If you have dealt with a bed bug problem in your house, you know how hard it can be to eradicate the concern. It all starts with a single bed bug laying 1–7 eggs daily. Then these eggs take between 6 and 9 days to hatch. Before you know it, your house has a full bed bug infestation.
What’s the best solution to killing bed bugs? Some methods, like pesticides and DIY techniques, aren’t effective. One reason is that you can’t spray chemicals on your bedding, clothes, shoes, or your kids’ toys.
The above issue makes heat treatment for bed bugs the best option available. It’s highly effective because it kills bed bugs and their eggs. Here’s how heat treatment works.
Bed bug heat treatment works by raising the temperature in your home to the point where these parasites can’t survive. The exterminator blows hot air into the room, which raises the temperature to 122 degrees Fahrenheit or higher. Will this destroy your household items? Only heat-sensitive items are in danger of destruction.
So, before the treatment begins, prepare your home by removing heat-sensitive items. These include gas cylinders, cigarette lighters, ammunition, adhesives, paints, and flammable chemicals. Most electronic devices are usually safe at those temperatures. But it’s wise to check the manufacturers’ safety precautions concerning temperature limits.
After preparing your home, treatment begins one room at a time. Heat treatment methods use either electric heaters or propane gas. They also come in various forms. For instance, an exterminator can use hot steam when treating carpets, mattresses, and some pieces of furniture.
In some cases, it makes more sense to use heat chambers. The exterminator puts infested items inside the chamber, which has insulated walls. Typically, these are items you can’t treat using chemicals. After treating those items, they use chemicals to treat the rest of the house.
According to research, it only takes 90 minutes to kill bed bugs under temperatures of 113 degrees Fahrenheit. If this temperature goes higher than 118 degrees Fahrenheit, the bed bugs will die within 20 minutes. However, a pest control company can use higher temperatures of up to 135 degrees Fahrenheit to ensure the heat gets to all points in the house.
Additionally, they use air fans to spread the heat to all parts of the room, including the cracks and crevices where these parasites hide. Using heat sensors placed in different parts of the room, the exterminator can tell when they have reached the ideal temperature. Because heat may take time to spread to all areas, such as wardrobes and bedding, the process can last for 4 to 8 hours, depending on the temperature.
Heat treatment for bed bugs is a safe method because it’s non-toxic. It doesn’t risk the lives of the people in the house. Also, heat treatment kills the entire bed bug lifecycle, from adults to their eggs.
You don’t need to remove your belongings from the house unless they’re heat-sensitive. So, you can leave your clothing and bedding intact as the treatment proceeds.
Unless the bed bugs find a way to escape the room, a single heat treatment should be enough. In some homes, bed bugs can escape to another room during treatment. If they do, they can return after the treatment and re-infest the room.
For that reason, it’s vital to block any openings that can provide an escape route for the bed bugs. Also, it’s necessary to use an additional treatment method to prevent resurgence.
Bed bugs reproduce and spread rapidly. So, if you spot a few bed bugs in your home, know it’s just a matter of time before they turn into a huge infestation. Therefore, take immediate action to kill the adult insects and their eggs. The best way to do that is through heat treatment for bed bugs.
At McDonald Pest Control, we use heat treatment methods together with other techniques to eradicate bed bugs. Like most homeowners, you may not have the heating equipment required to perform the job effectively.
Call us for pest control services, and we’ll assist you in dealing with a bed bug infestation in your home as soon as possible!
