How to Disinfect Your Home to Protect Against COVID-19

Homeowner spraying staircase railing with disinfectant to protect against COVID-19.

It’s official: COVID-19 is in our community and the reality is it may be in some of our homes. Don’t panic. Consider these proactive measures to disinfect your home and improve your air quality as we spend more time in our safe place!

Before we dive in, we want to encourage you to follow common safety practices to prevent the COVID-19 virus, such as wearing a mask, washing your hands often, and avoiding close physical distance. Additionally, follow these steps to disinfect your home for maximum protection against the COVID-19 virus.

Here is a list of five ways you can disinfect your home:

Prioritize High-Touch Surfaces

You’re probably wondering which parts of your home you should be cleaning and disinfecting. Overall, there are certain areas throughout your home that you should focus on cleaning. These are high touch surfaces or objects, such as:

Faucets
Light switches
Cell phones
Doorknobs
Kitchen appliance handles
Tables and kitchen counters

The Center for Disease Control and Prevention recommends disinfecting these high-touch surfaces in your home regularly.

Sanitize Your Air Handler & Ducts

Your air conditioning unit is often out of sight and out of mind, but as the name suggests the air handler (the indoor unit) “handles” all of the air in your home. Fogging and sanitizing your air handler and air conditioning duct work helps improve indoor air quality and control the spread of germs and viruses.

Polar Bear uses Sani C-N-D™ and Bio-Fresh cd™, EPA registered disinfectants for use against SARS-CoV-2. These are special products that help control viruses, fungi and bacteria in air conditioning systems and specially designed for sterilizing duct material with our Bio-Fresh Duct Fogging machine.

Consider UV-C Lights

If you are looking for additional ways to disinfect your home to protect against COVID-19, Ultraviolet-C lights are another investment to consider. UV-C radiation kills bacteria and disinfects air, water, and even solid surfaces.

Additionally, it has been documented that UV-C lights can destroy the outer protein coating of the SARS-Coronavirus.

Upgrade Your Air Filters

It’s vital to replace your air filters while we prepare to be indoors for longer periods. Indoor air is typically 2-5 times more contaminated than outdoor air and upgrading your air filtration is perhaps the first step to improving your indoor air quality. Clean air filters will remove particles from your home, including dust, allergens, and bacteria. Improving air filtration can be tricky as higher efficiency filters also restrict airflow, reducing cooling performance and straining the blower motor and compressor (both expensive repairs). An air conditioning expert can advise you on what your options are.

One great option that may be compatible with your existing system is the Pristine Air™ Polarized Media Air Cleaner. This eliminates the smallest particles from your air without restricting airflow. These can be highly effective at reducing allergy and asthma episodes, coughing, sneezing, and nasal stuffiness due to poor indoor air quality. Polar Bear exclusively supplies Pristine Air products to the Cayman Islands.

Invest in Cleaning Products

You know which cleaning products are effective for your home. However, not all cleaning products kill germs, including COVID-19. This is when you should turn to disinfectants.

When you use a disinfectant, the chemicals that are used are able to kill germs. These products go beyond simple soap and water. Some common disinfectants to use in your home include:

Disinfectant wipes: Lysol, Clorox, etc.
Disinfectant sprays: Purell, Lysol, etc.
Hydrogen peroxide

Remember: you should always follow the label directions on your disinfectant products to ensure that you are using the products effectively and safely. To protect against COVID-19, make sure to disinfect your home properly.

Turn to the Experts

There are several products you can purchase to disinfect your home, but also reach out to the Polar Bear Air Conditioning team for duct inspection, air filter changes, and other indoor air quality services.

For any questions or inquiries about our exclusive disinfecting products, call us today!

John Thistle

21:32 17 May 23

I recently had my air conditioning unit installed by Polar Bear Air Conditioning in Cayman Kai. I was very pleased with the service I received. The workmen, Jerome, Tony, and Nathan, were all professional and courteous. They arrived on time and were dressed in their uniforms. They laid out carpeting where they would be walking inside the house to avoid leaving debris or making a mess. They worked clean and kept the space tidy. They were polite and provided me a good understanding of the work they completed as well as showed me all pieces of equipment. They emailed me a jpg image of each piece of equipment's information plate so that I could record it in my home management software, as requested.Here are some specific details about the work they did:They installed 3 new high-efficiency air conditioning units that are much more energy-efficient (26 SEER) than my old units.They cleaned and disinfected the air ducts, as well as replaced previously installed flex ducts with rigid duct work that is superior in efficiency and durability.They installed new filters to help keep the air clean and free of allergens.They explained the operation of the new units to me and answered all of my questions.They cleaned up after themselves and left my home in good condition.I would highly recommend Polar Bear Air Conditioning to anyone in need of air conditioning installation or service. They are a professional and reliable company that provides excellent customer service.

