Maintaining Indoor Air Quality During the Colder Months
Posted in Air Quality, on September 14, 2023
During the summer, home air quality is easily improved by opening a window. But what happens to air quality when winter arrives? At SafeAir, we’ve been helping families test, monitor and adjust their home air quality with indoor environment assessments in Toronto. Poor air quality can be subtle and difficult to detect with your senses, leading to health trouble, uncomfortable living spaces, and poorly functioning appliances.
Here’s how an environmental assessment in Toronto can help you this winter.
How Does Indoor Air Quality Change in the Winter
The first thing to understand is why and how air quality shifts during the colder months. The reasons are complex and will differ from house to house, but air quality generally takes a nosedive along with the mercury. Some of the reasons include:
- Reduced airflow and ventilation.
- Increased pollution created from under-maintained HVAC systems or old furnaces.
- Mold growth.
- Pollution build up.
- Decreased humidity.
Four Ways to Improve Your Air Quality in the Winter
At SafeAir, we recommend having a professional environmental assessment in Toronto to make the specific changes and improvements your home needs. But there are a few tasks that any homeowner can add to their to-do list that make an instant improvement — here are four of our team’s favourites:
Dust regularly: We know — this seems obvious! But keeping the dust down and vacuuming it up so it’s out of circulation will help improve the quality of your indoor environment. Pay close attention to things like curtains, drapes, rugs and carpets, or under furniture — these areas are often missed and can collect a lot of particles. Dust isn’t just flakes of skin or hair; it can also contain toxic spores, particulate matter, and other things contributing to bad health.
Clean HVAC Filters and Ducts: Another easy-to-miss task is regularly replacing your HVAC system’s filters or cleaning the ducts. Filters help catch dust and dirt, and overloaded ones can result in damage or poor performance from your furnace. Filters are inexpensive and take seconds to change — we recommend switching them every 6-8 weeks, especially if you have a pet.
Increase Ventilation: There’s a reason why we value fresh air! However, bringing it in when it’s -15° can be challenging. Luckily, there are many ways to move air around your home, which is often all that's needed to improve air quality. Keep the fan on your furnace constantly running, and use exhaust fans when cooking and bathing to move air around.
Use an Air Purifier: Lastly, we recommend using an air purifier to capture any particles that evade cleaning. Using an air purifier also helps increase ventilation too! The SafeAir team recommends looking for an air purifier with HEPA filtration for the best results.
It can be hard to know what to look for when it comes to poor air quality during the winter, which is why we offer air quality inspection in Toronto year-round! Learn more about your home’s unique environment and receive valuable instruction on making changes that keep you and your family healthy and safe all year round.
Contact SafeAir to learn more about environmental assessments and air quality today.