During extreme heat, a good night's sleep can already be difficult. But for people living with environmental noise, summer can create an additional challenge: sometimes the simplest way to cool your home also lets more noise in.

Opening windows in the evening and overnight can be an effective way to cool a home when outdoor temperatures fall below indoor temperatures. But an open window can also mean greater exposure to traffic, construction, amplified sound, mechanical equipment and other neighbourhood noise.

For someone already struggling with excessive noise, that can create an uncomfortable choice: close the windows and cope with the heat, or open them and cope with the noise.

And not everyone has another option.

Access to Cooling Isn't Equal

Air conditioning can provide important protection during extreme heat, but access to it is not universal.

Statistics Canada has reported that approximately 61% of Canadian households had air conditioning, with access varying considerably depending on where and how people live.

People with lower incomes, renters and those living alone were among those less likely to have air conditioning.

This means that the people most vulnerable to extreme heat may also have fewer options for controlling their indoor environment.

If opening a window is your primary way of cooling your home, environmental noise outside becomes more than an annoyance. It can interfere with your ability to rest and recover during periods when your body may already be under additional stress from the heat.

Heat, Noise and Sleep

Sleep is one of the reasons environmental noise matters so much to public health.

The World Health Organization identifies sleep disturbance as one of the important health effects associated with excessive environmental noise. Long-term exposure has also been associated with cardiovascular and metabolic effects, hypertension, annoyance and reduced well-being.

During periods of extreme heat, protecting the ability to sleep becomes even more important.

A home should be a place where people can recover from the stresses of the day. But when excessive outdoor noise makes it difficult to open a window, people without adequate cooling can be left with few good choices.

Wildfire Smoke Can Make the Choice Even Harder

This summer has also reminded Canadians that extreme heat doesn't always happen in isolation.

Wildfire smoke and high temperatures can occur at the same time, creating another difficult decision for households without air conditioning.

Health Canada acknowledges this challenge directly. During periods of both extreme heat and wildfire smoke, keeping windows closed can help reduce smoke entering the home, while opening windows when outdoor temperatures are cooler than indoor temperatures may be necessary for cooling.

Health Canada advises that protection from dangerous heat should take priority. For people who cannot keep their homes both cool and adequately protected from smoke, local cooling centres and cleaner-air spaces can provide an important alternative.

For some households, then, the summer environment can involve several competing needs at once: staying cool, keeping smoke out, limiting exposure to environmental noise and getting enough sleep.

These aren't simply matters of comfort. They are questions of health, housing and equity.

Calmer Communities Are Part of Climate Resilience

As periods of extreme heat become an increasingly important public health concern, we need to think about the environments people are being asked to live in.

Reducing unnecessary environmental noise is one piece of that conversation.

People should be able to open their windows when conditions allow without being subjected to excessive vehicle noise, amplified sound or other preventable sources of disturbance.

And as communities adapt to hotter summers, access to safe cooling, cleaner indoor air and healthy sound environments should not be privileges available only to those who can afford them.

Building healthier, more resilient communities means looking at these issues together.

Heat, air quality, noise and housing all shape the environments in which we live, rest and recover.

Take Action

If you've been affected by noise from air conditioners, HVAC systems or other stationary sources, help us advocate for stronger standards and better enforcement in Toronto.

Take action in 60 seconds: https://win.newmode.net/nomorenoise/improveenforcementforstationarynoisesources