How Seasonal Changes Affect Your Home’s Air Quality

Posted in Air Quality, on April 14, 2025

Year-round, your home’s indoor air quality is affected by seasonal changes in temperature, humidity, and air circulation. These shifts can impact your home’s health, comfort, and safety through environmental changes. Home air quality testing is the best method for understanding and monitoring air quality changes. The SafeAir team has been helping Ontarians breathe easier, live more comfortably, and reduce exposure to common household pollutants like radon gas and mold spores for over a decade through seasonal air quality testing.  

How Winter Affects Indoor Air Quality

Winters in Southern Ontario can get cold! To stay warm, we close up our homes tight, turn on the furnace, or light a fire. While this makes our bodies comfortable, several air quality problems can occur from these changes. 

Closed windows and doors keep the cold out, but they can also trap pollutants inside. As your home’s HVAC system moves hot air around, it can circulate those pollutants, making minor problems feel much larger. 

While an open fire is cozy, it will create soot, dust, and particulate matter indoors, too, affecting the respiratory system and making it more difficult to breathe. The combination of low ambient humidity from the cold and the artificial heating in our homes can dry out the eyes, nose, mouth, and airways, too. 

The Impact of Spring and Fall on Air Quality

Bracketing winter are the shoulder seasons, where rapid fluctuations in the environment can cause a great deal of instability. In the spring, moisture abounds, feeding mold spores and sparking new colonies. Floods and snowmelt can cause humidity levels in basements to soar, and while opening the windows may increase ventilation in the house, it can also trap pollen inside. 

During the fall, similar problems arise, with the added hurdle of an increase in outdoor mold spores from seasonal decay. In both seasons, rapid changes to temperature and humidity can throw your home’s indoor air quality out of whack, reducing your immune response and making you more susceptible to germs and viruses. 

How Summer Affects Air Quality

The heat and humidity of summer in Ontario can cause trouble with air quality, too. High humidity can result in condensation, feed mold, mildew growth, and uncomfortable indoor environments. In the warm weather, ozone and outdoor pollution can enter through open windows and doors. Spaces like the basement or attic can overheat, and humid air can become trapped, reducing air quality and risking mold growth. 

Tips for Maintaining Good Air Quality Year-Round

Over our decades of business, SafeAir knows two things for sure: that every home is unique and needs a tailored approach to air quality, and that there is something small every homeowner can do to improve their home’s air quality. Here are three of these suggestions: 

• Regularly check and replace HVAC filters to improve air circulation and reduce pollen and particle buildup. Filters are inexpensive and should be changed every 6-8 weeks for the most significant benefit. 
• Use air purifiers or dehumidifiers as necessary. Air purifiers can help control dust and pollution buildup — we especially suggest using them when vacuuming or cleaning. Dehumidifiers are especially helpful in areas with restricted air movement, like basements. 
• Increase airflow through exhaust fans or regular airing. Fresh air is essential for good health!

Air Quality Testing at Home

Regardless of the season, air quality testing can help identify cyclical issues that your home faces and be a valuable tool in monitoring and maintaining home comfort. At SafeAir, we offer a range of testing and inspection services, from general environmental assessments to specialized testing, such as radon or mold testing. 

Many of our clients call because they’re facing persistent or irritating effects, like a long-term cough or poor sleep, and wonder if air quality is to blame. We can often help ease or eliminate their symptoms through careful home air quality testing that can pinpoint common environmental causes like mold growth or restricted airflow. Let us help you breathe easier — physically and psychologically. Call SafeAir to book an air quality test in Toronto or ask more about our services or results. 

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