Bed bug infestations are a nightmare, and there are no easy solutions. The most common remedy suggested is heat, a Bed Bug Heat Treatment.
People often ask whether a bed bug heat treatment will work if an infestation is present in your home.
Here are the basics on bed bugs and heat:
- If bed bugs are exposed to 113 degrees and more for more than 90 minutes, the bugs will die
- Heating your home will cause them to flee to cooler places
- Using heat in the dryer will kill bed bugs living in your clothes and linens
We know that heat, in general, kills bed bugs. So let’s find out if a heat treatment alone will work.
How Does Bed Bug Heat Treatment Work?
When you get professional pest control people to come to your home, they will typically heat your whole house to a certain temperature, probably using one or more propane heaters. The goal is to bring your home up above 114′ for a decent amount of time. This temperature should be high enough to kill the bugs but not too high to cause any damage to your home.
These professionals will also work from room to room to heat the entire building, which might take a while to complete. They will also typically charge you per room they heat up, so inquire about their pricing model to avoid surprises.Â
If your home is built with a brick or concrete outer wall and you don’t have places where they can escape, this heating method is how to best treat the infestation.
This is typically what is involved in a bed bug heat treatment:
1. Prepare the Room
The first step is to prepare the room so it can be ready for heat treatment; the most important factor is air circulation. Therefore, the crew will ensure that the air can freely move inside the room to distribute the heat evenly.
To do that, they will typically remove everything away from the walls and ensure there are no hiding places for the bugs. Supports for vinyl curtains will have to be removed because they can’t withstand the heat and may start to bend.
So, you must move everything around and make sure the air can circulate freely under beds and furniture. There should be enough space between the furniture and the wall to fit a fan or air mover behind them.
Move all objects and furniture towards the center of the room, but not too close to each other, to prevent proper heat circulation. Don’t leave any cardboard boxes in the room because they can protect the bugs from the heat.
2. Heating the Room
When the room is prepped and ready, the professionals will begin to steadily increase its temperature using different methods. Some will use portable heat chambers and even hot dryers in smaller rooms to increase the temperature.
Larger rooms are typically heated with propane heaters connected to large tanks that are unsafe for the untrained person. This method successfully heats the room’s interior to quite high temperatures to kill every bug in the room.
No one should try this method without experience, and they must do it under controlled conditions. The propane tanks will typically be placed outside the house and far away from the heat to prevent any accidents during the heating process.
No one should try this method without experience, and they must do it under controlled conditions. The propane tanks will typically be placed outside the house and far away from the heat to prevent any accidents during the heating process.
At this stage, the air movers are set up inside the room to create a proper heat vortex so every part of the room can get heat. An air duct is connected to the heating unit, delivering the heat to the room where it will be circulated.
How Long Will It Take?
Typical heat treatment for bed bugs can take up to 24 hours to get to the proper temperature that will kill the bugs. Once at its maximum temperature, the heat must be maintained for about two hours to ensure every bug inside that home has been killed.
Typical heat treatment for bed bugs can take up to 24 hours.
It is recommended that you treat the whole home with heat to ensure every bug in the house has been killed for the best results.
Does Heat Treatment Work for Bed Bugs?
The big question is, does heat treatment helps to get rid of bed bugs completely, or will they come back again? After your home is heat-treated, it will cool down again at some point, and the chances are that an infestation may come back into your home.
If you are vigilant and inspect thoroughly and clear out whatever nests the bed bugs make, you may be in the clear. But the problem is that if you miss any, they can hibernate for up to a year, so you may not know for a while if you’ve got them all.
There are several different factors as to why heat treatment may not work to eliminate the bed bugs in your home.
The Type of Outer Wall
If the exterior wall is made of brick or concrete, the chances are that you may kill all the bugs in one go. This is because the bugs will have very little chance of getting into the wall and fleeing from the heat you are producing.
In the case of wood material with insulation between two walls, the chances are that some bugs may get away. They can crawl into the insulation and pass through it to the outer wall where it is not that hot. There, they will wait until it is safe to return.
Once it cools down enough for them on the inside, they will simply crawl back to their food source – you.
Before you think of using heat to eliminate your bed bug problem, consider the material used in your home’s outer walls.
Hiding Places
The bugs may easily flee into cooler spaces if you have a basement or crawl space under your home. If there is space for them to get through the ceiling, they will definitely use the opportunity to crawl into the roof space.
Bed bugs will hide inside or on top of the insulation on the ceiling to protect themselves from the heat. If you have built-in cupboards, ensure there are no spaces underneath where they can hide out against the heat.
If you have built-in cupboards, ensure there are no spaces underneath.
The heat will not circulate in these types of spaces, and they will remain much cooler than the room; make sure the pests have no escape route.
Final Thoughts
Heat treatment for bed bugs can be quite effective in getting rid of them. But you absolutely need an insured professional to do it. If you find bugs in your bed or furniture, try to kill them with a dryer, but if that doesn’t work, ask for help.
Hopefully, this will help you make the right choice. Soon, you will be able to get some sleep at night without the bed bugs that bite.
