Would someone please critique my CO2 scrubber/air filter? [View All]

[sofa king]

Hi all,

So I was all proud of the fact that we kept my girlfriend's pipes from bursting this frigid weekend, despite the fact that we have no heat except for a few electric space heaters. I did it by putting plastic up over every window, and ruthlessly hunting down every draft and ill-fitting door. Hello, balmy high-40s--only ten or so degrees below ground mean temperature!

Everything was great until I realized that my girl smokes like a pack a day. After this weekend, the air was blue and it gave me a cough and a sore throat. Then, her house-mate came home with a new little propane heater, which further concerns me because it will be competing for oxygen with the people and the cigarettes (it does, however, have an oxygen depletion sensor, which will come in handy).

A limited amount of research took me to activated charcoal filters, which in addition to being able to trap absurd amounts of airborne particulates, can also act as a reasonably good carbon dioxide scrubber. Apparently, the charcoal will store CO2 as long as the CO2 content of the air is higher than that trapped within the filter, and it releases it if there's more CO2 in the filters than the air, so I think I can move my filter system outside and run it for a while to "discharge" it.

I have two floor fans, some cardboard boxes, about 50 yards of duct tape, and not a damned dime to spend on charcoal filters. However, I see that they're often used with microwave ovens and in kitchens, so I think I might be able to acquire a few used ones.

Here's my design, should I find some filters:



So I have a lot of questions.

1) Activated charcoal can apparently ignite and release carbon monoxide if it comes into contact with ozone (O3), that stinky metallic stuff you often smell when electronics (such as two floor fans) are overloaded. Can that happen with the trace amounts of ozone normally released in the home?

2) Activated charcoal seems to do a nifty job on carbon dioxide, but what about carbon monoxide, which is also being produced by my girlfriend's cigarettes, candles, and other stuff?

3) Using fans in a push-pull configuration has never worked very well for me in the past. Should I maybe consider using just one fan, and if I do, do I use it to push the bad air through the filters or pull good air from the other end?

4) How well can I expect dirty filters to work? Can I clean them in addition to discharging them outdoors? Is this going to work at all?

5) Where is a good place to find discarded charcoal filters? Restaurants come to mind, as well as trash day in the neighborhood. Other than that, I don't know.

6) Am I crazy? Am I going to kill someone? Is my infernal machine going to turn dogs into cats or make my willie soft?

As I mentioned before, there will be no throwing of money at this problem. There is no money, and there won't be for the rest of my life, so just forget whatever Brookstone or the Sharper Image offers, besides design plans. I doubt my better half will quit smoking. This system is designed (or thrown together) with the intent of working in addition to the house being regularly aired out. And yes, we do plan to get a lot of plants, too.

Thanks so much for your input.