Do Bed Bugs Need Heat?

Bedbug infestation is on the rise across the world. They can now be found everywhere from the finest of hotels to public transportation. No matter how clean you and your home are, you have a chance of bedbugs invading your home.

For the best results, you need to call a professional exterminator. We have a wide variety of means at their disposal to get rid of these pesky creatures, but don’t be surprised if we talk to you about using heat treatment methods. These methods have been found to be some of the most successful at eradicating bedbugs.

What are Heat Treatments?

When looking for recommendations for addressing bedbugs in your home, you will learn that you should wash and dry your bed linens and clothing at the hottest temperature you can because heat can kill bedbugs.

Studies have shown that bed bugs and their eggs can be killed anytime the temperature is raised above approximately 115-120 degrees and maintained over a period of time. When the temperature is raised above approximately 122 degrees the bed bugs will be killed immediately.

Unfortunately, when your home is invaded by bedbugs, numerous items within your home can’t be washed and dried, even with the best heating systems installed. And you really don’t want to turn up your thermostat until the heat in the interior of your home reaches these heat levels.

Even if you could raise the temperatures of your home high enough, bed bugs are smart enough and small enough to secrete themselves in nooks and crannies that are cooler, which often means that the bed bugs burrow even deeper into the crevices of your home, making them even harder to kill in the long run.

How are Heat Treatments Applied?

When a professional pest control service comes to your home to assess and treat your home for bedbugs, they have the ability to apply heat to various areas of your home. When heat is applied in combination with chemical treatment, it has the greatest chance of eradicating these creatures from your home. Some of the methods used include the following.

Steam Treatments

Using specialized equipment, a flow of hot steam can be used to treat objects such as your box springs, bed frame, drapery, and comforters. Steam will not cause damage to these delicate items. Unfortunately, one of the downsides to steam is that it does not penetrate deep enough to treat thick materials that the bed bugs can burrow in.

Hot Boxes

Another piece of equipment that may be used is a hot box. A hot box resembles a large oven and works essentially the same way. Items such as boots, shoes, luggage, drawers of clothing, small pieces of furniture, and more, can be inserted into the box for a specified period of time to kill the bugs that may be residing within these items.

Whole Home Heat Treatment

If you have had an infestation for a period of time, or you have a heavy infestation, an exterminator may recommend that your whole home be treated with heat by using equipment to raise the temperature throughout your home to the levels that have proven to be lethal to kill bedbugs.

Treating your whole home will address all of the places that bedbugs may be hiding. You may be asked to remove certain items from your home that will be unable to withstand these levels of heat. These items can be treated by other means.

Unfortunately, bed bugs are resilient. Although chemicals are normally used in conjunction with heat to ensure that you get the best results, you may still see bedbug activity after treatment and may require more than one treatment in order to ensure they are gone.

At Craig & Sons Termite & Pest Control, Inc. we will do everything we can to ensure that your home is bedbug free. Give us a call today so we can get started helping you get rid of your bugs.