What is your idea of an Ideal Cigar Lounge?
Every cigar lounge owner starts with a vision. Some want a comfortable place where customers can unwind after work. Others want to build a destination lounge that attracts members from across the region. Some are focused on creating a premium experience, while others need practical smoke control that fits a realistic budget. Regardless of the goal, successful cigar lounges share one common trait: customers enjoy spending time there.
Great cigars, comfortable seating, knowledgeable staff, and a strong sense of community all contribute to that success. Just as important is the environment itself. When air quality is poor, conversations become less enjoyable, visibility decreases, odors become overwhelming, and customers often shorten their visits. When the environment is designed correctly, guests relax, stay longer, return more often, and are more likely to introduce friends to your lounge.
Creating the ideal cigar lounge environment requires balancing many factors. Smoke and odor control are important, but they are only part of the equation. Sound levels, airflow, ventilation, customer comfort, operating costs, and overall atmosphere all influence the experience your customers remember. The ideal solution for a neighborhood cigar bar may differ markedly from that for a private membership lounge or a destination cigar club.
After helping cigar lounges, tobacco retailers, private clubs, and smoking environments throughout North America, we have found that most successful projects fit into one of five experience levels: Standard, Solid, Premium, Elite, and Iconic. Each represents a different balance of smoke control, sound, comfort, and operating cost. The best choice depends on your goals, your customers, and the experience you want to create.
Key Takeaway: There is no one ideal environment for a cigar lounge; each lounge is shaped by its creator into a place that reflects their values.
The Five Cigar Lounge Experience Levels
After helping cigar lounges throughout North America, we have found that successful smoking environments generally fall into five experience levels. Each level represents a different balance of smoke control, sound, customer comfort, and operating cost.
| Experience Level | Smoke & Odor Control | Target ACH | Sound Comparison | Primary Goal |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Standard | Good | 20 ACH | Crowded Restaurant | Budget-Conscious Lounges |
| Solid | Good | 20 ACH | Normal Conversation | Balanced Comfort & Value |
| Premium | Very Good | 25 ACH | Normal Conversation | Premium Customer Experience |
| Elite | Very Good | 25 ACH | Rain Falling | Comfort-Focused Lounges |
| Iconic | Best | Custom | Quiet Conversation | Destination Lounges |
The Four Mounting Types
Choosing an air quality target is only half of the design process. The next step is determining how the air purification system will be integrated into the lounge itself.
Some lounge owners prefer equipment that disappears into the building and remains largely invisible. Others prefer solutions that maximize performance while minimizing installation cost. Ceiling height, existing construction, HVAC layout, budget, aesthetics, and maintenance access can all influence which mounting style is the best fit.
LakeAir offers four primary mounting styles for commercial cigar lounges. We also have a fifth mounting type using the MAX Guard as a floor unit. For our planner we will use four different types, allowing owners, contractors, and designers to choose a solution that matches both their performance goals and their vision for the space.
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| Mounting Type | Best Suited For | Visibility | Typical Models |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wall Mount | Spaces Where Ceiling Mounts are Impractical | Low Profile | WM-RC2 |
| Flush Ceiling | Finished ceilings, Ceiling Grids, and upscale interiors | Low Profile | LAFC Series |
| Ceiling Hung | Open ceilings and high-airflow applications | Visible | LA2-RC2, LA6-RC4 |
| Commercial Ducted | Large projects and hidden installations | Hidden | LAAS-3200 |
Cigar Lounge Environment Planner
The following planner is somewhat complex. The planner’s job is to allow the user to explore different experience levels and different mounting styles. In the planner, you will enter your lounge dimensions, you can choose a specific smoke eater mounting type, and then an experience level. If you click on the image of a mounting type, Information on that mounting type is displayed. Once all the pertinent information is entered, the planner creates a downloadable project synopsis. If you need help with the planner, please call customer service @800-558-9436.
How the LakeAir Cigar Lounge Environment Planner Works
The LakeAir Cigar Lounge Environment Planner is an interactive design tool created to help cigar lounge owners, contractors, architects, HVAC professionals, and project designers evaluate smoking environment solutions.
Unlike a simple sizing calculator, the planner evaluates multiple aspects of a smoking environment, including room size, customer experience goals, ventilation strategies, equipment selection, estimated operating costs, and long-term ownership considerations.
