It’s been quite a spring.

As the weather gets warmer, our hearts continue to go out to those who have been affected by the COVID-19 crisis. We’re especially grateful for the incredible work being done by medical responders and front-line workers. In light of how things are continuing to develop, we wanted to take time to clarify how we’re approaching this season.

Here’s what we’re doing in April.

1. We are still providing repair service.

First of all, if you need service on your heating or air systems, we are still only a phone call away. We are considered an “essential” business, and so we are open – albeit with most people working from home. We do have office staff available to answer phones, but our tech teams have generally gone remote. When a call comes in, the service request gets passed to wherever our people are, and they’re able to respond as quickly (or even more quickly) as they always do.

2. We are still doing maintenance checkups.

At Rod Miller, March, April, and May can be in-between months – a short period between winter and summer when weather is mild. Usually during this time of year, our technicians are making nine or ten maintenance visits a day, ensuring that our customers’ AC systems are ready for the coming warmer weather. As our communities fight through COVID-19, though, we (like everyone else) have been out and about less.

That said, we are still servicing maintenance contracts – and it may be a good idea to schedule your checkup within the next month (only if, of course, you have a healthy household). We can handle it safely; if you prefer, we don’t even need to come inside, although depending on your systems that might mean forgoing checks on a few indoor items like drain lines or blower motors. If we do come inside, our interior inspection will only take 15 to 20 minutes.

If you wait, that is completely understandable, too. But we anticipate that when things begin to reopen, we’ll have an overload of service and maintenance requests, and you may face delays. We just want to give you a heads-up about that reality ahead of time.

3. We are offering air purifying systems.

As we wrote about last month, we’ve continued to provide air purification systems like Air Scrubber by Aerus, APCO by Fresh-Aire, and the Air Knight IPG. These systems can effectively remove dust and pathogens (including 99.9% of viruses) from the air in your home, improving indoor air quality. We want to make it clear that there have been no studies specifically measuring these products’ effectiveness against COVID-19. That noted, experts do believe it’s highly likely that they kill the virus.

While it’s unknown if COVID-19 spreads through the air, some scientists believe it may. “In the mind of scientists working on this, there’s absolutely no doubt that the virus spreads in the air,” says aerosol scientist Lidia Morawska at the Queensland University of Technology in Brisbane, Australia, as quoted in Nature.

With all of this said, it’s important to note that air purifiers do not stop the spread of germs on surfaces and certainly should not be viewed as secure protection against coronavirus. They’re simply a helpful measure in improving indoor air health. If you have questions about these systems, please reach out and we’ll be happy to help.

4. We are doing everything we can to keep our employees and our customers safe.

The reality is that these are difficult times. Our employees are anxious about entering into homes during this pandemic. Our customers feel anxious about having our employees in their homes. We’re looking forward to the time when these things will no longer be the case. For now, though, we’re taking as much precaution as we can.

Our technicians and engineers have been given as many masks as we are able to supply – our install teams have been prioritized, as they spend the most time in and around homes. We are wearing gloves and boot covers. We are disinfecting our entire office regularly.

Our goal in all of this is to provide our essential services to keep families comfortable and keep everyone safe. We’ve always treated our customers like family, and now that approach is more important than ever.

Have a question about service right now?

Hopefully, this article clarifies some of the questions you may have around how we can help you during this time. If you’d like more details about our services, please reach out. Our office lines are up and running, and we can schedule service or maintenance as needed.

We’re grateful to continue to support the comfort of our customers’ homes, especially when they’re stuck inside. It’s been quite a spring, but together we’ll get through this.