the bulb is cold. Then when you've finished your cigar, turn the light bulb on - five minutes the smell is gone. Of course all this is mute in my case - the Mrs. and I have reached a compromise that is satisfactory for all. And by satisfactory to all, I mean that the garage or deck is just fine by her and I agree whole heartily. :>) As a live-and-let-live conservative who has seen up close the ugliness and misery of death by lung cancer, I will defend to your death your right to kill yourself slowly in one of the most heinous manners possible. But I pray you'll reconsider....
I choose to smoke my cigars outside, because it gives me an excuse to be out there.
There is an HVAC system called thermal displacement, used in casinos (and Rush Limbaugh's house!) that can mitigate the smoke. Searching around, I found this interesting blog piece, replete with lots of name-calling, politics (and other bad language) and even the piece where Rush L describes his system: http://www.smokersclubinc.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=3838 Seegars are my friend; they helped scrape an obnoxious ex-GF off my hull a few years ago. Now that I've cleaned my warehouse (J & R, wonderful people) out of my favorite Conseugos, I may lay off them for a while. Maybe I'll take up the kettlebell. Better stock up on those Consuegos, in the last beautiful JR cigar catalog, the factory closed in December 09 and they aren't making any more. Of course he has his usual sweet deal on them. Every try the Montecristo Afriques?
Haven't tried them yet, but I'll check them out. thanks, Grant.
My home has a "daddy's cave" where my stuff ... guns, books, computer, cigars are welcome...but the key is an exhaust fan. This doesn't get the smell of pipes/cigars out of the room, but a smoker candle does a decent job. There's only one that works, the SmokeOut/OdorOut candle that comes in different flavors. I get mine from candleladyonline.com. She's a nice gal...easily tried.
As much as I enjoy cigars, even I would rather not do so indoors. Unless of course I am visiting one of our many Illinois cigar shops which are equipped to handle the smoke.
The 1/2 of my 2 1/2 car garage has been converted to a man cave solely for the enjoyment of cigars. Chicago winter is negated by an effective kerosene heater (I wish the global warming thing would hurry it up) which creates shirtsleave comfy temps. Smoke is cleared by an electric rooftop vent. Surrounded by books, tools, comfortable chairs, music and sports broadcast of choice, I consider my time out there as time spent "working on my marriage" (Wifey tells me it's ok to think that). My cigars are kept indoors in an old trunk that has been converted into a humidor (in the spare bedroom). I also have a very nice deck for a change of venue in the the nice weather. Life is good. Life is good?
Indeed. Every day you wake up breathing is a gift. |