Do heat treatments kill bed bugs?
Heat is the best killer of bed bugs as, unlike poison, it also kills the eggs before they hatch. Once the bed bugs and eggs are heated up to the correct temperature, the bed bugs and eggs will die, it is an absolute guarantee. There is no resistance to heat like there is with poison. There is no immunity, just warm, hot air. Heat is the bedbugs worst nightmare and they cannot survive it. We are heat treatment specialists and our treatment kills all stages of bed bugs from adults, eggs and even nymphs.
The only way a bedbug can survive heat treatment is if they aren’t heated up to the correct temperature for enough time. This is why we ensure that we heat the room for much hotter and much longer than is really needed jut to make sure.
Another way which bedbugs can survive heat treatment is if they are wrapped up deep inside something, for example rolled up bed covers. This is because it takes a long time for the heat to penetrate far down into something like this. Its for this reason that all items need to be unwrapped and opened. This means, drawers and wardrobe doors open. This allows the hot air to go inside and reach every area.
What temperature do you heat the rooms to?
In order for bedbugs to die within 2 hours they need to be heated up to 50°C for 2 hours or 52°C for 1 hour. Now just remember, this means the actual bugs must be heated to this temperature not just the room. In order to make sure that the bugs reach this temperature we heat the room hotter than this target at 55°C. We can infact heat the rooms to hotter than this however we will need to check that the room has nothing which will be damaged as above this temperature some items can start to melt e.g. lamp shades etc.
Is bedbug heat treatment safe?
Heat treatment is safe yes, however if you are doing it yourself, you cannot just leave the machines on heating and leave the property completely. You must be nearby, in another room on standby in the event that something explodes. Something which can happen which we have experienced is aerosol cans exploding. Generally this don’t cause serious damage however you do need to be on standby with a fire extinguisher just to be safe.
What type of properties will you heat?
We provide bed bug treatments for residents and businesses. Bed bugs can be common in any area where people (their food) are. We treat train carriages, boats, hotels, caravans and even buses. Wherever there are lots of people bedbugs like to follow.
Will bedbug treatment cause damage to my property?
This is often exaggerated. With all the heat treatments we have ever done, the property has never been damaged. Some items have indeed been damaged, however nothing valuable. We’ve experienced melted lamp shades, melted crayons and even melted blinds (however these were cheap plastic ones).