Charles Mobley

01:19 01 May 23

Our ac stopped working a few weeks ago and Polar Bear sent Roemaine and Tyrone to diagnose the problem. Roemaine and Tyrone very quickly identified the problem and communicated with me. It turns out the best option was replacing the condensing unit which Paul quoted within a matter of minutes and they had expert installation team (Tony and Jerome) complete late in the afternoon with short notice. I’m very happy with their work!

17:26 22 Feb 23

I have, over the years been trying to find a reliable, professional A/C maintenance and repair company. I have tried a few. That search is now over after using Polar Bear. Billy and Jerry were absolutely a pleasure to work with. Knowledgeable and professional from the initial diagnosis to the final repair. I highly recommend this company and the team that came to do work on my AC. Tim.

Gill Gordon

01:58 27 Jan 23

Polar Bear technicians are always very polite, friendly and professional in their service. Each of their technicians that we have dealt with have been great and they are always super responsive to getting someone out. Pictured are Antony and Billy who completed our recent service 👍

Zichri M.

22:27 30 Dec 22

Great work. I received an email and also a call from the dispatcher that the tech would be calling me, and sure enough, the tech (Simon) called shortly after that to let me know he was on his way which was very much appreciated. The customer service from all of the team and updates was spot on, and Simon was very thorough and very knowledgeable. He was also very courteous and professional. I rate Polar Bear as the best company in town. Great work!

Glenroy Miller

03:27 24 Dec 22

Tyrone is very knowledgeable and professional, he gave me a step by step update of what he was doing. He also gave advice on how best to protect not only the unit but my family. My wife and I are totally satisfied with the service.

Kyle Roberts

22:50 23 Dec 22

Polar Bear's service and response was amazing! Nicole who answered my phone call and scheduled me was extremely friendly, accommodating and knowledgeable! The Technician assigned to me was Simon and he was also extremely friendly and very knowledgeable. Within a minute of looking at my system he knew what the errors and issues were! He was able to fix one of the two problems that day, and then came scheduled and came the following day to fix the remaining issue. He was perfectly on time and the courtesy call before arrival both times before arriving was a welcome touch as it made sure that I was ready.Will continue using polar bear for all my HVAC needs! 5*

Kayla Shibli

01:09 05 Oct 22

My experience with Polar Bear has been awesome!!!! From the beginning, the office staff were so professional and kind, then receiving my AC quote, the gentleman has been very prompt in his response time—, the kind of employee that puts customer first and has such a nice and an approachable attitude, very patient in answering my questions and providing guidance as required by me- customer focus completely, then as if that wasn’t enough to convince me to move my AC maintenance and installation to Polar Bear; the technicians that attended to my AC installation provided such excellent service— what stood out was how they used a carpet that was placed on my floor to avoid making any mess on my floor and whatever mess they did make, the technician used their broom to remove it. I know this message is long but I really wanted to express my THANK YOU and appreciation for such excellent customer service that I’ve experienced by Polar Bear — you have won me as a customer!! THANK YOU! Keep up the excellent customer service!!! Looking forward to building a relationship with you as a new customer.

Robert L White

11:48 15 Aug 22

Olivia and Demitri very professional , competent and are delightful people! She came by and diagnosed some issues with our AC system . I am reviewing your estimate at this time..I truly enjoyed meeting them. They both real assets to your Company!Rob

Omari Rankine

04:58 10 Jul 22

I am very pleased with the service that was provided by Polar Bear. I had an issue where the ac was not working at one of my rental properties after hours on a weekend. Rohan came all the way out to East End at 10pm and worked on the issue to get the system back up and running. He was very thorough and explained the issue in detail, and the measures I needed to take to prevent it from reoccurring. Excellent customer service