Anyone have experience with these machines? I have a vacant house (not a rental....it's a relative's) that has awful smells. Since it's vacant (and will be for some time), we can take our time to get the smell out. We've already removed all fabrics (no sheets/pillows/curtains/rugs/carpet), but the smell persists. It's urine smell mostly...we know the circumstances that caused it. Just need to get rid of the smell before putting up for sale in a few months.

I've used baking soda and other things like OdorXit with success in the past, but this is not one spot...it's the whole 775 square feet of the house...so looking for a more generalized tool.

I do know that you don't want to be living in the house while the generator is running...not healthy...but the house is vacant so that's not an issue.

Excellent machines. We have two and have used them in extreme situations and they work.

I have one and use it infrequently as needed. It sucks oxygen from the air and presumably bad odors as well. In addition to warning others about going in you should post signs on doors. When re-entering, I take a deep breath, enter to quickly open windows while slowly exhaling, then run back outdoors.

If you have urine odors, using a black light during dark conditions usually highlights the urine areas.

I have commercial Ozone Generators and consumer models. The difference is the Consumer Models have a timer for an on/off switch. Very important using them in rentals.

In a vacant house where the tenant moved out at the end of their leave and surrendered all of their keys back to me. I still re-keyed all locks and locked all windows closed. I posted warning signs that the house was being fumigated with toxic gases that would Kill Animals, Humans and Pests.

I set up my Commercial Ozone Generators to cover the 1900 square feet of interior space. I had fans circulating the air using 12" fans at low speed.

I group of homeless entered the property by using a crowbar and removing a small bathroom slider window. They were too stoned to read my illuminated warning signs posted on every side of the property.

The next day I noticed bodies inside my rental and tried to call 911, but got a recording--this is Los Angeles, they do not respond to 911 calls in a timely manner. We are not talking about minutes or hours, we are talking about days.

So I drove down the block, From Vanowen and Fallbrook Ave to the fire Station and laid on my horn. I go then to drive to my rental and contact the police by radio. Had the Fire Department not gotten their in time, the Homeless would have been Body-less, their spirits floating toward heaven or he_l.

I either use a wireless switch which I can turn on/off from outside,.or plugged into a basic hardware store timer.

Note you are actually supposed to crack a window in the room the unit is in for more ozone production than you will get in a totally closed up room as the generator needs a small amount of O2 produce that. In a totally closed room a lower percentage of ozone.

Also don't set the unit on the floor as the ozone is heavier than air and again will stop producing as much if the concentration is high. I see that some ozone companies want the unit at least on a table or counter.

I have two of them now. They are good about getting rid of smells. Remember that you need to try and get the cause of the smell removed. If there was an area where the urine was, umm, spilled, then clean that area first.

Running one in a house that size I wouldn't think you would need to worry about running out of O2, but I guess it could happen. I have run them in rooms before to get more ozone in a specified area.

If the house has a forced air furnace put the machine in a return vent and turn the fan on. Amazing what smells get trapped in the vents.

I wasn't aware the ozone was heavier than air. I will make note to keep the machines higher from now on.

Zero,

That information about the ozone unit should be off the floor and a cracked window came from the manufacturer of one of the largest ozone machines companies. Probably true if you have it in a larger houses,..but would you get an adequate ozone concentration in that space? I certainly think you might do the cracked window in a closed room.

The ozone company tech said it was really important if you were going to ozone a car.

He said that they had instuments that could measure ozone concentrations.

Our late friend Vee told us to plug it in to the outlet closest to the door you'll enter. I use an extension cord, or multiple extension cords, if needed.

When a power outage screwed up the timer, I was grateful the extension cord was only two feet from the door.

Again,..wireless on off switches are relatively cheap,.they have a decent range,..I find a numerous reasons to use them,.. click on, click off. I think it might be easier than running extenion cords (?)

I'll be the odd man.

I have 3 small portable ozone machines.

Tip: run a power cord out a window and plug the machine into that cord OUTSIDE. When ready to stop ozoning, walk up and unplug the cords.

In humid Indiana the house can smell great if we run them overnight (one we ran for 3 days) but the first humid day with the windows open we're right back to where we started.

If the home has carpet the smell will NEVER leave until the carpet does.

We've had good success in "cat houses" with OXINE (chlorine dioxide) from Amazon with citrus powder to activate. You need a chemical breather whole face mask. It's used by chicken growers and slaughter houses. Richard F, who you know locally, bought a foreclosure SOAKED in cat urine. He sprayed walls, ceilings, subfloors. All gone forever in 24 hours.

(side note, he had to change chemical breather filters half way thru the 1200 sf house)

PS

I had one prospect SMELL that we had run ozone and left saying if we're running ozone there must be a bad odor here.

Wifey's nose and eyes are irritated by the remnants of an ozone machine.

I bought one off Amazon for around $300. It generally works well on organic odors, but have had to re treat the same house several times.

I like to set it at the HVAC return and leave the HVAC fan set to "on".

Mine has a timer. I generally set it to full strength and 12 hours.

I just make sure the machine has stopped at least 2 hours before entering the space. Ozone dissipates rapidly on its own.

I have a couple small ones and they do work on making smells less offensive. Are they a cure all - nope.

Brad, I will look into the brand name you suggested.

I tried the AQM packets from OdorXit but they did not help with the trapped cigarette smell nor the returning mystery smell from two places I used them on. I don't think they are powerful enough for the big hitters.

Zero, thanks for the offer but I’m going to purchase one.

Can this be used to treat an attic for mold? Or maybe a crawl space? I was going to use a Concrobium fogger for this but wanted to look at all the options.

glenn, one of my units has removable plates that pop out the back of it.

I pull them out and with a brush I clean them with Awesome. I then towel dry after rinsing and put them back in service.

The plates I have are ceramic with a metallic grid on them. I have noticed a couple spots on there where the grid almost looks burnt. For the most part it still works but I wonder if the plates have a shelf life?

If you have urine smells, the most effective remedy we have found is to remove floor coverings, then spray with bleach water 50/50. Wear a respirator and open all the windows as it will react with the ammonia in the urine and create chlorine gas...nasty stuff.

Turn on all ceiling fans or box fans and give it overnight to air out.

The next day, use the shellac based Killz or Zinzer and seal the floor. 2 coats.