Killing Bed Bugs With Heat
Bed bugs can be horrible if they get into your home. You may not be able to keep them from spreading, and killing them all can be a huge and frustrating task. You need to use the best methods to get rid of them so that they do not spread and so that they never come back.
One method that you may be interested in looking into is killing them with heat. If you have not even heard of this method before, you certainly need to read about it and decide if it is right for you.
Dealing With It
Do not let these parasites ruin your life. Do not let them invade your home. If they are already there, you need to take all of the steps that you can to dislodge them from this position and kill them all. Killing them with heat is simple and effective, making it one of the best tactics that you can choose.
The entire process will be broken down below, including what you need to do, how much it costs, and when you should use heat instead of a different method to eradicate them from your home. If they are making it so that your home is not the clean, relaxing place that it should be for you and your family, keep reading to learn how to get rid of them forever.
What The Treatment Entails
Killing them with heat simply entails getting the interior of your home up to a level of heat that they cannot survive. If you have ever been in a sauna, you know just how intense it can be. You know how it reaches every corner of the building, allowing no escape unless you exit the building altogether.
Since you cannot see all of the bugs or all of their eggs, you need this sort of a treatment since heat can hunt them down for you. There will be no need to locate their nests when your entire home has been heated up until it is a death trap for these bugs.
Have Bed Bug Problems?
You will need to get a heater and have it put in your home. In order to get a large enough heater, you should hire a professional. He or she will know how to set things up so that the process is fast and safe. These are two things that you really want when your home and your family are involved.
Monitoring Treatment
The professional will also be able to monitor the process to make sure that the home is hot enough for a long enough period of time. If this is not carefully watched, these bugs might be able to survive what was thought to be a lethal amount of heat.
Generally speaking, your home will have to be heated up to 140°F and held at this temperature for two hours. Alternatively, you could have the home brought up to a temperature of 130°F and held at that level for three hours.
Both of these treatments will kill the majority of the bugs and their eggs that are in your home. If you have a long time and you do not need to be in the home, you are best off to keep the heat at this level for longer than the recommended time, just so that you can be sure they are all dead.
Stay Out of the Home During Treatment
As you can imagine, you do not want to be in the home while it is this hot. Not only does this give the bugs a way to escape by climbing onto you and the going with you when you leave, but it can pose health problems.
Even when you are in a sauna that reaches these same temperatures, you are not inside for nearly so long. You will have to find a time when no one needs to be home for the duration of the treatment if you want to begin killing bugs with heat. If you have the time, this is very much worth it.
Making Sure Your Home is Suitable
Before you use this treatment, make sure that the heat will not be able to escape the building. You may need to caulk cracks in the walls, especially around windows and doors. Foam can also be used. These things are inexpensive, so you really want to utilize them where you can.
You do not want to spend all of your time and money heating the home only to find that it is nearly impossible to keep the heat inside. At the last minute, double check all of your windows and doors to make sure that they are closed tightly.
Why Killing With Heat Works
The reason that this works is simply that they cannot live at extreme temperatures. At 70°F, they will live and even flourish. They will lay eggs and spread. When the temperature gets up near 140°F though, they cannot survive.
They will either have to flee your home, if they can find a way out, or they will die. It is as simple as that. There is no way that they can experience such high heat for such an extended period of time and live.
How Heat Defeats These Pests
This also works because the heat can move to every part of your home. Each room will grow hotter and hotter. The beds, sheets, mattresses, and linens will all get hot. The bugs will be found out and killed no matter where they are. Killing them with other methods means that you have to find them. You have to hunt them down and kill them where they are.
With heat, you can just sit back and wait for them to die. No matter how well they hide, they cannot get away from the heat. They will try to do so, no doubt, but there will be nowhere for them to go. While sprays and powders make small areas very dangerous for them, heat makes the entire home a place that is filled with danger.
What It Costs: Both Time and Money
First, you should consider what it will cost in time. This is a big problem with other methods, some of which are discussed below. For example, you can freeze the bugs. This will take two to three days, however.
Do you really have that much time? Can you afford to stay out of your home for days on end? If you are like most people, this is out of the question. You just cannot leave your home for that long, so you need to find a method that will have the same impact in a much smaller timeframe.
Fortunately for you, killing them with heat only takes two to three hours. It may take a little bit more time for the entire process because of setting up the equipment and then removing it from the home.
Giving it Time
You will need to allow some time for the home to reach the desired temperature, as well, since the high temperature needs to be maintained for a full two to three hours.
This can add a bit of time, but you will not be forced out of your home during this time. You will still be able to live a normal life until the professional worker tells you that you and your family need to leave for safety reasons.
You should also think about the time that you need to spend getting ready to have the home heated up in order to kill the bugs. You will need to close all of the windows and doors. You will need to close up all of the cracks with caulk or foam. The house has to be airtight so that the heat will stay inside.
If you live in an older home, you may spend a few hours doing this. Most new homes will not have nearly as many defects, however, since they will not have been exposed to as much wear and tear. You will be able to get them ready to go in under an hour.
Home Safety
Lastly, you need to think also about the time that you will spend making sure the home is safe. There are a few things that you will want to do to reduce safety concerns; these things are explored further below. They include taking all flammable or explosive materials out of the home, for instance.
This is something that you will need to do before the job can begin. You need to remember to set aside some time to do this as well, though you can do it in your free time in the days before the heating process is carried out. You just need to be done before the house begins to heat up.
The Financial Cost
Next, you need to look at the monetary costs. If you want to buy the unit yourself, you would have to pay around $50,000. The heating unit can be brought in on the back of a truck. For those who are looking to do this job just once, the best option is simply to hire someone who has already purchased the unit themselves.
If you hire them to do the job, they will charge you a flat rate for the service. This will go toward paying back the amount they spent on their machine. Except in the most extreme of cases, you do not want to invest in a machine like this on your own. Having it around at all times might be nice, but it will not be a cost-effective way to tackle the problem.
Renting Machines
In order to rent the machine, to hire the services of a professional, you can either pay an hourly fee or a flat fee for the job. Most places will charge you this flat fee since they know how long it will take. They can figure out how long it takes them to set up and take down the machinery.
They can then add in the two to three hours for which the temperature of the home has to be kept at around 140°F. They will charge you for this amount of time no matter how long it really takes them to do the job.
Renting Can Be a Smart Move
Paying this way can be nice since you do not have to worry if there are complications. If something goes wrong and it takes them two extra hours to do the job, you will not have to pay any extra money. You can be sure that they will work as quickly as possible. The faster that they get the job done, after all, the more money they can make per hour.
Paying by the hour has its advantages as well, however. You can sometimes get a lower rate this way. If the job takes less time than anticipated, you will save money. The drawback is that you will have to pay more for any delays or complications that arise during the heating process.
The Cost To You
It is hard to say exactly what you will need to pay since the amount varies with the size of your home, the amount of buildings that need to be rid bugs, the taxes in the area that you live, and many other things. You may even have to pay more if you live in the country and the heating company has a long commute to your home.
The only way to know what you would have to pay, for certain is to go on line and request a quote. You will need to submit all of the pertinent information, and then the company will tell you what it will cost for your specific home and your specific situation.
Typical Costs and Adjustments
Generally speaking, it will cost you about $1,200 to have the process done on your home. This has been found to be the average cost. However, you need to make sure that you do not take this as a fact that applies to everyone, in every situation. As mentioned, all homes are different.
Very small homes can be done much more quickly and with less equipment than large homes, so the cost is not the same at all. You need to get an estimate if you want to be sure what you will have to pay so that you can decide if this treatment is right for you.
How Effective It Is When Compared To Other Methods
In order to fully understand how effective heat can be, you need to consider some of your other options as well. For instance, you can use a very strong vacuum to remove the bugs from your home.
You will have to go around and target their nests and hiding places, sucking them all up. This rarely kills everything since it is just impossible to hit every inch of your home, so you will have to do this more than once. Since heat can get to every part of your home at one time, it is more effective.
Method Two: Steam Cleaners
Another option that you have is to use portable steam cleaners to work on the furniture and the mattresses. This works very well for these pieces of furniture, but it does not do anything for the rest of the home. You can hurt the population a lot by doing this, but you will not get all of them.
Those that are left will start laying eggs, and the population will increase back to what it was before. Since heat kills bugs in every part of the home, along with the eggs, it is more effective than a steam cleaner.
The Cost
A portable steam cleaner can be purchased for around $60; this is the compact version that can be carried by hand. A heavy duty steamer will cost around $170.
Method Three: Powder
Powder can also be used. You have to put it on the places where the bugs are, and the poison will kill them. This can be highly effective for the bugs that are hit with the poison, but there are two problems. First of all, you will still have this powder all around the house when you are done.
Secondly, you will have sprinkled a poison in your home. While it is deadly to bugs and not to humans, you probably do not want to have it in your home where it can get on your skin, in your eyes, or into your food. You will also not be able to get the powder everywhere, meaning that the heat is still a better option.
The Cost
You can buy an entire five-gallon bucket of powder for under $30. If you do not need this much, smaller amounts are available for as little as $4. How much this will really cost depends on the size of your home and the size of the infestation since these things regulate how much you will need.
Method Four: Traps
You can put down traps for the bugs that trap them so that you can dispose of them. Some traps can also kill them. While this is better than doing nothing, it is not your best option. The traps are not proactive enough.
They will only get the bugs that are lured to them, but they will leave the rest alive. They will also have no impact on eggs at all, so new bugs will be constantly being born to replace the ones that are killed in the traps. You will not be making any headway with traps like you will with heat.
The Cost
You can get a good trap for right around $30. You can even find them for as little as $13, if you would like. Keep in mind that you will probably want to buy multiple traps.
Method Five: Freezing
An alternative method to heating is exactly the opposite: Freezing. This is very effective, though you may have to keep the home at a temperature that is below 32°F for a number of days. This is also very hard to do since it simply has to be that cold outside.
If you live in a warm area, there is no chance that this will work. If you live in a cold area, you need to have a string of incredibly cold days in order for the temperature never to go above freezing. You also need to take care not to freeze and break your water pipes. This is highly effective, but heating is better because it is faster and easier to do on your own schedule.
The Cost
This can be free. If you live in a cold enough region, you just have to shut off your water so that the pipes do not break, open your windows, and let the bugs freeze. There may be small costs for tarps to go over the windows – to keep out the snow – and other accessories, though this is different for every home.
Method Six: A Dryer
A dryer can be used for clothes that contain bugs. This is not a good way to treat your entire home, of course, but blankets and clothes can be taken care of in a mere fifteen minutes.
The drier gets so hot that all of the bugs will be killed while they are inside. You can be sure that they will all die, but the downside is that you can only kill a limited number in your home. This does not make your home clean, though it can help.
