For Your Business or Home: Why Heat Treatment for Bed Bugs Is So Effective

So you have discovered that you have a bed bug infestation in your home or place of business. What’s next? Figuring out what treatments work best. After all, bed bugs in your business could destroy what you have worked so hard to build, and bed bugs in your home will be very uncomfortable for you. Either way, the bed bugs need to go. Here is what you need to know about bed bug removal:

Why heat treatment for bed bugs works

Some companies will use cold to kill the pests but heat treatment for bed bugs is usually the better way to go. Bed bugs do not like heat, which is evident by where they hide. They don’t hide on their human hosts – they like to hide in luggage and furniture and will only visit humans when they’re hungry and in need of blood.

And while heat treatments are effective at killing the bugs, merely turning up the thermostat in your house or apartment won’t work as an effective treatment. Also, you should never use a grill or a space heater to try and kill bed bugs on your own. You will be putting yourself at risk by inadvertently starting a fire or exposing yourself to dangerous carbon monoxide fumes. Always get professionals to treat the infestation.

Temperature must be hot, hot, hot to work 

For the heating method to actually work, your home or apartment needs to be heated to over 120ºF for over an hour and everything in the house or apartment have to be heated evenly. This includes spaces in the walls and even the inside of your furniture where bed bugs like to hide. They all must reach that high temperature and remain there for at least an hour.

Professional heat treatment for bed bugs usually entails enclosing your home and using different heat sources to effectively and safely raises the temperature throughout the house.

Other advantages to heat treatment 

Using heat to kill bed bugs is also better for the environment because harsh chemicals aren’t used. It’s also safe for you and your family and won’t cause any cross contamination on furniture or even food contact surfaces like kitchen counters and tables. And a heat treatment for bed bugs usually only takes a day. Sometimes when you rely on chemicals to treat a home or an apartment for bed bug infestation, repeat visits are needed.

Some bugs have developed a resistance to certain chemicals and in some cases, some poisons are not effective in killing bed bug eggs so heat is the way to go.

Another good thing is that the preparation for heat treatment is minimal unlike preparation for chemical treatments. When using heat you may have to remove some items from walls like paintings and photos because they could warp in the heat but other than that, everything can stay as is in your home.

So if you have a bed bug problem, be sure to call a company like Bed Bug Finders and find out what kind of services they have.

Stacey Gotsuilias writes on a variety of topics.

For Your Business or Home: Why Heat Treatment for Bed Bugs Is So Effective