The Canadian Lung Association reports that Canadians spend on average about 90 percent of our time indoors, which is especially true during winter. This is why indoor air quality is an important health concern, yet one that is often overlooked. While people with asthma, allergies, or lung disease are affected most, it can impact everyone’s health.

Mould, often hidden in walls or under floors, chemicals in carpets, furniture, even some air fresheners, along with dirt we bring in from the outside — or from our pets — can cause serious illness if left untreated. And our air-tight, energy-efficient homes don’t help much. 

According to Jeffrey Brookfield, the Brand Manager at AmeriSpec of Canada — a company which specializes in helping homeowners identify the cause of poor indoor air quality — there are some simple things we can do. Better ventilating our homes with high-capacity bathroom and stove exhaust fans will help expel some of the moist, dirty air. And a heat recovery ventilator will do an even better job of taking stale air out of our homes and replace it with fresh, filtered air from outside. But Brookfield says the most important thing is to fix whatever is causing the issue. 

“It’s not difficult for a professional to inspect your home. We have devices that test for a variety of things, and we give homeowners solutions,” says Brookfield. “This is especially crucial if your home gets humid or you notice a water leak. We give piece of mind for families.”