The Cost
If you already own a dryer, as most people do, this is also free. You just have to factor in the cost of the electricity that you will use while you heat all of your clothes and blankets.
Method Seven: Bug Spray
Finally, you can use bug sprays and other chemicals to kill the bugs. Many times, these lethal chemicals will kill them on contact. The same is true for the eggs. You do not have to worry that anything will survive. As with some of the other methods, the problem is just that you have to get all of the bugs for this to work. If you miss some, they will easily live.
This is why hiring exterminators who use chemicals is not always a good idea. Since the eggs can especially be hidden, you might end up killing the bugs that you find and then discovering that eggs are hatching and releasing more of them all over your home.
The Cost
You can buy bottles of spray for as little as $7 and as much as $24. You need to remember that you will have to buy multiple bottles in order to treat your entire home this way.
When Heat Makes The Most Sense
Heat is so useful because these bugs are just so incredibly tough and resilient. Many times, there is nothing else that you can do. For example, pretend that you took away all of their food sources. They need blood to survive, so you would just have to remove any living organisms from the home.
This would not be too hard. How long do you think that they could live? If you guessed a few days or even a few weeks, you are far below the mark. They can live for as long as an entire year without having any food. Simply depriving them of this is not good enough.
After that, pretend you could remove all of the oxygen from your home. You can seal it off and take the oxygen out with a vacuum. This seems like it would be a clean and fast way to get rid of the bugs.
Bugs Living Without Oxygen
Well, it would be clean. Unfortunately, the bugs could live for as long as eighteen months without any oxygen at all. There are not many other organisms that can make such a claim. You need to find a way that is equally clean, but that works much more effectively. That way is heat.
This is best used in a home simply because you live there. You do not want to use a spray or a chemical because you will be getting that chemical all over the things that you own. You will be getting it on your blankets, your pillows, your floor, your walls, your rugs, and everything else that can provide a refuge for these parasites.
They do not live in beds alone; they just go there because they need to bite people to live, and that is the best place for them to find another meal, the place where people will go and be still for long periods of time.
Residue Concerns
Heat leaves no residue at all. You do not have to worry about destroying the things within your home since the heat will not be so intense that it will start a fire. All of you metal pots and pans and your wooden furniture will get quite hot while the process is underway, but it will all cool back down in the end.
At this time, the bugs will be dead. If you do not want to have to take everything out of your home, this is the ideal solution.
Can Heat Be Used Along With Other Techniques?
One of the nice things about using heat is that it certainly can be used along with any of the techniques that are listed above. If you have already used powder or spray, it is still safe to use heat to get rid of the bugs that survived.
What Health And Safety Precautions Should Be Taken?
First of all, it is important to note that you should not, under any circumstances, be in the home while the heating process is going on. You can your family and all pets must exit the building.
You should also wait a safe amount of time before entering the home after the process is over for the home to cool down. You should make sure that you remove anything that is flammable or potentially explosive from the home before the heating treatment begins. This includes things like gasoline, propane canisters, and the like. If you do not, you risk an explosion and a house fire.
Keeping Them Out Forever: What You Should Do
Once you have eradicated the bugs, you need to do everything that you can to make sure that they never come back. A second infestation can be the most frustrating thing in the world. You will feel like your victory over the bugs has been taken away from you.
There are a number of things that you need to do both inside and outside of your home in order to make sure that they do not get in again. If you are vigilant and take all of the necessary steps, you will only have to fight off the bugs a single time.
Inside, you should make sure that you vacuum every day, both to pick up any bugs that may have gotten in and to get rid of the dirt that they like to use as a hiding place. After vacuuming, you need to block off all of the different ways that they could get in.
This can mean putting screens on windows, caulking cracks, and tightening boards so that there is no space between them. You may even have to apply a new layer of glue to wallpaper where it has come loose. If the bugs cannot get in, you will not have to kill them.
Proper Storage
You should also store all of your linens in a place where the bugs cannot reach. You should use airtight boxes. You need to make sure that the rooms that these boxes are in have been protected as mentioned above – using caulk, screens, and the like.
Your bedspreads and pillows are very susceptible to an infestation, so you have to take special care of them to make sure that this sort of a thing does not happen in your home
Outside, you need to move anything that is close to the home back so that it does not touch the house. This could mean piles of dirt, mulch, or branches. You do not want the bugs to gather in these places and then move on into your home. You also need to cut back the vegetation so that it does not touch the home.
You do not have to do away with your bushes and trees altogether, but you need to make sure that they not in a place where they can pose a threat. Finally, you can get rid of any garbage that has accumulated near the home or garage; you can eliminate any rodents along with this. You will be robbing them of their entry points, which can keep your home clean and clear at all times.
Prevention Tips
In the end, there is only so much that you can do to prevent them from getting into your home. While you want to do all of these things, you need to be sure that you have a tactic in mind that you can use if you do have an infestation.
They may threaten to ruin your life and make your home a miserable place, but this does not meant that you have to let them do it. You can take back control and you can make your home into a clean and relaxing sanctuary once again. All that it takes is positive action on your part.
As is shown above, heat is often the very best option that you have available to you when you are trying to rid yourself of these pests. Killing these bloodsucking bugs with heat is fast and efficient. Heat can get into cracks and it can permeate walls. There will not be any leftover residue from chemicals.
Consider Our Heat Recommendation
Even though the bugs are tough enough to survive without food and oxygen, they are not tough enough to survive heat. They will not be able to escape it. The heat will seek them out and kill every last bug in your home.
If you have an infestation, you should consider using heat to kill these parasites right away. Do not waste any more time looking for the right method. You have already found it.
Killing them off will give you back the life that you want for you and your family, and heat is the best way to do it. No longer will you have to live with this invasion. You can crush the bugs once and for all, and then you can concentrate on making sure that they never invade your home again.
248 Comments
Heat sounds like the way to go. Sprays just don’t seem to work.
need to get rid o
I agree. I have tried to use sprays, but heat is the only way I have seen success. I have used ThermalStrike and would recommend it you and everyone.
Can I please ask what thermal strike is?
Please I need help. I have had 2 major fumes and still have early stages that looks like pepper that constantly irritates you and will keep you on BB protocol
Was the heat expensive
Please send me company you have heat treatments
Try a keroseen heater and fans….. kills all bed bugs in entire room
I’ve had one hell of a problem I have to spend tortured they have came in can use pesticides they had called people they sprayed and they brought a dog in in the dog indicated that two of my Outlets had a presence of the bed bug okay so I taped over all my Outlets cover them all and I I have a single I live in a single unit one room a bathroom and a kitchen if little kitchen area okay I was still being tortured because I’m still coming. I couldn’t figure it out I kept telling them I was getting bit on my chest under my arms and my legs and the bottom of my legs are everywhere if you my eye ducts and be my ears hi my legs on my arms everywhere so I turn on my oven I have a electric stove or turn on all four burners I put a small fan on my cabinet I emptied everything I threw what I don’t have any furniture I threw away everything I’m sleeping on the floor in a sleeping bag so I had to go to the street I turned on that and then I left it on for 3 Days came back in everything was cool for like almost a day and I started getting attacked Again by this invisible enemy so I did this a couple times this has been going on it’s been going on for a couple years now okay so I thought well maybe they’re in the air vents so why was still burning hot like 2,000 degrees how LOL I turned on the air conditioner unit on just it was off but I put it on on I didn’t put on hot or cold I just left it on off so I just turn it on so the air can circulate through the the vents when it was 2000 i n here I’m just joking about that I don’t know how hot it was but I couldn’t it being here would kill me if I stayed in your yes so I turned it on today this was another time I talked in here I’ve been out has been over a day with in heating again I turned on my vents and I did that circulation to the vent now I’m sitting down waiting just to see if I get attacked again because I laid and spread out everything I own on the floor it’s a mess in here but doesn’t matter I’m so sick of cleaning this stuff it’s just ridiculous because I thrown away everything I’ve only thing I haven’t thrown away as me and I asked him to move me they wouldn’t they’re not moving me I got a doctor’s note from them saying that I need to move from here and I think she deemed it up my safety was in Jeopardy and immediately I should move out of here the doctor said this I want to have a physical and everything they told me I need a doctor’s note so I wouldn’t got one well now I called the health department yesterday so I want to see what happens now I’ll meet you I’m just sitting here like bait I guess thank you
How can I get this service of heating while in kenya
Have you tried a Hot Box? I used a ZappBug Oven 2 to rid my place of these nasty beasts! I couldn’t afford a full room heat treatment and my landlords tried chemicals but it didn’t work.
I used the hot box with some Diatomacous earth and my apartment was bed bug free in a few weeks!!! My infestation terrified my friends so a couple of them got zappbug heaters, it is a smaller version of the zappbug oven. They now use them every time they travel to avoid getting them.
How can I get this heat service in Nigeria
my home has been overtaken by these vampire bugs and i am sick of them. they are biting and making our lives miserable. we have decided to try and fight them ourselves due to extreme cost of exterminators which we cant afford. my daughter and i are going to cover our matresses first with the best encasements we can find. then we plan to remove everything we can and vaccuum, and clean like never before. and then we will try DE, but also with the washing and drying of clothes and all that cant be put into hot water and hot dryers will be thrown away. the couch is going out with a sign that lets ppl know it is infested. there are a few other things we plan but the basic bigger treatments i have mentioned. i would love to use the heat method but lack the funds. $1200.00 is too much money for the ppl i know. only time will tell.
I used a hand held propane torch (about ten bucks) with a flame spreader attachment and simply went slowly over every inch of my wood framed bed and bed board.
Also, I heated my room up with a portable propane heater, the kind used for garages or working on a car outside in winter. They cost about fifty bucks new (not including the propane tank)… I let it burn for hours and closed all opening to the room.
I addition to the above heat treatments, I used a general bed bug spray, mattress and pillow encasement’s were doubled, 707 crawling insect spray and diamaticious powder (spelling) was used.
The infestation was only in my room.
Finally I am able to sleep through the night.
How did you keep the portable propane heater burning “for hours”? Wouldn’t the propane flame have consumed all the oxygen in the room, starting to produce carbon monoxide, then finally getting snuffed out?
We were thinking of using a torpedo heater since my new landlord thinks I brought them here even though I had absolutely no bug problem at my last home for 15 yrs and not even a month moving to this apartment started getting bit daily!
Did it work??? I have a heat estimate for a garage I turned into an efficiency. The renter brought in a loveseat and it now has about 3 months worth of Bedbugs. I had one estimate of 800.00 for the heat treatment. The room is approx. 400 sq. ft. They haven’t got to the rest of the house yet. That sounds like a lot of money for heating a small room.
You have to do the whole house. They run from room to room.
