Building a Cigar Room

[bassassman]

I am new to the forum and could sure use some help. Have reached that point in my life where a man room is overdue..I live in Houston (very hot and humid 8 months out of the year). I have space above a garage (260ish sq. feet; main room is 20x10 and an entry way 6x10...10 foot ceiling). The room is framed in..has electricity but no HVAC.

Clearly, I need an a/c and heating arrangement that is separate from the rest of the house which I will do. But what else? I have surfed the internet at length and talked to owners of a few commercial cigar lounges to get a handle on what I should do with the ventilation to ensure that smoke does not get into the rest of the house. Wife has a very sensitive nose and if she can smell it the room won't get a whole lot of use making the effort an overall failure!

Seems like I can go with a vent fan or good smoke eater or both. In theory I like the idea of venting the smoke. It wil keep positive pressure (or negative pressure..whatever), helping to prevent air going from the cigar room to the rest of the house. And, it will get the smoke out. But, it seems to me that to get one that will suck enough smoke out that I will also be venting all my air conditioned air out as well (you don't want to do that in Houston...trust me). Some guys that I have found on the internet are using 1200 cfm units or more...that seems very heavy duty...and probably loud. Anyone have any thoughts on how much vent power you need to get the smoke out without creating other problems for yourself.

On smoke eaters...do they really work. Even the good ones. And, are they a real substitute for venting the smoke to the outside?

Anyone have any other silver bullets for the problem?

Your input is much appreciated.

[Paddy]

Your first step should be posting an introduction. Letting the other members know who you are.
Some help should follow after that.
Paddy

[MarineOne]

Your first step should be posting an introduction. Letting the other members know who you are.
Some help should follow after that.
Paddy

+1.

[ashauler]

Isolation of the return air for the HVAC system is critical, as well as limiting the potential escape points for the smoke such as light fixtures. Use wall sconces and table lamps for lighting. Weather strip the door well. Yes, smoke eaters work, some better than others.

BTW, welcome to the board.

ETA: here's a link you may find useful: http://www.ryandeyer.com/cigarroom/index.html

[bassassman]

Many thanks ashauler...I've seen ryan's website. Very informative. My recollection is that he's got a heated air return to bring air back into the room...to replace the air sucked out by his vent system. Not so sure that that will work in Houston. From May through September (or October) its 90ish or higher and very, very, very humid. Anything that I installed to bring air in would be brinigng in hot / humid air. I'm concerned that a system like Ryan's would suck out all the cool air and leave me hot and sweaty. Maybe it would work but I'm just not sure. I'm wondering if a high-end smoke eater is a better bet.

Once I get going, I'll take pictures of the room and progress and let folks know what seems to be working and what isnt. I'm still doing research..taliking to people that run cigar stores and smoking lounges. There doesnt seem to be a consensus on what the best approach to handling the smell is. Whatever I do...I'll share it with the forum. In the interim, I'm interested in anyone's input if you would like to share it.

[ashauler]

Search on here for a good air cleaning unit, iirc, Shelby07 has a nice unit that works well posted on here somewhere.