Anyone have an air purifier? Or about particles from open fires?

[Sausagis]

I not long ago purchased a Which? recommended air purifier (I get "allergic rhinitis", kind of an allergy to my house - or maybe life - and hoped it would help). It comes with an app. I had surprisingly low readings (high air quality) for days until 6pm when it went mad, flashing warnings (it's maybe a bit over dramatic!). All I can think is next door probably lit their fire. The air purifier was in our attic bedroom, which shares the chimney breast wall with next door. If anyone has happened to be in a similar situation, is it normal to presumably get particles from other people's fires? No open windows, but it is an old (old!) house. Thanks for reading my possibly dull post

Why not ask them? Might be interesting. Do they have an open fire for certain?

Yes, definitely an open fire. They have also had a chimney fire which caused (faint) scorch marks in our room. I will ask them if I bump into them soon. Im interested to know if it's normal to have decreased air quality due to a fire in the next house along. Purely out of interest.

The chimney lining might have gone, you should ask them when they last had it checked or get it checked from your side.

They probably have a leaking chimney and smoke is coming through into your attic. This is more likely if they’ve had a chimney fire. Over time the mortar cracks and smoke escapes

Fire will definitely cause this but can also be cooking which will increase PM2.5 particles, especially if you are stir frying stuff or toasting things. So does your extractor hood vent up the chimney (or does the neighbour's)?

Chimneys aside, the fashion for wood burners means many people are filling their homes with dangerous PM2.5....

Which air purifier do you have @Sausagis ?

Thanks for the replies. I had wondered whether their chimney fire could have caused damage (scary seeing the burn marks on our wall - showed how close we were). I don't think it could be cooking, both kitchens (mine and neighbors) are extensions on the other side of the house (kind of extensions off an extension).

I went with the Levoit Core 300S from Amazon warehouse (supposedly scratched but it doesn't have a mark on it!). It wasn't too of the which recommended (they were £200-300+) but was their "budget buy" or something. It's quite big but does seem to reduce the dust.

*top

I had allergic rhinitis. Every night i sneezed for an hour it drove me mad and I rubbed my eyes and nose frantically, damaging the delicate eye socket skin. I bought an air purifier, and all sorts of things to tackle it. Finally in desperation I stopped eating dairy and gluten and within 48 hours no more sneezing, and goodbye to some other apparently unrelated symptoms.

Your case is very unlikely to be the same but I wanted to let you know just in case. I hope you find a solution, it was a miserable condition :)

Funny you say that - I have IBS and overdosing on gluten is a trigger, although I still eat wheat and just try not to overdo it. Also my Dad has the same IBS (hereditary I guess) but also over time became bad with lactose so I expect I'll end up the same. Only thing is very possibly choose wheat and dairy over living free from allergic rhinitis 😂

Living in an old house can bring its quirks, and sharing a chimney breast with the neighbor can lead to some unexpected airflow, especially when fires are involved. It's not uncommon for particles to travel between spaces. If you're concerned about this, maybe shifting the air purifier's location or even checking out some specialized filters could help.

Also, speaking of expertise, have you ever checked out damagecontrol-911.com? They've got some serious know-how when it comes to air quality and technical solutions. Hang in there, and here's to a future of clean, clear air in your old house adventures!