I am currently battling an infestation in my room! Only my room. I plan to rent a Kerosene heater from Home Depot.(is this the same as a propane heater) and Were you not afraid that something would catch fire? I am terrified of this. Only doing this ONE room, in hopes that they are ONLY in there. I am almost certain that they are but nobody can be positives with these little devils. Also, did it work for you? Like completely BB free? I know its been years but just wondering if you remember them coming back at all?
We got 23800 btu kerosene heater from Home Depot for $149.Use that with a couple of fans and do one room at a time. It works!
I used a torpedo heater in Missouri. It had a thermostat on it that would only go up to 110 degrees F, but I set it outside and blew the heat into a window on a warm summer day. Killed fleas, roaches, everything. On the other hand, we couldn’t get the house back to a livable temperature for a couple of days. Temps in the house got to 130 in the room where the heat blew in, but only around 125 in the rest of the house.
How did it go with using DE?
I find that the mattress cover don’t work 100%. I have seen them go though the zipper. I find that if you wrap the mattress in plastic and trap all open area shut, not once but twice. We are getting ready to have the heat treatment. So I know I got to pull off the pladtic covering and mattress cover on all beds so the heat can get to them.
I can tell you that by the time you do all that, what you spend on trying to do it yourself, you will spend the same amount of money if not more than getting heat treatment- plus, when you heat, you don’t have to throw your furniture out. And then, you end up having to do heat. I’m speaking from experience. I run sober houses and I tried everything. Bought new beds and couches, sprayed powdered, vacuumed everything, washed everything… and it last a month or so. Had to heat. So after all said and done, $5000 in total. Heat got rid of them. Heating is the only way to go if infested.
Do what I did get kerosene heaters the round ones find people you know to borrow them place one in each room take out any cans perfumes anything explosive and chemicals go buy temperature gages place in each room so you can peek in see temp fire them up my gage goes 130 hold it there for about 3 hrs get dementrious powder sprinkle when done if you got portable air tank go in with powder blow it around room …. get preitium 38 farmer spray spray all corners even up walls and around ceilings them out the powder down buy some heave duty plastic wrap beds and box springs dick tape sealed problems gone contact me if you need me to walk you threw it
You like to live dangerously! The 38 farmer spray is for outdoor use only. If you spray the powder everywhere, you are going to end up breathing it.
Thank you! You’re a warrior
Dang I need help getting rid of these things . Please help
I’ve only got one kerosene heater. Will that be enough
Are you still dealing with these demons?
There is a propane heater that mounts onto your gas BBQ propane tank…. I purchased one from home Depot for I believe 55 dollars… We use it regularly in our garage where we smoke cigarettes year round and live in cold freezing climate. This heater only needs to be on for 3-4 minutes and it takes 3 car garage from 20° up to 75° I recommend this method. Caution for the elevated co2 poison that must be ventilated B4 Safe breathing is possible
I’ve coated mu house in de for days didn’t help
I agree with you, because the average person really doesn’t have that kind of money to afford a heat treatment from professional services. Also even if they found a way to borrow the money there is no guarantee that they would be bed bug free since bed bugs are now practically everywhere according to the bed bug map of the U.S. These pests could easily hitch rides on you when your traveling or just by visiting someone’s home and many other ways. All it takes is one pregnant bed bug and you will have an infestation in your home in a matter of weeks. I feel that the best way to hopefully to get bed rid of bed bugs (and pray they don’t return) is to clean your house on a daily basis moving furniture away from the walls so its easy to clean each time also by using Diamacious Earth products (which are safe for humans & the environment) along with good mattress encasements for all beds. Also by using steam methods on a regular basis. These bugs are here to stay and we should never give up doing what deters them even when some methods are not affordable for everyone. It is best to ask your neighbors to do the same if living in row homes or apartments. I do not have many visitors anymore due to this problem for fear of bringing them back into my home. Whenever I do its always an immediate vacuum cleaning (must do) afterwards. On a spiritual note I believe with the Bible says about pestilence and diseases in the last days…..read Psalm 91:1-3
Let me tell you. THe heat treatment works and then you don’t have to get rid of your stuff. So weigh out the decision. Throw everything away that you can’t clean, which you will have to buy again new so you don’t get bugs from someone else’s old stuff….or pay for heat. save up. I had this experience and Im sure it was from traveling. It was caught early but we still had out whole house done. I can’t live with bugs……omg, I was so upset I cried…my daughters beautiful bed was where they were……thinking it was also from the locker at a water park. These professionals really taught me alot on the bb subject. I’m just giving you advice based on my knowledge. Get the heat. It works and it’s all done. they poked a hole in my walls to get the heat everywhere…..my God how thorough they were…they were amazing. well worth the money!
I had a heat treatment done on my apartment over a month ago. Since that time I have moved into a new building, and noticed a live adult this morning on my bed; it was flat and had not been recently feeding. After a thorough check, I am fairly certain that there is not a re-infestation. I am hopeful it was a straggler, but am still shocked that after the heat treatment there would still be any left after such a month.
I’ve got to be honest with all the readers in here. Its in my honest opinion as CA (commercial applicator) that the heat treatment is a marketing gimmick. Yes will it kill the bed bugs if kept above 139 + degrees for over 2 hours, yes. However those machines cant guarantee to get cubic inch in your hotel room, apt, or home.
It can’t heat up whats behind your walls and in the light sockets. These are just facts, it is a method that PCO use to separate themselves from others. Lastly i will tell you this much. You ask every PCO if they apply chemical after the heat treatment and 99% they will say yes and that is because the chemical works.
The best methods are to use a chemical application by applying wet spray and dust. Place encasement’s on the mattress and box spring and doing inspections every 7 days for 2 weeks then reapply if necessary.
You obviously either own or work for a company that uses chemical exclusively, and your statements are not supported by the facts.
I have known a lot of people that have had their house treated with chemicals, some of them several times, and in every case the bedbugs came right back. They all eventually had heat treatment done, and it worked to kill all of the bedbugs in every case.
To say that the heat can’t penetrate walls is just ridiculous. If heat didn’t penetrate walls, there would be no need for anyone to ever have air conditioning in the summertime. When you heat up an entire house, the walls are going to heat up too, and eventually so will the air inside the walls.
heat will not kill all bed bugs as predicted, not 100%
Very good logic. I am inclined to think that way instead of poisoning myself with chemicals.and Chema don’t kill the eggs.
You’re so wrong ! Because we have had our old home heat treated three time in the last seven months . The third time was the worst every. The bugs are now in the garage and both vehicles beside coming home and cleaning up I got bitten that same day. Accurate was the company in eureka ca. Who did the heat treatment every time. Cost $1,395.00 each time. What’s going wrong???? I’m bit up from my toes to my eye lids. From my legs arms tummy butt and in the most private places you can think of. Help!!!! Anyone have an answer to my dilema ?!
I can heat your home for 8 hrs which will get more areas then show you how to reduce the carbon in the air and blood carbon on everything which attracts them to begin with. $500 first time, $250 each additional. In Michigan area maybe Ohio. $1 mile surcharge everywhere else. You probably just needed heat longer than they were willing and the bugs found a cool spot. You know like wearing gloves in winter temperature just needs more time to get in more areas in time the cold would be down to your bones. 702-539-1407 Rob. Text first I’m really busy.
Bleach, tea tree oil after heat treatment
Well ice had the heat treatment done a while back and now I am some how reinfested by these pesky blood suckers. I feel really bad because my apartment manager told me if we become reinfested we would have to pay for it ourselves but I just don’t have the money to pay.. It is a very embarrassing issue to have. I wish they’d just drop dead and disappear.
They come back because people are stupid and don’t pay attention who comes in and out there apartments or homes. I have treated for years with chemical and it works fine if people are not stupid. Notimpressed you are an asshole
But I have had my home treated at least 5 times lately by chemicals, and they are still here! We haven’t had anyone over that was here to begin with and we found out where they came from as well and those people have not been back… But we are still infested. Currently looking up how to do the heat treatment ourselves.
I have to tell you I had a heat treatment done last week and I have already seen 4 bed bugs…before they came I steam every piece of furniture that I could from room to room. So you know I was very disappointed when they did the heat treatment and within two days I seen stragglers!!! This weekend I’m doing a steam of every piece of furniture again and spray myself!!! It’s a tenious process but I can’t sleep from checking my house every hour or so!!!
We were told by our heating techs that sometimes you get zombie bugs. Yes, really.
They don’t bight or reproduce but they live and wander around. They said wait 2 weeks. If you are still seeing them, then the treatment failed.
who did you use and what was thetr guarantee? for heat treatment for bed bugs? im about to do this ,and i would appreciate your reply
As a landlord, I can testify that heat works. After spending $12,000 on chemical treatments and noticing no change, we went with heat and we are now bed bug free. Verified with by canines.
If we would have went with heat treating right off the start, we would have saved $6,000.
Thought we saving money by going with chemicals. Wrong!
Thank goodness I read this! Our apartment manager would not cover the cost of heat, only spray, but I wanted these suckers taken care of the fastest most efficient way. After obsessively reading pros and cons and shelling out the money, I’m hoping this is the last we ever have to see these things! I can’t wait for a good nights sleep!
Plz send me company number fir heat treatment
Sufficient heat applied for enough time will penetrate everything, including furniture and walls. This principle is demonstrated every time an engineering team performs thermal testing of products in an industrial test chamber before starting production. The test article is left in the chamber for an extended period to “cold soak” or “heat soak” it, depending on what the particular test requires.
Chemical usage for pest control has been used for decades all over the world because it works. The key is knowing how to apply it correctly and efficiently. Yes, chemicals work if you use the proper chemicals for the pest at hand. Yes, heat works if you properly prepare and know how to use the equipment. The biggest difference is cost.
Our have been successful in eradicating home infestations these past five years by thoroughly understanding each unique situation before we start treatment. These pests act totally different than other typical structural pests, therefore you have to think outside the box. Research the behavior of the pest you wish to eradicate, research the methods available, and look at your own unique situation before you shell out the $$ to start. If you choose to hire a professional, ask a lot of questions, determine if they will satisfy your expectations, and always get second, third, fourth, etc opinions.
I am also a commercial applicator and I am telling you heat does WORK when done professionally and proper. Most heat treatment exterminators use pesticides due to the residual effects in case there is a “missed” bug or there is a reintroduction. I would never rely on just pesticides with a infestation. A combination is the best. It seems you are just sour about heat treatments or the fact you do not want to incorporate the equipment into your business.
Well My old man kicked me out of the house in the middle of winter -5 F with no where to go except a friend’s house and I took care of him while he was in the hospital and at home as I could of spent it with my friends.
Problem was he had Bed Bugs. Now to me Bed Bugs were like Mosquito’s they suck your bed and that’s it. Well that’s what I thought of at least. Boy I was in for a Rude awakening. This is what I learned about the bastards.
