Your Place: Cigarettes aside, air-conditioner smell might require creative solution

A few weeks ago, I presented a question from a mother who was looking for an explanation for the smell of tobacco emanating from not just one window air conditioner in her son's bedroom, but from a replacement unit as well.

Apparently enough of us have smoked behind our parents' backs over the years that 45 readers offered that as the only explanation for the smell of smoke in the son's bedroom.

Jim Zimak, who teaches Philadelphia students about heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning as an instructor at the Thomas A. Edison High School/John C. Fareira Skills Center, was helpful and not judgmental.

Zimak suggested that the odor may be the result of water lying in the air conditioners and not draining properly because of "improper, or lack of, pitch" on both the new and old units.

That's a reasonable possibility, because if such units don't drain properly, the standing water can smell mildewy after a while.

It's a good idea to read and follow directions for proper operation of appliances. Still, having lived in older houses, I realize that their age often works against modern requirements.

Thus, sometimes you need to work on ways to overcome such obstacles.

Chicago-area reader Larry Walsh first offered the hidden-cigarette-butt suggestion, but quickly dropped it in favor of recommending an ozone generator.

Some ionizers do produce ozone, but most produce so little that they aren't much help, he said.

Walsh said he has had good luck with ozone generators on all types of smells-even mold in walls and inside ductwork.

"Ozone generators convert oxygen to ozone that is toxic to bacteria that cause odors," he said. "The good news is that it's unstable and reverts to oxygen after a short time."

Walsh said he still liked the idea of looking for hiding places for old cigarette butts-perhaps from a cleaner or someone who thought that "it would be funny to drive you nuts."

By the way, he said his information about ozone came from his high school chemistry class 67 years ago, "but I think it still holds."