How can my neighbor's cigarette smoke come through my A/C vents if we have separate elec. bills & thermostats?

Question

Nobody else in the building is having this problem. She lives below me, and one apartment over (not right underneath). I've researched this like crazy and cannot come up with a reason or solution. The smoke is not going into other neighbors' apartments--only mine.

Answer 1

There could be multiple reasons for this.

I don't know the configuration of your A/C system in your building; these can either be individual "Window/wall" units or a central based system.

The window/wall type individual systems sometimes have a setting that controls whether air is being drawn in from the outside or not, try to check that out and change the selection to see if it makes a difference.

Central based ducted systems also draw in fresh air too, however the configuration can vary quite a bit from building to building and I have no idea how your's may be set up. It could be possible that there is individual fresh-air vents all over the outside and that smoke is somehow being drawn in through one and you can detect it in your air.

Since varying people have different abilities to smell things asking neighbours may be only partially helpful; you may be particularly sensitive to the smell. If you have a central-based system I would suggest that the property management folks should be asked to check the system out; smells from one apartment should not be migrating through the ducting to another (for safety reasons too). Perhaps there is something they can suggest regarding settings etc. that may help.