1) Bed Bugs avoid really cold temperatures. My friend’s brother who charged me $400 month, Almost froze me to death by trying to freeze out the bugs in the house, Here in Michigan even though they are year round bugs. They will only come out in full-force from May – Early August. Each female bug lays 5 new eggs per day. If you don’t kill them quickly, you’ll have lots of new friends to play with and they just to crawl all over your body and give love bites just for the hell of it. (Pun intended).
2) I moved from my friend’s house to the new location, Did I get rid of them? I left all my boxes behind, Except my laptop computer, my CPAP machine, some bowls and about 6 bags of clothes. My brother and I used a “UHAUL” to move my stuff to the new home. But before we went to the new home, We went to a Commercial Laundry and washed all the clothes in the hottest water and then stuck on the highest setting on the dryer for 60 mins each.
3) Bed Bugs will get into your hair, your beard, on your skin, in your nose & ears. Yep it happened to me. They also leave welts or bed bug bites in three’s on your skin (Breakfast, lunch, dinner mode). They will also attach themselves and move into the spaces of your laptop computer (Inside Keyboard and the air vents) also your computer, modem, TV’s, Radio, All appliances, clocks, phone, cellphones, clothes, Wallet, purses, gym bags, basically everything you own. So if you move out to a new location, I HIGHLY recommend that you abandoned everything you own. And go to a truck stop, cut off all your hair on your head, shower and leave the old clothes behind as well. Put on all new clothing, move to your new location and get all new clothes and start new as if your house burned to the ground and you lost everything in the fire. The bad part of this is that its a very costly expense, Homeowners insurance does NOT cover bed bug infestations.
4) Don’t get me wrong but I am a religious man. I believe in God, Jesus and the whole 9 yards. But not even Jesus will answer my prayers in regards to getting rid of the bed bugs. I even asked him to let me win the lottery so I can help my landlord house out and others who are affected by bed bugs,, But does he care? Heck no. Maybe God would like to have these little bastards hang out at his place for while and see how the shoe is on the other foot sort of speak. Maybe he’ll care then. Someone once said “Why did God Make Bed Bugs?” The answer I got a kick out of: So that pest control companies could have jobs for their workers! But what pisses me off is that at the poor people’s expense. Most poor people especially me live on social security income and cannot afford $1,500 – $50,000 to kill these damn things, So until God steps to the plate and does something about it, His followers are being bitten and tormented all day, Every day. We’re very limited on where we can go as humans without it spreading to other peoples homes, cars, buses, etc. Thats my 2 cents and I’m sticking to it 😛
By the way, Thanks Dad for kicking me out of the house, I am sure my landlord is thinking of evil ways to get back at me, such as Suing me. Even though I am a forgiving person, I still can’t forget the harm you did me dad!
We found an infestation in our bed frame made like in a camper the lid lifts up. We took it apart. We took all the clothes out of dressers put them it black trash bags then put them in the car parked in the sun. We then moved all the furniture away from the wall. took out all the drawers took off the plug covers, switch cover. WE then brought in an outside burner you use for cooking on. Pretty good size one. We turned on the propane lit it and heated that room to 130 degrees for 4 hours. Have not seen a bed bug since. They were so dead they were dried up.
Can you please tell me what burner you used??
Would the heat treatment melt an electric bed or computer
You have issues.
I agree
What a freaking nightmare! These little bast**** have consumed my life! Without the proper knowledge or education when I first noticed them appear crawling on my pillow, and not even knowing what they were, I never ever saw this bug in my lifetime (until now). I had a sleep study at a facility the night prior where I took with me my own pillow (they suggested it if it makes you sleep better) and also an overnight bag. Right now, I am having them investigated by a lawyer. I have proof from my veterinarian office that I went running to with these icky bugs in a Ziploc bag for identification (now I am also embarrassed to take my cats in). I also have proof because I went running to the Pest control company that day and they made an appointment and came out to my house only quoting me $500 to spray the room and the bed. Sticker shock! They should have educated me on what they will do and how fast they spread! My husband and I were BOTH losing our jobs and starting new ones two weeks after this incident. Wrong time to start racking up more charge cards to some pest company that wants to rape us! So with little knowledge of this creepy bug, we decided to bug bomb BOTH bedrooms. Found out after the fact, that is a NO NO! After doing my OWN RESEARCH because I wasn’t going to get it from the company that I originally called. Until then, I never knew these bugs existed! That company knew if I paid them $500 to spray one room, that I would be calling them again once they traveled to other areas of my home. They just don’t GO AWAY once they are in! How much did that company think they were going to get out of me! Did they even care that the company I worked at for 14 years and my husband 11 years was CLOSING and we were BOTH having to start new jobs! So was so pissed off the day I discovered this bug issue, I had quite a few drinks (I haven’t drank since). Been dealing with this now for a few months. Cleaning, keeping everything in plastic bags, dimataceous earth powder everywhere! I have to get my home heat treated due to the fact I have found them in every room, which I have to borrow money from relatives, which I don’t want to do but they don’t want us to keep living in Hell. We were planning on selling our home and moving before the job situation happened because we live to a psycho neighbor who has been jerk for the last 3 years, we can take his harassment (he also harasses those who come over). I can’t let him know we have this issue! Now we can’t sell the house for awhile now due to this freaking bug issue! Eventually, we will have to sell this house so that I can pay back relatives for the loan of the heat treatment. That is the only way I can do it. Found out 2 months that my 2 cats have thyroid and high blood pressure. I have the worry, stress and money issues with vet bills now. Also due to starting a new job and having no consistency in work shifts anywhere from 6 am to 2. Then 2.30 pm to 11, the next day 10 to 6 or 8.30 to 5. No sleep pattern, always cleaning this house. I almost fell out from stress and they let me go. So now I am still dealing with this stupid house and looking for new employment again! My husband says just light a match! Yeah, like that will solve everything ! I have been so irked off in my whole life!
Back in the 1800’s , they were so bad, people had to burn their homes down. Heat treatment works.
I realize this is an old post but I was to reply in case someone else reads this. YES! These bugs can destroy your life.
My home was beautiful and I had $6000.00 living room furniture. I had to take them to the dump because my senior mother lives with me and she didn’t know these stinking things were biting her. By the time we realized it, our home was infested in three bedrooms and our living room. It’s a living hell.
Not only do they bite you and give you itching welts, the poop on your furniture. They bit me and I would bleed on my bedding and furniture. My quilts that were from loved ones that have passed away are stained now from their feces and my own blood!
My whole home has been destroyed. We became depressed because of this and our home degraded inside and out.
I got these bugs from my job at a retirement home. They haven’t apologized, said kiss my butt, or drop dead.
I had to suffer for a year and a half with these monsters. We sprayed and bombed and everything else. No success whatever.
Tomorrow morning the exterminators are arriving at 8:00am and they’re heat treating our home. THANK GOD! They’re heating to 130 degrees for 8 hours. I want these dirt bags to fry fry fry.
So that’s my story of how these things have destroyed my home. It’s costing me $1520.00 for the heat treatment, then another $200.00 for hotel while they’re treating the house. Almost $2000.00.
You obviously do not know my Jesus. He does answer prayers and sometimes the answer is (no). Maybe if you examine your faith and truly believe in him he would be more willing to assist you.
So if I humble myself and truly believe the bugs will go away? Or will I get a sign. You know, something to tell me its ok to tell the bed bugs “Fie on you little fiends! Get thee hence! The power of Christ compels you!” And then they’ll be gone. Right? Or maybe all the bugs will be cast out and jump onto a herd of swine and dive over a cliff. I would call an exterminator but I fear breaking that commandment “Thou shalt not kill.” I know He sees even the sparrow fall, but does he care about the bed bugs? Who can say? Must be a mystery. Amen
I blame the idiots that went to the bed bug infested countries and brought them back here! That’s who I blame! Now we all suffer!
I don’t think anybody has been to a bug infested country its these motherfucking foreigners coming over to live here and they bringing them in there luggage but yea some people probably decided to visit another country but i bet they didn’t know they jump aboard when it was time to flee the coupe
Gloria & Shaylove: – This is a country where bed bugs have bred and spread for centuries. America has been a bug infested country forever. You think it was those founding brothers who brought them with them from England+ ? Later Ellis Island saw plenty of foreigners who came seeking a new life and they contributed beyond measure to the world we are now living in. They may well not have ever come across a bed bug before. These comments of yours sound racist/anti-foreigner. Americans too send THEIR bed bugs overseas, I’m afraid. Including the multi-million $ yachts which sail in cruising waters everywhere & gather/distribute bugs – and rats. Bed Bugs don’t bother whether you are poor or rich (the Mansions in Newport, RI had them & so do the multi-million $ apartments in NYC now – they just have the $$ to get rid of them asap). Bed bugs are part of this world’s bug population which travels from place to place. No-one is immune. Don’t blame foreigners for this creation of God’s. We have to deal with it. We should not blame others. If we do, that’s the work of the Devil.
Gloria – America here is one of those “bed bug infested countries”. This is a country where bed bugs have bred and spread for centuries. That comment of yours sounds unfortunately racist/anti-foreigner? Americans too send THEIR bed bugs overseas, I’m afraid.
I can heat your home for 8 hrs which will get more areas then show you how to reduce the carbon in the air and blood carbon on everything which attracts them to begin with. $500 first time, $250 each additional. In Michigan area maybe Ohio. $1 mile surcharge everywhere else. You probably just needed heat longer than they were willing and the bugs found a cool spot. You know like wearing gloves in winter temperature just needs more time to get in more areas in time the cold would be down to your bones. 702-539-1407 Rob. Text first I’m really busy being a Pastor. GOD didn’t desire us to suffer, but sin (not necessarily your sin) brought tormenting creatures to earth according to scripture. HIS will be done on earth as in Heaven. No tormenting creatures in Heaven. Dont blame GOD humans and satan cause problems on earth.
Robert where are you located
Abilene Texas
Can you come to southern Ontario, Canada?
I need help with my house and rental house both I California. Either to get the work done if affordable or help to get started with purchasing the right equipment to do the job myself. Please help. Thanks.
Are u still an exterminator? I live in ohio. Need help
You still around might need you in future for heat treatment
Mr. Smith – I hope your circumstances have improved and that you have reached some light at the end of the tunnel. Tough times don’t last forever, but life can seem unbearable at times. Lucado points out in Fearless (a good book to read) that “Fear Not” is the #1 command in the four gospels. I went through some of the same emotions that you did, when helping a family member fight these bugs from hell. My life won’t be the same again. Maybe someday it will make sense but it certainly doesn’t now. I guess maybe I can tell another victim that they are not alone and that there is hope. You are a person of value and great worth. Any parent who makes their son feel otherwise has serious problems. Others need you today. Go light your world.
there are 4 categories of judgment from God – famine, disease, noisome beasts and conquering by the sword, so out of these choices I think noisome beasts ( i.e. bedbugs , demodex) aren’t that bad, you have to be careful and the heat has to be allowed to work on everything.
