Pleated Filters

All central-air unit filters are made from some kind of pressed or woven fiber material. Flat filters are the most common forms found in heating and cooling systems. Pleated filters do a much better job of trapping fine smoke particles, according to the Furnace Filter Care website. Pleated filters are generally made of tightly woven materials and feature V shaped pleats that have more surface area than flat filters. The higher the surface area of the filter material, the more air contaminants it can trap. It's easy to find pleated filters that are the same size and depth of the original flat filters that fit your home's air system. No special frame or installation is needed for most basic pleated filters.

HEPA Filters

High effciency particulate arresting (HEPA) filters can trap particles as small as 0.3 microns, which includes most smoke particles. HEPA filters are not made from different materials than other media filters; according to the North Carolina State University Cooperative Extension Office, their higher efficiency comes from a tighter weave. HEPA filters do the best job at catching indoor or outdoor smoke compared to all other filters, but they won't be able to trap the gaseous components of smoke.

Bag and Box Filters

Bag filters and box filters contain many layers of a tightly woven fiber media and are capable of trapping cigarette or wood fire smoke. The main drawback to these filters is the requirement of special mounting hardware to hold them, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Hospitals use these 6-inch to 36-inch deep filters to limit the transfer of particles such as smoke and bacteria. If you or someone in your home has serious lung problems and other central air filters have not helped, renovating your duct system to include box filters or bag filters may be a good choice.

Activated Carbon Filters

Activated carbon (or charcoal filters) trap vapors and gases that no other filters can stop, according to Furnace Filter Care. They should be used with another media filter because they do not trap particles. Cigarette and wood smoke is composed of fine ash particles and various gases. Media filters may be able to stop the ash particles, but only an activated charcoal filter will capture the gases that could also aggravate asthma or allergy symptoms.