Nikco Albuoy has a new weapon in the fight against Covid-19 ­­— steam.

The owner of air-conditioning business Advanced Air is now offering a dry-steaming service to disinfect homes and businesses.

“The pandemic locked everyone down, but made me find a different avenue to keep my business going,” said Mr Albuoy, who has run Advanced Air since 2018.

His new dry-steam machine arrived two months ago.

“It produces superheated dry steam,” he explained.

“Bacteria and viruses die at certain temperatures and my machine steams way over that temperature.”

He thinks he is the first on the island to offer such a service.

“People had never heard of it in Bermuda,” he said.

Using the machine has been fairly straightforward. He did not need any special training, he just followed the manufacturer’s directions.

“It is a big piece of machinery, but it has wheels,” Mr Albuoy said. “We can do commercial or residential buildings.”

The advantage of the machine over other disinfecting methods is that it is completely chemical free.

“You are just using the steam to kill and disinfect,” he said.

“And it is instantaneous. There is no waiting for a few hours before you can come back into the building. And it does almost every surface including beds. It doesn’t damage anything because the steam is dry.”

Since dropping a video about it on social media there has been a surge of interest.

“We haven’t been able to get to everyone who has contacted us yet,” he said.

“But we have made a good start.”

He even gained a mention from the Premier during the nightly Bermuda Government press conference, a week ago.

“I didn’t see it when he mentioned me,” Mr Albuoy said.

“I just got a lot of messages from people about it. Someone recorded the press conference and sent it to me. It is good that he is promoting small businesses. I got a lot of interest after the mention.”

So far his biggest challenge has been feeling out the market in this new normal.

“It is definitely important to be able to pivot,” Mr Albuoy said. “Doing this means I am not stuck in one lane.”

He works another job 9am to 5pm, but has staff to run Advanced Air including his wife, Shannan Albuoy.

“She helps me a lot,” he said.

He thinks that moving forward, the demand for disinfectant services like his will continue.

“The pandemic has really opened people’s eyes,” he said.

“This pandemic isn’t going anywhere. The virus will be around for a while. And the steam cleaner doesn’t just kill Covid-19, but also other viruses and bacteria.”

For more information e-mail advancedairbda@gmail.com or call 533-3905