Mr Smith, I love you man.
Totally, totally relate.
You can make good waves in this world, good luck getting things together
There are probably more in your building . If you live in an apartment and all units weren’t treated they just ran to the neighbors until your apt cooled down :/
Yes, in Toronto there are massive 15 story buildings with rotating infestations in the units
I doubt it was just a straggler unfortunetly. If u have firesafes or ice chests igloos or thermal clothing then these bugs can easily use any of these types of locations as refuge.. winter gloves…… Snow boots…. Down blankets pillows all can be refuge from the heat method. You really need to be able to hear treat at a resident/consumer level… So you are able to apply heat several times…. affordably.
If you want them off your families bodies tonight…. I suggest vicks vapor rub or 3 flowers hair treatment… They hate both of these skin applications.
Vicks does not work
we are doing heat treatments for about 1/2 the price you mention. We are also selling complete system at a much discounted rate.
I need ur help, seeing I can’t afford $1,200 either. I’m passed paranoid and sick and tired of the bites scratching and sleepless nights…..plz help
Buy a $30 portable hand held cloths steamer and go to town hit everything every few days for a week n take all clothes wash n dry hot hot .also steam clean rugs with rental or buy for under $100
What are you selling? I want to purchase
where are you located? I just happened to buy a forced air propane heater three weeks before i contracted these damn bugs. I can heat a place up to 140 degrees and maintain it, with no problem. and wont charge $1,200.00
please email me at: kathyraudabaugh@gmail.com I am trying to help my brother get rid of an infestation he cannot afford him, so I wish to help him. He lives in Philadelphia. Thank you.
id like to know where you are and what prices we could expect to get the bed-bugs gone. does it also work to get rid of the mother-in-law?
bug inferno,
I am interesting in buying the setup at discounted rate.Please reply.
Please contact me.how much to kill this bedbugs? ..323 809 7402
I would love to know how much your services are and how I can get a good deal. we are in desperate need of a treatment. even if you have a payment plan. we work hard and can’t afford to keep getting rid of things. I for once in my life would like to live comfortably and I really hate knowing my children are being attacked my such creatures. please help or any kind of information will be very much useful…
I live in Brooklyn. Do you service this area?
i might be looking to buy a unit? depending on the cost. please email me a price list. thank you walt
Can I get sme ore info?
I live in California, San Jose
Thanks
Bao
Can I get some info about equipment and cost?
I live in California, San Jose
Thanks
What would be the price of the back of a moving truck.i informed my landlord.. But he refused to do anything.so we are moving nov 30. 2013.i live in independence,mo.
Do you guys have a email ?
Where are you located? I am looking for a cheaper heat treatment in northwest Chicago burbs.
I can heat your home for 8 hrs which will get more areas then show you how to reduce the carbon in the air and blood carbon on everything which attracts them to begin with. $500 first time, $250 each additional. In Michigan area maybe Ohio. $1 mile surcharge everywhere else. You probably just needed heat longer than they were willing and the bugs found a cool spot. You know like wearing gloves in winter temperature just needs more time to get in more areas in time the cold would be down to your bones. 702-539-1407 Rob. Text first I’m really busy.
I am in central Michigan wondering if you are still treating homes with heat. Please advise thank you.
Is this deal currently being offered?
I would like to know where you are located. I, like a lot of these folks cannot afford these ridiculous prices! I am interested in a quote please!
I need your help as well.
How much are your heat treatments?t
Hi we have a bad bed bug problem and I have tried everything and nothing is working can u plz let me know how much u would charge to do the heat and get rid of them. I can’t take it anymore and I’ve waisted to much money trying to get rid of them and everyone I call tells me 1,500 or more because of how big my house is. But its a normal sized house
Hi,
I am looking for a heat treatment in my house. Please let me know how much you charge for a one room and a hall..
Write me back on fouzia.khan47@gmail.com
Please email me back as soon as you can! Need to find someone in the area that uses heat treatment! 🙁
I live in south Jersey near AC in a split level home. Can you please let me know if you service this area and if you can give me any idea of pricing.
thank you
Please email me if you do treatments by heat Seattle area. Thx
What system? Did the heat treatments work??
We have had these suckers for about 6 months now and I have a 2yr old little girl that is now been bitten. I’m so fed up but do not have much money at all! I’m basically broke. So when you say you do the heat treatment for half the price listed, what are u talking? Like $500? I’m asking because that’s pretty much all I can afford. Can you help my family and I?
But a steamer and learn how to do it. Mattress covers, using big silicon bags to organize. The whole 9 yards
What’s the name of your company, what state and city or cities are you located in. I am so desperate. I already have health problems and I’m disabled and.can’t afford much. I am feeling lime I’m going crazy. Called my Dr last week thinking I caught body lice or something and she said it sounds like bed bugs fro. What I described. I have ocd and keep everything clean and my kids and grandkids are the only company I ever have but live in a duplex and noticed for the 3rd time since my new neighbors moved in 3 months ago they are replacing their bed and couch and I started getting bit about a month after they moved in please please please can you help me?!!!!!!!!!!””!
What do u charge? When I move from here I want to put my stuff in a heated unit to make sure that I don’t bring them with me! They didn’t come with me as I had absolutely no bug issue and I sure am not leaving with them!
How much do you charge?
Where r u located
I’m in Arizona, how much is the machine? They quoted me $2,400.00 to get rid of them in my 3 bedroom home,
Hey a 100% guarantee they will be successful or else they repeat for free until its resolved. Period.
Do you still heat treat
Where are you located?
I have to say, Heat is the way to go. We tried spraying ourselves. It killed them on the spot but they have sooo many hiding places.
We went with an exterminator who sprayed and heated the bedrooms. It was $2k for 3 bedrooms and they sprayed 4 additional rooms. The company I used offered financing for those who couldn’t pay it all at once.
Knowing my home is bed bug free and we haven’t seen any signs of them since the treatment (and let me tell you, I had the welts BIG time)… I am itch free and happy.
What company did you use and what city do you live in?
I need to know that company as well,
Can you give me the number to the guys who helped you please?
Hi. If I receive heat treatment for bedbugs, would it melt TV ‘s, blinds & so on? Thank u in advance.
Hello: Would like to know if you had heat treatment, did you have to remove items like medicine, dry foods, pictures ,photo’s, anything that could get damaged with 1-2 hours of hot heat! Someone who said they used to work for a pest co. said shut all doors&windows, turn on the heat up& turn on the oven w/ the door open ! I got them in my bed & a couch. Don’t know if their in the carpet! Want to know anything else you did too.In Auburndale, Fl. Thanks !
We are infested with these blood sucking insects and i need help. i have 4 kids so money is really tight. i am putting down a powder called diatomaceous earth does this really work? and can i use servall kerosene heaters to bring the temperatures of my house up to kill these things? Please help me in anyway thank you.
Diatomaceous earth works, but you have to be VERY careful with it. You don’t want to use it at all if you have pets, it can kill them. I would use it if I had kids either. Diatomaceous earth kills bugs because they breathe it in, and the powder it like a thousand tiny little razor blades to them. Unfortunately, if you (or or kids or pets) breathes it, it can cause serious harm to your lungs. That is why if you do use it, you want to wear a good protective mask when you apply it, and you don’t want to apply it anywhere that it can get blown around the house, like near heating ducts or air intakes, or near windows.
FOOD GRADE Diatomaceous is pet and even baby safe, but no, you should not breathe in anything but air… The bugs don’t breathe the stuff… the stuff gets on their shells, dries them out and they burst, which by the way releases an oily type substance into the air which you can smell, you can smell that release even if you just kill one yourself.
I don’t have means to do heat or chemical yet, and boy are these things nasty. Moved into an apartment complex belonging to a landlord who won’t spend the dough/make the effort to clean out the old apartments… I am sure with the insect-bombs the managers use, they just make the bugs run into other apartments (we’re all connected by water pipes carrying heat in the winter…) – what I am hoping to do is be able to apply all the bug killing techniques we can for the month before we move out in order to avoid taking any of their eggs with us. It’s been 18 months… yuck!
The problem with this is the ones that aren’t killed will flee, I. Apt buildings that means sending them back and forth and reinfestations
Wrong wrong wrong.I am an organic farmer.i use DE by the bag full.it works it isn’t toxic to humans or animals.As a matter of fact you can eat it.i have done so.DE has been used for decades In grain storage silos as an insect exterminator.Any where they use grain,like at Kellogg’s for instance.It works like tiny pieces of glass.It abrades or scratches the waxy exo skeleton of the offending pest and they die by desiccation.the only kind you don’t want to use is the swimming pool filter type.DE works!
Yes you can use kerosene heaters. I pretty much got rid of the bugs using electric heaters, steam cleaning and powed and sprays. Having a friend over ride the furnace this weekend to heat again.
We have tried everything except heat and the DE. The heat method sounds like it’s what we need. We only have them in 1 of the bedrooms. We know this becuase we have been sleeping everywhere but our room. We have a king size waterbed frame that is thier home and they are very happy there. My hubby has no ill effects from the bites I have HUGE WELTS that are almost unbearable.
Hubby even used portable propane thingee (DO NOT DO THIS YOURSELF EXTREMELY DANGEROUS!!!) and went over every single piece of frame after we took it apart and I spent 5 days with an alcohol sprayer and a deck of cards squishing the little buggers. We got most of them I only saw about 10 on the bed last night (3 stage 2/3 and 7 babies) compared to the 75 or 100 i would see before in 1 checking of the bed.
In all I have spent a solid week trying to get rid of these things that doesnt count all of the steaming, vacuuming and missed sleep because of these beasts. If heat doesn’t work I guess we’ll just sell the house!
We really think they are just in 1 room this is possible right? I mean we have no signs in any other rooms.
I’m so tired of these pesky bugs we had them June 2012 got rid of them so we thought u til June 2013 a yr exactly they showed back up!!!!! Sad part is my husband is a pest control guy!! We have got to get rid of these gonna try steam has anyone tried this n does it work?
Try doing a heat treatment that works the best!!!
I bought a night stand and chest of drawers oncraigslist. It did have a funny smell, but thought it would go away, it was in my bedroom for less than a week before I realized that I was getting bites at night. I threw the furniture out. I live in the south, and fortunately it’s summer. I have a 5×8 enclosed cargo trailer, so I put all my belongings in it for 2 days. I’m sure the temp was 115-120 inside the trailer. Then I borrowed a friend’s portable indoor camp heater. Put it in the bedroom and was able to achieve heat of 120-125, so we left it going for 4 hours. Then I bought an encasement for my mattress and and a metal bed frame. I also put glue traps, the kind for mice under the feet of my mattress. Then I pulled back the carpet and put diatomaceous earth along all the baseboards and laid the carpet back down. I’ve slept in my bed now x 2 nights with no bites, and no signs of the bugs in the glue traps. I’ve since moved my belongings back from my cargo trailer back into my room. I am hoping this all worked since the furniture was only in my room for less than a week.