The purpose of the planner is not simply to answer the question, “How many smoke eaters do I need?” The purpose is to help users design an environment that balances smoke control, odor control, customer comfort, sound levels, aesthetics, ventilation requirements, and operating costs.
Step 1: Define the Smoking Area
The planner begins by determining the size of the smoking environment.
Example:
- Length = 24 feet
- Width = 26 feet
- Ceiling Height = 10 feet
The planner first calculates the floor area:
24 × 26 = 624 square feet
The planner then calculates room volume:
624 × 10 = 6,240 cubic feet
These dimensions become the foundation for all subsequent airflow, ventilation, equipment sizing, and cost calculations.
Step 2: Choose a Mounting Style (Optional)
The planner can generate recommendations without selecting a mounting style. However, choosing a mounting style allows the planner to refine equipment recommendations and equipment pricing.
Available mounting styles include:
- Commercial Ducted Smoke Eater
- Wall Mount Smoke Eater
- Flush Ceiling Smoke Eater
- Ceiling Hung Smoke Eater
When a user clicks on a mounting style image, additional information is displayed, including:
- Mounting type description
- Typical applications
- Installation recommendations
- Installation sketches and diagrams
- Product cut sheets
- Product cut sheet download links
Different mounting styles are often selected based on aesthetics, construction methods, ceiling design, maintenance preferences, and project budgets.
Step 3: Select the Desired Experience Level
The planner allows users to select one of five cigar lounge experience levels:
- Standard environments for budget-conscious projects where smoke and odor control are important, but minimizing equipment costs is crucial. These environments typically target 20 ACH and maintain noise levels comparable to a crowded restaurant.
- Solid environments balance performance and value. Smoke control is noticeably improved while maintaining comfortable conversation levels. Many neighborhood cigar lounges find this level provides an excellent balance between customer experience and investment.
- Premium environments are designed for lounges where customer experience becomes a primary objective. By increasing airflow and filtration capacity, Premium environments provide very good smoke and odor control while maintaining normal conversation levels. This is often the most popular choice for dedicated cigar lounges.
- Elite environments focus on maximizing comfort. Air quality is exceptionally clean, and acoustic considerations become increasingly important. Noise levels are engineered toward the sound of gentle rainfall, creating a relaxing lounge atmosphere
- Iconic environments represent destination-level cigar lounges. Every aspect of the environment is optimized for customer experience, aesthetics, comfort, and air quality. These projects are typically custom-engineered to achieve the owner’s specific vision.
Each experience level represents a different balance between:
- Smoke control
- Odor control
- Customer comfort
- Sound levels
- Air changes per hour (ACH)
- Operating costs
For this example, assume the user selects the Premium experience level.
Premium environments are designed to provide:
- Very Good Smoke Control
- Very Good Odor Control
- Comfortable Conversation Levels
- 25 Air Changes Per Hour (ACH)
Using the room volume from Step 1:
6,240 cubic feet × 25 ACH = 156,000 cubic feet per hour
The planner then converts this value into airflow requirements:
156,000 ÷ 60 = 2,600 CFM
The planner now knows approximately how much airflow is required to achieve the selected experience level.
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Step 4: Refine Acoustic Comfort
Air quality and sound levels are closely connected.
In most air purification systems, increasing airflow improves smoke and odor control. However, higher airflow also increases fan noise. The LakeAir Environment Planner allows users to explore this trade-off by applying optional noise-reduction strategies.
Rather than displaying technical decibel measurements, the planner translates system performance into real-world sound comparisons, such as:
- Crowded Restaurant
- Normal Conversation
- Rain Falling
- Quiet Conversation
This helps lounge owners evaluate how the environment will feel to customers.
Understanding the Tradeoff
Reducing perceived noise requires additional airflow capacity.
As sound-reduction targets increase, the planner compensates by increasing the total system airflow to maintain the selected air-quality objective. in plain english, more units running at a slow speed.
Typical examples include:
| Noise Reduction Target | Additional Airflow Capacity Required |
|---|---|
| 0% | Baseline Design |
| 15% | Approximately 40% More Airflow |
| 30% | Approximately 75% More Airflow |
| 45% | Approximately 150% More Airflow |
For example, if a lounge requires 2,000 CFM to achieve its selected air quality target:
- 15% Noise Reduction may increase the design airflow requirement to approximately 2,800 CFM.
