In my experience (which mostly involves smokeless ashtrays that my stoned housemates picked up for a buck at the thrift store/garage sale/flea market/whatnot), they don't work very well. About the best you can hope for is a slight reduction in smoke when the cigarette's actually sitting in the ashtray.

Maybe a fan could direct the smoke in another direction?

The only ones we used were battery operated from the drugstore (which you could probably get online). As box says, it's pretty much useless unless the cig spends a lot of time on or near the ashtray.

I stopped smoking years ago, so the tech may have advanced, eh? Googling around, I found
this, but it looks like the principle is the same. However, ionic thingamabobs do tend to clear the air a bit, so maybe you could leave the window closed and use this and some candles to keep your kitchen fresh?

I've never seen one that really works either. They ones that have little fans to suck the smoke in while the cigarette is sitting down can be ok. But I think that the smoke you exhale may be what's drifting, rather than the little tendril coming off the cigarette when you're not taking a drag. Maybe take a short walk when you want to smoke, just so you're away from the house?

That's too bad, I'd hoped that technology had come up with a solution to this problem, but I guess I'll see if a fan dissipates it enough. I'm already missing having a house with a porch :-(

Over here the was some big hubub about a woman who sat in the sunny corner of her yard, with a book and perhaps a drink and smoking. The neighbours took her to court saying that the stench of smoke prevented them from using their yard (they were sensitive to smoke). One court banned the woman from smoking on her own property but the higher courts overturned it, as - duh - it's her property.

If you can, I'd stick to smoking in the kitchen, with the kitchen fan on and possibly a smokeless ashtray to hang the cigarette in. However, I'm a firm believer of being allowed to smoke outdoors even if it happens to be on a balcony. The neighbour can after all, shut her window.