Did it work?
Please give mew an estimate!! 1600 sq feet (include garage)
We are bagging and sealing many items that can’t be laundered and putting them in closed vehicles during the day (it’s summer and they’re getting to over 130*).
I live in Las Vegas, where it is above 100 degrees for about 90 days per year. If I select a day that is going to be say 110 degrees, can’t I just leave the house for the day and turn on the heater?
we have been dealing with these awful insects for over a year they started off in my daughters room we took everything out threw all her bedroom furniture away bought her new furniture cleaned the whole room with bleach as well as lined the base boards with boric acid powder, we even bleached the walls checked the rest of the house had no sign of them anywhere else the bugs were gone for a couple of months then she found some again ! So we cleaned really good again we cant afford to have the house heated,i have now found them in my bedroom,bathroom,living room,we are infested! so we are going to try to turn up our heat its summer time we live in TN so its in the 90’s & so turn the heat up seal the house off & leave for the day,these are awful things I hope this works if anybody thinks its a bad idea plz email me n let me know at johnsonemily57@yahoo.com
Unfortunately none of those methods will work. Id say to use Drione for you dust but you need to be applying a good wetspray to all infested areas!!
Bleach won’t work do your homework
No you should never do that it’s very dangerous. We do heat treatment in las Vegas if you have any questions don’t hesitate to call hidden city pest control 702-438-0031
I ordered a heater today called energedry eliminator. It was almost $2000. I found info on the internet. I paid a guy to use heat in one bedroom and it cost $589. I had also treated it with spray. After he ran the heater for 3 days I slept in the room for 5 nights and got no bites and saw nothing. With this heater I can kill them myself and have the peace of mind that this problem can be solved. I have small apt. I rent out so I see this problem not going away.
How much do you rent it out for and where do you live I am in city of industry
Can someone tell me what I have to remove out of my home before we do a heat treatment..such as electronics..
I have the same question?
Electronics are fine with heat. for example a Sony PS3’s fan doesn’t come on until it reaches 160*F
Think of it like this, what wouldn’t you leave in your car on a 100* plus day.
@Jeri Holden, If you are going with a professional they should give you a heat sensitive checklist. On our companies list we require any paint (can or gallon), fire Extinguishers, or any other pressurized cans be removed (Like hairspray or perfume). Along with those you should remove ammunition, Oil paintings, Vinyl window blinds, records (the music kind). Makeup and candles can be put in the freezer. All clothing and bedding should be left where it is except for one pair of clothes that is either new or fresh out of the dryer and put straight into a sealed bag to change into before returning into the house to prevent re-infesting. I don’t have our heat list on hand so these are just the general guidelines.
fresh clothes good, but what if your car is infested? When you come back after heat treatment, you could have them on your fresh clean clothes from the car. Also. what if you have them in your hair? You will bring them back in. While doing laundry, if you brush up against your own clothing, or the top of the washer and dryer have eggs or something there that you can’t see..your laundry duties are in vain. how do you clean an infested car in in an apt. complex you can’t vacuum… are there bombs for cars?
Sorry forgot to address the electronics, we use thermal blankets to keep direct heat from hitting large electronics such as TV’s but still allows them to get to the thermal kill point (We also gather and cover all small electronics). No electronics should be removed since the bed bugs don’t mind living in them and will just re-infest when returned to the structure.
We would love to do the heat treatment, and it would be nice to do a payment plan as well. Could someone please give us information. Thanks
Did you ever get the information you needed for the heating treatments??
Michael Can you please tell me what to do about the car? If I have this heat treatment done in my apt can’t I bring them back in out of my car? Please advise.
If you are able to drive to a hot location…Palm Springs in the summer, Launder all of your clothing – high heat and seal in a plastic bag. Head south. Tenting perhaps. If you use a hotel-make sure you do the bed bug dance to ensure they are off your body-bring only what you need – removing it from your sealed bag. When you arrive in Palm Springs – park the car in a sunny spot – leave all items in it – including shoes – open suitcase up if you brought one. Go for out for a bit to eat or to a museum. 3 hour later – return to your car. My understanding is that 90 degrees F=138 degrees F in a car (make sure the window are NOT open. Also, not that this process was suggested to me by an extermination company as a means of not reintroducing your home to bed bugs after treatment and also to remove critters from your car.
Michael D are you by any chance near the Philadelphia area?
Since I live in a one room studio apt with kitchenette and bath, I am thinking turning the heat up full blast, then adding a small box heater I have could work. i tried it wiithout added heater and it got very hot for many hours. I noticed I still got baby bites. It might not have got all the eggs. Somebody told me to be reful with 140 degrees due to possbilities of spontaeous combustion I am a writer and have lots of papers and books, around. Does anyone know if this is a true concern?
We have them… this is our second go around, our neighbors had them but refused to be exterminated. The first time we noticed them was last year and Rose Exterminators came and did our unit and the one above but the one below refused for whatever reasons and kept saying that they did not have them. Well here we are 14mths later and we have seen them. After the initial infiltration, we begin to use alcohol to get the baseboards throughout our unit and to also put on the boxsprings and spray the furniture with every few days, then we slacked off and started using it once a week or every 2 weeks. Well now they are back in full force and my question is, we have the exterminator coming out for treatments with his chemicals and some powder stuff that he puts into the crevices that is supposed to dry them out, but, we live in an older building that has radiators and I want to know if we crank the heat up and close all the windows and doors, can we use the heat of the radiator which btw if it is on high, makes it feel like a sauna to the point that the windows are sweating, will this work?
Please advise, any help would be great. I just don’t want to waste time doing this if it is useless.
Again like i have mentioned above using chemical wet spray and a dusting is the best methods. Unfortunately if you live in an apt and others don’t get treated you will become re-infested.
Hi We are having different PCO’S come to our house so we can see how GOOD they are to have our home heated I’m wondering if the heat really kills the bugs in through thick furnisher like reclyners what about book shelves with books all tightly together on shelves same as packed paper I use for my printer Thank You
we have bed bugs and do not have the money to get rid of them what can I do and does the turbo machines work for the heat treatment and we also have fish in the house we have not slept in our bedroom for so long we are in the living room and kitchen on couches and cots and air mattresses please help we want them gone thanks
wow that sounds like a real problem. You need fix the problem and contact a PCO. You and your families health is more important than a possibility of being eaten up by Bed Bugs. Where do you live? I can refer you to a good company. I work on the commercial side and service many 4-star hotels. I can point you in the right direction.
PS using a chemical and dusting application is alot cheaper and effective than heat treatment.
How is it more effective? The chemical has to come in contact with bug in order to work. So you have to find them to kill them. Heat finds them for you and kills them. All stages, including eggs. Chemicals will not kill the eggs.
I’m in phoenix Arizona can u lead me in the right direction I saw a bug on my bed last night I have a newborn I can’t let them get out off hand I’m thinking about turning up the heat and going to a hotel for 3 days please help me
Hotels are the most common place to pick up a bed bug. Regardless of how clean the hotels are, they have bugs so going to a hotel could only make ur problem even worse.
How is it cheaper when an exterminator charges over $3000
That is a rediculous price and I’ve tried everything except exterminators & heat…..tried sprays, running alcohol, bombs…..I think the heat is the way to go cuz it’s way cheaper and most of them work with u on a payment plan……I thought I had them gone it’s been almost ten months and here they come again….I just saw two adults and a red baby last night……I’m done messing with time wasting worthless methods……I think if ppl actually read the info waaaaay up top and follow the directions about
sealing the house off with caulking and I’m buying a total new wardrobe…..sadly like one or two a month but whatever it takes to get rid of these….I refuse to do this battle alone…….
Can someone from this company please call me I’m in Roseville Ohio
740-621-6846
Please hurry before I lose my flippin sanity…..
We are worried as we have started to find these bugs and cant afford heat treatment in the city where we live (no quote is under 1500). With baby, chemical and powder are not ideal. We have a newborn. This is super disturbing and unsafe/sanitary. Please help. Can u refer a reputable provider in the DC ares that is affordable or does payment plans? Thank you so much
Hi, I would like to take you up on your offer to recommend a pest control person in the Chicago area. Thanks.
They are atracked to carbon monoxide so they will travel to where ever you sleep.
I use sprays at the company I work for we have a 95% success rate but the down side for the customer is CLEANING. I always recommend to my customers to go to lowes/homedept , and rent a steam cleaner to thoroughly clean the carpets, drapes, furniture ect. As effective as our methods are, its still a pain if youre not into cleaning. maybe someone with OCD would have a problem haha
Can I get a list of what to remove and any other helpful hints as we are going to treat with heat ourselves. We just can’t afford the cost of a pro as my husband is out of work. They infestation is not bad but these little buggers cause sleepless nights. I’m in East Tn. Thanks for your help.
Faye
Can i buy heater fans and do it myself
we have kissing bugs and don’t have the cash to dispose of them what would I be able to do and does the turbo machines work for the high temperature treatment and we additionally have angle in the house we have not dozed in our room for so long we are in the lounge and kitchen on sofas and bunks and pneumatic beds please help we need them gone much obliged
Kissing bugs (chugas, right?) are FAR more dangerous to people than bed bugs. It is CRITICAL that you get rid of them immediately. They carry a parasite that infects the human heart FOR WHICH THERE IS NO KNOWN cure, once they take hold; if a person is suspected of having the Kissing Bug Disease, there is hope in the very beginning when doctors can prescribe a course of antibiotics, but after the parasite takes hold, there is no known medical nor natural way to rid the heart of the parasite and it can kill a person (now please know God is the author and creator of salvation and everything else and can cure any disease anytime, but on the practical side Chugas is very dangerous).
DO WHATEVER YOU HAVE TO to get rid of Kissing Bugs (chugas).
OH, OH, OH UHGLEE… I AM WRONG… Just did a search on this topic and found the following results: There was a study done by University of Pennsylvania on transmission of the trypanosome cruzi parasite, the one that causes Chagas disease (also spelled that wrong, sorry). Well, huh, so much for bed bugs not being dangerous. The study documented 75% transmission of the parasite TO the bed bug by infected mice; another study has shown transmission of the parasite TO uninfected mice; the Kissing Bug is much larger than a bed bug (and likes feeding on the human face), therefore ends up being called the Kissing Bug, but the transmission doesn’t have to be through a bite – actually, it is generally through the feces and scientists have now documented that the bed bug does defecate when it feeds.
Therefore, I am moving out of this apartment at the end of the lease in October, and I am going to find a blood test for me and my son that can tell if we have been infected by that very dangerous parasite. Gee whiz. Why does life have to be so hard and why did I put up with this? Oh yeah, I remember, because I don’t have any money.