- 30% Noise Reduction may increase the design airflow requirement to approximately 3,500 CFM.
- 45% Noise Reduction may increase the design airflow requirement to approximately 5,000 CFM.
The planner automatically adjusts equipment recommendations to account for these changes.
Step 5: Evaluate Ventilation Requirements
Once room volume, experience level, ventilation strategy, and acoustic targets have been established, the planner calculates the total air purification airflow required to achieve the desired environment.
The planner begins with the room volume calculated in Step 1 and the target Air Changes Per Hour (ACH) selected in Step 3.
Using these values, the planner calculates the minimum airflow required to continuously clean and recirculate the air within the smoking environment.
The planner then evaluates:
- Required air purification airflow (CFM)
- Selected noise reduction target
- Ventilation airflow contribution
- Mounting style preferences
- Available equipment configurations
The planner compares these requirements against the performance characteristics of available LakeAir equipment families.
This process allows the planner to determine:
- Recommended equipment family
- Recommended quantity of units
- Alternative equipment configurations
- Total system airflow capacity
Example
Assume a project requires:
- 2,600 CFM of air purification airflow
- Flush Ceiling Mount installation
- Premium Experience Level
The planner evaluates available Flush Ceiling configurations and determines how many units are required to meet or exceed the airflow target.
If two units do not provide sufficient airflow, the planner will recommend the next practical configuration capable of achieving the design objective.
Why Unit Quantities Vary
The number of recommended units is influenced by multiple factors:
- Room size
- Experience level
- Target ACH
- Noise reduction settings
- Ventilation strategy
- Equipment family selected
Because each of these variables affects airflow requirements, two rooms with identical dimensions may receive different equipment recommendations if their experience level, acoustic goals, or ventilation strategies differ.
The planner’s objective is not to recommend the fewest units possible. The objective is to recommend a system capable of achieving the environment selected by the user.
Step 5: Determine Air Purification Requirements
Once the airflow requirements have been established, the planner evaluates equipment configurations capable of achieving the selected experience level.
The planner compares the required airflow against the airflow capacity of the selected equipment family.
The result is a recommended equipment configuration designed to achieve the desired air quality objectives while remaining practical to install and maintain.
Depending on the project, the planner may also display alternative equipment configurations that achieve similar performance goals.
Step 6: Estimate Equipment and Ownership Costs
The planner estimates both initial equipment costs and long-term ownership costs.
Depending on the selections made, the planner may estimate:
- Air purification equipment costs
- Ventilation equipment costs
- Annual replacement filter costs
- Estimated system costs
These estimates help project owners evaluate both initial investment and long-term operating expenses.
Step 7: Generate the Project Summary
The final recommendation combines all previous planning decisions into a single project summary.
The summary may include:
- Room dimensions
- Room volume
- Experience level
- Air change targets
- Estimated airflow requirements
- Selected mounting style
- Recommended equipment
- Alternative equipment configurations
- Ventilation strategy
- Estimated equipment costs
- Estimated annual filter costs
The purpose of the summary is to provide a concise project synopsis that can be reviewed by lounge owners, contractors, architects, HVAC professionals, and project designers.
Step 8: Submit the Planner
After reviewing the recommendation, users may enter their contact information and submit the planner.
Typical information includes:
- Name
- Company (optional)
- Email address
- Phone number (optional)
- Project notes (optional)
Submitting the planner allows the project recommendation to be saved, shared, reviewed, and used during budgeting, planning, and project development.
Questions This Planner Helps Answer
The LakeAir Cigar Lounge Environment Planner is designed to help answer questions such as:
- How many smoke eaters do I need for my cigar lounge?
- What ACH level should I target?
- What is the difference between Standard, Premium, Elite, and Iconic environments?
- Should I choose a wall-mounted, ceiling-hung, flush-ceiling, or ducted system?
- How much airflow is required for my smoking environment?
- What ventilation strategy should I consider?
- What annual filter costs should I expect?
- How do I compare different cigar lounge air purification systems?
The goal of the planner is not merely to size equipment. The goal is to help design a cigar lounge environment that reflects the owner’s vision while balancing smoke control, odor control, customer comfort, aesthetics, ventilation requirements, and operating costs.