Should I get Cigarette / Marijuana Smoke Detectors ?

[Lindsey-J-0]

For hosts who have NO SMOKING as part of their house policy, do you have any type of Cigarette / Marijuana Smoke Detectors inside your home? If yes, what brand/type? I'm looking into this because I consistently say no smoking and yet have guests who do (thankfully not many guests, but still 1 is too many)

The longer back story if you'd like to read it.... Was renting to a group of folks recently who stayed in the main house and I was staying in the garage apartment with my husband (converted into an apartment for us to live on-premise while guests are there, separate entrance and living space from the main house). We started smelling something coming from the HVAC unit that is located inside the garage and when we put our nose right up to the HVAC system could clearly smell marijuana smoke coming through the machine which indicates that folks inside were smoking. We message them and said " I just wanted to check in to ensure your stay is going well. We got a notification from the alarm company that there is smoke currently in the house. Please be aware that there is no smoking allowed inside the house. If there's anything you need from us, please let us know." This is a partially true statement, our alarm company would notify us if there was a smoke/fire situation but cannot detect cigarette/marijuana smoke. The guest's response was an immediate response that said "yes ma'am" followed by another response 12 mins later saying "We were baking cookies". Ok while I have never smoked before I have DEFINITELY baked a lot of cookies before in my life and know that the smell of cookies is not strong enough to penetrate my HVAC system. Secondly, when the guest checked out one bedroom reeked of the same marijuana smell. Since I do not have any cameras inside my house, I have no way to "prove" that the guests were smoking inside the house. I am thankful that a day of open windows and replacing all the filters in my house/HVAC system took care of the smell - but seriously, I would really like smokers to be charged the "smoking fee" for smoking inside my house. Not to mention, in the state where I operate my AirBNB (North Carolina) marijuana is illegal on both a state level and the Federal level as well.

[Denvey-And-Latasha0]

Hi,

So there is a product that detects cigarette/marijuana but the issue is the company refuses to sell to businesses needing less than 50 units.

Research FreshAir or AirGuard. Hope this helps.

[Tamara240]

This is same issue I ran into. It’s exactly the product I need but they won’t sell less than 50 units. I’ve had multiple discussions with them and they are completely inflexible. I wish Airbnb or another entity would lurches in bulk and hosts could them purchase what is needed for their individual business. 

[Lorena676]

@Tamara240@Denvey-And-Latasha0 Found one that does not have thist issue you both mention, is specific for us. (see article below)

I have been researching about it and this one I found is quite new, although the problem has been going on for years, most of the smoke detectors do not include marijuana or start the beeping with the cooking. So the one that stand out is call SENTRY. 

Hope this help, If you haven´t solved it (yet)

Link from my research about the smoke/marijuana detector
Product page: https://hellowynd.com/pages/sentry?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=lagref&utm_campaign=sentry_preorde...
Bloomberg: https://www.bloomberg.com/press-releases/2022-07-14/wynd-technologies-unveils-innovative-smoke-and-n...

[Sandeep93]

I am in touch with Wynd Technologies Sentry product. I may buy it tomorrow. there seems to be promotion as they are raising funds.

[Anna1459]

illegal in GA too, People just think it is ok everywhere

[Anony5]

Because it is

[Sarah977]

@Anony5  You just created an Airbnb account and came on this forum to say that?

No, it isn't okay to smoke anything in someone else's home if they state no smoking.

[Melodie-And-John0]

@Anony5 ,  I gotta say @Sarah977 said it well and your not the 1st "Onony", who would have thought there would be more than one of you?   if you tried to book my space with your  profile I would say "What have you been smoking?"   No smoking  inside means no smoking inside, its not a judgement of if pot or cigs or incense or candles are bad or good, just a fact it is not good inside our houses ever, thats the house rules.   I ask my guests to smoke what they will outside all they want as long as they dont disturb hosts or other guests with their smoke.   I have many acres for them to do that safely....   

[Elaine701]

Cigarette, cigar... Well, virtually any kind of lingering smoke odour... is very difficult to eliminate. It permeates all fabrics, cushions, even the walls and furnishings. The cost of cleaning it up is steep! 

A cigarette smoke detector sounds interesting, however, in terms of it providing useful evidence of violation of no smoking rules, I question whether Airbnb would find it anymore compelling than saying you smelled smoke. 

On the few occasions where we have clear violations of our no smoking policy, if we can't find physical evidence, such as cigarette ashes, burns, etc, (something that can be photographed), then there's not much chance of getting any compensation, unless you can get the guest to admit it. And they rarely do. 

[Branka-and-Silvia0]

I can't help you with info about detectors but you would have fewer problems with cigarette odour if you give your guests some alternative. Smokers will smoke, and if they can't smoke in bars and restaurants and it is not allowed inside and outside the apartment then they will do it inside with the windows closed. And you will have a problem when they are gone.  We allow smoking inside but we ask our guests to air the room more often and don't smoke in the bedroom. We even provide an ashtray and they all respect that. We and our non-smoker guests never had any problem with smoke odour.