Howdy We are having distinctive PCO’S gone to our home so we can perceive that they are so great to have our home warmed I’m thinking about whether the hotness truly murders the bugs in through thick furnisher like reclyners shouldn’t we think about book racks with books all firmly together on racks same as stuffed paper I use for my printer Thank You
read the research paper done in Virginia, its on Google, and you will see how the industry determined ho to get all the contents of a home hot enough to have 100% kill ratio on all stages of the bed bug.
a person must consider risks for re-infestation. does someone in the home work as a cleaner or a pesticide applicator so that they may be bringing in new bugs? Or do you live in an apartment, like I unfortunately do, where our units are connected by radiator pipes and I can’t control what others do?
Bummer. The Virginia health department I think it is that reports the results talks about 122.6 or so will kill them; but the tests were in real house-like environments, with dressers and beds and clothes and books and so forth. They put temperature monitoring strips inside linens in a middle of a stack in the closet, and behind dressers, and far from the heaters, etc. They used fans to circulate the air that were separate from the heater, and so on.
One thing I am pretty sure, you are not staying inside the place if it is getting hot enough for long enough to kill all stages of the bug.
Good luck everyone.
As for me, for this time being, I tell my friends I have started my own non-profit, without even doing the paperwork – every night I lay down and give blood!
We all simply just can’t have the funds for the cost of an experienced guitarist as my husband will be needing work. These people pests isn’t undesirable yet these kinds of tiny buggers lead to sleepless days. I’m inside Eastern side Tn. Appreciate it on your support.
That is why employing exterminators exactly who utilize chemical compounds is not often advisable. Because eggs may specifically become invisible, you could possibly find yourself killing your pesky insects that you discover and then finding in which eggs tend to be hatching and also issuing additional advisors through out your property.
Would I be able to get a rundown of what to evacuate and some other accommodating indications as we are going to treat with high temperature ourselves. We simply can’t manage the cost of the expense of a master as my spouse is out of work. They infestation is not awful however these little buggers cause restless evenings. I’m in East Tn. A debt of gratitude is in order regarding your assistance.
I live in Las Vegas, where it is over 100 degrees for around 90 days every year. On the off chance that I choose a day that will be say 110 degrees, wouldn’t i be able to simply go out for the day and turn on the radiator?
Yeah let us know. We too are in las Vegas. Very interesting to know if we can just move out for a week in dead summer. How long have u had this issue???
That will get the bugs moving. I have been waiting for the summer to do somthing similar in Florida. My house is in the sun, I plan to turn the AC off, and let it heat up, it can reach 108 degrees in the house, This will get them moving out of there hiding spaces, safer places for them.. At which point I will be sprying all the cracks and crevices with chemicals and dusting with a powder that I found seems to work. (not Diatamacious earth, that sht doesnt work at all, its a diff powder, same priciple tho). I might even put a AC in 1 room, so they run in there, and bomb the sht out of it. This should qwell the population, but Im sure it won’t kill them all. I’ll do it again a 1 week later, to kill the 1 hatching.
Spraying your bed down with the highest proof of alchohal, (mabby a little vinegar, since they dislike that as well) about an 30 mins to an hour before bed will keep them off you as they dislike the smell, and you won’t smell it after 30 mins. You can atleast sleep well.
My biggest concern about these bugs is my potential guests, I’d like to bring my girlfriend over, but I can’t, and my cousin is about to start collage around the corner from the house, and I’d like the house to be ready for her to stay here for school. Luckily I don’t seem to be effected by there bites, but I don’t want them to suffer. If I can atleast limit the population and keep spraying, they should completely die out after like 6 months to a year.
DE does work if applied properly
Im curious as to how this went too. I live in the desert and plan to try the same thing. The temp is expected to be 115` outside and we plan to turn off AC and leave the house for 24 hrs. We have done many of the other methods, including DE, spray, and foggers. We are not seeing anything but I was planning to do the heat as just another step.
Hello we need help getting rid of bad infestation in my house. I would like to discuss how much it would cost get rid of these blood suckers. My phone number is (740)349-2205 please ask for Steven Price or Rosalind. Thank you.
We got rid of bad infestation by doing following cheap or free things(helps if you have extra hands to help) first gather all bed linens clothes stuffed animals anything that can go in dryer..dry everything high heat place in large trash bags seal with duck tapetape. Rent or buy hand held clothes steamer use on all beds (blow dryer will also work if high wattage) and rugs. When done use dryer sheets between sheets n mattress will repel them repeat as needed.
Im from the UK and i have had bed bugs, i recently had the heat treatment throughout my house which set me back £1800, after the treatment was completed they sprayed the house with insecticide and layed diatemaceous earth powder throughout every room in my home.
We came home 4 hours after the treatment and the house was still extremely hot, quite unbearable actually. We searched the house and found several (not as much as i thought i might) bugs had been completely fried. Unfortunately 2 days later and i have more bites on me, some places say it can take up to 2 weeks for a bite to show which i hope is true and i hope this is what has happened to me.
Heat treatment does work but for now im unsure as to whether its 100% effective, the next 10-12 days will be interesting.
Luckily for me the company i used gave a 3 month guarantee and not many uk companies will do that.
Did it work?
what was the end result on the heat treat for bed bugs? what was the co. you used or the guarantee they gave?should i do the heat treat?
Any update Adam?
hello to all, suffering in Southern California. woke up proximately a month ago at 3 a.m. bed bugs dinner hour to discover infestation. was infested 5 years ago and took 3 months to eradicate using nothing but poor person methods of concoctions I made with pyrnthium Flowers (used in flea and tick shampoo, as well as the medicated washes you can get by prescription from a doctor). recognized what it was immediately and started treating. continued treating needed items to flee my home doused myself and my dog with treatment fluid and left the house. been out, since that time staying mainly in my vehicle in the driveway of my family home. returned to remove all clothing linens and bed. been gathering treatment information and preparing to go in to use heat method. to my advantage I have been staying on in interim basis in a small 27 foot travel trailer. As my family has been doing extensive remodeling on the family home requiring periods turning off utilities. I am fairly ill with over 30 diagnosis of various types including fibromyalgia. this makes me very sensitive to chemicals, pesticides, cleaning materials etc. so I can only use natural methods in this eradication process. definitely going with the heat method probably in combination with using phrithiums, cinnamon, cayenne pepper, apple cider vinegar, ginger oil garlic, onions, lemon etc. since I live in only a small space, with sufficient duct tape and caulking to prevent escape I think I should be able to reach a sufficient level of heat to fry these crispy critters by mearly turning on all lights
and using space type heaters. even on mildly sunny days in this area it easily reaches 100 degrees inside this trailer, so I feel I should be able to reach the proper temperature and keep it there for a good long time. Teating all of my clothing etc will come secondary. Find myself lucky that I am single and not working with only my dog so feell I should be able to accomplish the necessary eradication. without it having to take three months like before. I am NOT renting or buying special heating devices. so good luck to me. hope all who are following this site are able to achieve the cleanliness and have the freedom from bed bugs that everybody deserves. please feel free to contact me at my email if I can offer any assistance. good luck and God bless.
hi there, i have found contradicting reports on heat treatments. thermapure heat lists temperature death at 45° c 15 mins nymphs and adults and 60 mins for eggs then at 46° c all stages die at 7 mins. then above i see températures listing 60° c. my landlord has now recently told me that 63°c for one hour was neccessary. what is up with this? i understand that the hotter it is the faster they die, but is there an equation available somewhere?
I have had them and the heat treatment I highly recommend. I never had a problem since and its been 3 years.
who did you use to get rid of the bed bugs?
Hello, I found 2 bedbugs on my bed can’t afford a heating treatment threw out my mattress and boxspring. It gets about 85 degrees during the day here in Ohio if I turn my heat on about 90 will it kill them
We discovered bed bugs around sept 2014 by accident. Looking at photos online it could have been worse but it still was pretty bad in my room only. I read everything laundered everything sprayed and de everything once a week we tore the bed apart and did it all over again. For three months skipping one week we did this. We slacked off for three weeks and thought the de mattress r casements sprays viligant vacuuming and washing did the trick we were high fiving each other. Periodically I checked kids rooms and nothing. Thinking we got rid of issues a week ago I noticed them in my sons room so his bed was trashed and I switched to cimex silicone powder. I can say that mixed with mattress encasements and de everywhere else in my house seems to be making an improvement. I bleached all baseboards repainted walls and did things others may not do. I am a neat freak and powder all over drives me insane but it seems to help just very slow. You have to stay on top of it if u use it and don’t breathe it in. We recently sprayed the carpets with phantom and left for vacation to see if it helps. We live in Texas and we turned off the air and we have had over 100 degree temps so hoping my house got hot for them too. I’ll be happy to share. But it seems being consistent and cleaning at least weekly makes a difference and washing everything in warm water with high heat dry at least one time a week
I used a hot pressing iron to kill 70% of them in my mattress here in lagos,nigeria.try it cos it works wonder
i just spoke to a heating bed bug company in North Carolina , they charge by sq ft, with a $300.00 min and their trucks can heat multiple units near each other, ie for landlords of apartment buildings, take 30-60mins to set up and break down, about 2-3 hours to get to kill temp, then 2-4 hours to kill… so between 6-9 hours to exterminate, and they guaranty for 30days, or a second heating will be of no charge. this is just cause i notice a-lot of people concerned with a $1200 price. So if your in a small place its more affordable. hope this helps. And the idea of using chemicals is just unsafe and problematic. A friend in New Jersey payed for chemical for 4 visits then hired the dog bed bug sniffer and there were still pockets of them after 4 chemical spraying, mind you this was a small 2 bedroom unit 800 sqft. and it all cost almost 2000.00 plus consider the possible poisoning effect to you afterwards. Commercial Applicator is a hack, afraid their business model is out of date and they will lose business, so evolve, and stop spreading lies like the chemicals you spray.
I have only seen a few live mature ones. One on my shirt and one in my bathroom, this is after a mattress, that had a few visible ones, was being removed. I haven’t slept in my bed and have moved to the couch out of fear. I spray alcohol and use a steamer, I have hardwood floors, is that good or bad? I only seen one other tiny live one as I was steaming and spraying alcohol onto furniture. I feel like I have only gotten bitten a few times but with the itch of mosquito bites I’m not quite certain. Is it possible on a hot summer day in Kansas to turn on the heat and leave for a day? I’m curious. If the answer is no, everything is going to be in the dumpster.
I hate to be the one telling you this, but even if you switch sleeping areas and they were in area where you slept before, they will pickup on your scent. That’s what happened to me. Buy a total mattress encasement and same for the pillows. I bought just a cheap plastic cover that slips over the mattress at first and it didn’t work. Sometimes I would sleep in the spare room when my husband would have to get up at 3.15 am and I didn’t wanna to be woke that early. Well, they followed me into the Master bedroom. Also unattached any headboard if you have one. Put the feet of the bed in small containers of dimataceous earth powder (hardware store, relatively inexpensive) so that any bugs will fall into the powder before they reach you. I hope I helped in any way. Best of luck.