You could put a few chairs and a table with an ashtray somewhere in your backyard or a balcony where they could smoke cigarettes or cigars.

OK, marihuana has a stronger smell and it's a problem, especially if it is illegal but could you point them to some woods or park where they could go and smoke unnoticed?

PS

We have more problems with non-smoker guests. They don't air the apartment at all like they don't know why the windows are for, so when they check-out there is a strong smell of cooking - smelly shoes - moist - sweat - toilet mixture. It is disgusting. Smokers air the apartment regularly and there is no smell at all when they leave.

[Melodie-And-John0]

Its funny @Branka-and-Silvia0 , 10 years ago my wife and I smoked in our home, it was completely normal.   I had a couple heart attacks and quit a few years ago.   We started hosting after I quit so our guests smoke outside or in there cars, we wouldn't think about allowing it in the house again.   Very few break the rules and most of them its pot not cigarettes.   As you said, open the windows and a little more cleaning and such and its like it never happened.  

[Thea284]

I've been having the same issues, some guest just can't respect the rules and just do what they want. After issuing a war on these guests, with no help whatsoever from Airbnb, who couldn't care less, I put it on my listing that anyone caught breaking these rules will get a claim towards them to cover the costs of a deep clean.
I don't feel like this is enough, so I have been looking for some sort of sensor that can detect smoke like this and alert you. But like people have mentioned above, these are basically impossible to get a hold of for the average person.

Airbnb should make a deal with a provider of these sensors, so that their hosts can buy them. Afterall, they have a deal with Minut, which is a noise detector, so why not for smoke??

Some people, myself included, have very bad reactions to smoke and cannabis, so it's more serious if these rules are broken at the property! Airbnb should do their part to help preventing this from happening!

[Teresa1605]

I do think some guests mistake kindness for weakness. 2 very recent guests were businessmen, at least one hot triple faded • booze, opioids, and cannabis.  Left Swisher Sweet tobacco on wall & floor. Buds all over the counter, pasta smashed into floors & carpet (from complimentary Mac&Cheese boxes).  They ate raw complimentary ramen noodles and left dry dog food on counters and floor. (Perhaps dog food is the new go to for munchies?) They left pills by the microwave & were texting they needed water bottles at 2:30 in the morning.  One later claimed he didn’t know how to use a single handle Moen shower faucet & could he get help.Please tell me what you think of this in the rules. 

First I discuss no smoking, no Marijuana, no illegal drugs, etc. 

I then include:

“

Violations and Unauthorized Use: You agree to pay the following charges for occurrences in the listing, outside on the property of the house, and within 10 feet of the curb:
$ 300 Cannabis Air Clean Up
$ 100 Cannabis Used/Joint, Blunt, Spliff, Paraphernalia etc Removal per item
$ 100 Cannabis Ash Removal per grouping
$ 500 Cannabis Burn per Burn
$ 100 Cannabis Unused/Bud, Leaf, Stem, Paraphernalia, etc Removal per item
$1000 Cannabis Hot Boxing
$ 500 Illegal Substance in Air Clean Up
$ 500 Illegal Substance Used Removal
$ 500 Illegal Substance Ash Removal
$ 500 Illegal Substance Burn per Burn
$ 500 Illegal Substance Unused Removal
$1000 Needle/Syringe Removal per item
$5000 Medical Emergency During Stay with Unauthorized Use or Violation
$5000 Underage Drinking
$300 Cigar, Cigarillo, Cigarette, Tobacco Air Clean Up
$ 250 Other Legal Substance Air Clean Up (Vape, E cigs, Incense, etc)
$ 100 Other Legal Substance Used/Remains Removal (Butts, Cartridges, Spit, Chew, Dips) per item
$ 100 Other Legal Substance Ash Removal
$ 500 Other Legal Substance Burn per Burn
$ 100 Other Legal Substance Unused/Removal
$100 Unreported Alcohol Clean-up per Incident
$500 Guns, Rifles, Armament per Item
$500 Pets per animal
$1000 Subletting
$500 Unauthorized Guests per person

You agree you will leave (or be removed) without return of any money for unauthorized use or violations.

Should subsequent guests refuse to stay after unauthorized use or violations, you agree to pay for all lost bookings. You agree to pay the maximum possible daily rate for all days the listing is being cleaned or remediated. You agree to pay for all wall, ceiling, textile, flooring, upholstery, or furniture cleaning or remediation, including wall painting or item replacement. In general, smoke takes 3 days to remove and remediation can take 7 days or more.
Repeat and past guests are in cancer remission, have medical issues, have allergies, are immuno-compromised or dislike smoke. Have respect and don’t bring it here to this haven. Seriously, take it somewhere else. This is not a game or challenge, and we have 100% success collecting charges. “

If you like it, feel free to use.  It’s legally binding where I live. 

[Sarah977]

@Teresa1605 I would never book a place that had an endless list of charges or rules like that, regardless of whether I would respect them all. It would seem to me that the host was a crazy micromanager who would find a way to be critical or charge me for the slighest imperfection.