We’ve had such a nightmare experience since bedbugs invaded our home – my kids used to wake up horrifically covered in bites. We’ve had guests come over and they found bedbugs crawling on them. We’ve tried diamatecous earth and every kind of spray and bomb you can buy. These treatments have all turned out just to be a temporary fix, bedbugs have SO many hiding places I truly wonder if it’s possible to eradicate them by using these methods, even if you remove your baseboards and electric socket covers, etc.
We’ve found an exterminator as low as $800 but I have my doubts as to if that will even be a permanent solution. So I discussed it today with our landlord and we both think heat treatment is the logical next step. He thinks he can find one of those industrial-strength heaters for around $200-$300 and that way we can use it multiple times by sealing off the room and raising the heat hot enough to kill them. The advantage of using a heater is you can use it multiple times over and over and not have to pay a fortune to exterminators once the bugs come back after even a year or two.
I’ll let you know how it goes, and GOOD LUCK everyone (we’re gonna need it!) 🙂
I am thinking highly about doing the heat treatment. But first can someone answer me these few questions first. 1) will the heat melt my bed bug bed cover or do I need to remove it? also my bed is all wood, It is one that has the dressers underneath ( built in) will it be able to kill them if I don’t take it apart? ( afraid if I take it apart I cant put it back together. 2) what do I do with my food in my cupboards like my can goods? and 3) do I need to pull out my dressers china cabnet?
We hired a company to rid our home of these little monsters with heat about a year ago. They said we had to leave the house for at least 4 hours. When I found out I’d forgotten my wallet we returned just to pick it up and found out that they had already left after less than 15 minutes! The house wasn’t even warm, the furniture had been turned upside down, and there were some things missing! All for the small price of $1300! There was no way to prove anything as we had let them into our home. If you have this done DO NOT LEAVE YOUR HOME!!! Stay outside and watch to make sure these CON ARTISTS do what you paid them to do. Also a “torpedo” heater from Lowe’s or another big box store can do the same thing but you must be very careful not to set a fire. They can be rented or a nice one can be purchased for around $700. When you are done you still have the heater the only cost being the propane used and electric. We now have no bedbugs for about 8 months!
I plan to take stuff our of my home such as my jewelry. I have to have my whole house heat treated, unfortunately, I have tried everything. This also means that I have to board my 3 cats somewhere for the day, also another expense. Dimataceous earth powder works because of they cross in it they won’t live, it doesn’t totally eliminate the source. Hopefully I can trust this company not to take anything from my home. I plan to hang around the area and check in to make sure it’s done right. Thanks for the heads up.
who did you use? im about to have this done and i live in ks. i want to make sure i dont use that exterminator
So a torpedo heater worked for you? I have a the bed done bath and a garage. Think a couple torpedo heater will work for me?
There are a lot of people out there who are taking full advantage of the bedbug problem. Do not trust anyone with access to your home without staying and making sure they do what they were paid to do! Do not pay someone to rob you like I did. I live in Huron county, Ohio and actually paid someone who came in and ripped me off while I was “away” from my home for this treatment! This is my second comment here as I don’t think my first one will be left up. These people are heartless, worse than the bedbugs!
I wish I could try this. My father and I have been living with bed bugs for months now. It’s embarrassing to admit that but when the problem first started it started with me getting a rash. I break out in rashes easy. Sometimes a new soap is all it takes and I noticed the red itchy bumbes around the same time of starting a new body wash and detergent. My dad didn’t have a rash at all so it just seemed like the usual problem. Then I started seeing little bugs on the bed. I had never seen a bed bug before and only saw one once and a while so figured it was just something crawling in from the window. As I started seeing more I caught a few and looked them up and found the worst news possible. Sense that time we see more and more everyday it feels. The biggest problem we have is where and how we live. My father and I make just enough to live where we are and to eat. We can’t afford to leave (not that we believe that would help). We stay in a extended stay hotel where we have been for five years (before we were homeless for almost a year). We can’t tell the office where we stay about our problem, they have kicked others out for bedbugs and don’t want to be next. We have no where else to go. If we are kicked out of here we will lose everything all over again. We can’t afford an exterminator or this heat treatment and even if we could it would get us caught. We have the bare minimum or possions and it’s not like we can just throw everything we own away. The mattress isn’t ours so getting rid of that or replacing that is impossible (not that we have the money). I am the only one breaking out due to the bits. And I have marks all over my body. My right arm is a mess and looks like I have some kind of skin disease. It’s bad enough I have a bad feeling my whole arm will be covered in little scares. We don’t know what to do! Anyone have any advice?
I will be removing all furniture and clothes carpet to bare room/ and some of the paneling where bugs were seen nesting in cracks// leaving mattress and box springs/sealing any cracks and spaces for them to escape/vacuuming all of room/ heating with electric heaters/ got inside outside temp thermometer to moderate temp inside room// vacuum room/ renting wallpaper steamer and steaming all// spraying with bedbug bully// puffing with DE// bed bugs will follow you to the place where you sleep or set/ so you can move them out of a room by moving yourself out/ then you can kill them /then remove the bed or sofa out with their new nest// but you must do the above to kill their eggs//or they will hatch and come looking for blood//
Has anyone found anything that works// I don’t want to burn my house down by miss using heaters//
Should I remove the carpet// I have old wooden floor under carpet//
My name is nichole rapp I have two kids and a husband. We live in chillicothe ohio….in a nice trailer….my stepkids brought these bugs into our home….if there are anyone or n e proffessionals that can give me n e tios or advice plz call 7404668770 i would really appreciated it. We sont have money but we need these fone before they get bad i have only found four but im.freaked out. Thank u so much and plz take the time if u know n e thing at all that will be helpful.
I recently found nests of bed bugs in my bed and on 1 of my couches. That was the only places I seen them. But there were a bunch on those 2 items. The other 2 chairs in my livingroom appeared to be clean, as well as both of my kids rooms. So I went ahead and trashed all of my livingroom furniture including the chairs that appeared to be free of BB(just in case) and my mattress. I covered all of my kids bedding with mattress and pillow covers for protection. I coated everything in my house with budbug bully (a product I purchased online to spray and kill them) then my husband brought in 2 industrial kerosene heaters and heated our entire house to 120-130 degrees for approx 6 hours from 8pm to 2am. We also continued to spray on and off while we were doing this heat treatment. (We understood the risk, it was dangerous and I dont recommend anyone try that on their own, it can be very dangerous ) haven’t seen any since, but that was only 2 days ago. Do u think we may have beat these bastards for good?? Any advice is much appreciated
We must raise awareness of this public health menace to the public through the media! Silence is no longer an option. We cannot continue to allow this to spread into our own homes and our neighbors’ homes, violating our lives and destroying our peace of mind. People have committed suicide over the damned bed bugs. Enough is enough. The EPA and Public Health Departments need to be doing their jobs. Posters and fliers need to be posted in thrift stores, hotels, cabins, theaters, restaurants, cruise ships, etc. We need public service announcements to help people know what to look for, so they do not get caught off-guard. This is the INFORMATION AGE – so by all means, get people informed!!! Help them know how to take precautions when they travel and when they go to public places. Educate them as to what to look for EVERY TIME they stay in a hotel/motel. I recently stayed in a cabin in the Shawnee Forest with my sister, and after we returned, she had bed bugs in her apartment. The doctors thought the welts were an allergic reaction and treated it with steroids. It was two months before we discovered the bed bugs, and by that time they were rampant.
The exerminator’s treatment cost $750. The cleaning costs and replacement costs (of the items we threw out) were another $300. The lost sleep and psychological damage are still on-going. Central IL is not progressive enough to offer heat treatments in this area. So we had to settle for chemical treatments, which were not adequate. It was only through our daily killing of a few nymphs a day and the diatomaceous earth that we sprinkled everywhere, that we were able to get rid of them. It’s like cancer in remission – you never know when they will return (or even if you have for sure gotten rid of them.) Every lint particle, every crumb, every itch makes you think they are still there. Our lives will never be the same again. It could have been prevented if we had known how common they are in hotels, motels, and cabins. It could have been prevented if we had known what signs to look for and what the bugs look like. The ironic thing is that the cabin owners had a flier posted on the wall that showed the types of ticks to be aware of in the woods. Why in the world did they not post a picture of a bed bug? That seems very irresponsible. I am not planning to do any more overnight travel ANYWHERE as long as bed bugs are allowed to spread like wildfire without the public being armed with information on how to protect themselves. Education is the key. This is everyone’s problem. We must fight it together.
I can relate. We will have bedbug PTSD for months to come. The itching and welts are worse than mosquitoes, fleas, or ants. We will probably be left with scars. One thing we learned is to NEVER, EVER purchase 2nd hand furniture. We threw out the furniture, wiped down all our wall art with alcohol, got a pest control guy to spray our affected room with Crossfire. It was $400.00. He will come back twice and do more inspections. We are not itching anymore and our welts are slowly healing. Geez. What a scourge!
I’ve been sleeping on my couch as well. I thought I could starve them too. Someone on some website said it wouldn’t work. Is that true? I’ve only seen one bug on the couch but never again. I’ve not been bitten on my couch ever. In my bed I would always wake up with at least six bites everyday. I’ve isolated them in my bedroom for almost a year. I don’t even go in there anymore. It’s the coldest room in the house. I tried laying down in there awhile back to see if they were gone but It was only a matter of minutes I saw them coming for me. I have tried sprays, doesn’t work. Traps don’t work. I never tried alcohol but I will. I’ve had DE in between my mattress and box springs for years . I heard they would kill any fleas that got in your bed. I had 5 cats at the time that all slept with me. Sounded like a good idea. I didn’t have fleas in my bed but I don’t think it works on these bed bugs. I may try the ironing method I saw someone mention here. Also, doesn’t it seem strange to anyone that bad outbreaks seem to be happening in clusters in areas? I mean like all of the sudden in the past two years I’ve seen more bb sprays and mattress covers and the like being bought off the shelves so fast and so frequent just in my city alone it (I work in retail) we can’t replace the supply fast enough. conspiracy??
REPLY
Looking for a low cost heat treatment for bed bugs in my 4 bedrooms, approximately 1000 square feet in Paterson NJ area. Contact andypassa@gmail.com or 862-290-7556
Hello my name is Shay reside in Jacksonville Florida I confused on how to treat these critters
by steam, chemicals,heat or fumigation.I’m losing sleep and weight depressed need life back and a peace of mind. How to get rid of these things I wont allow grand baby and grandson over afraid of them being bitten and I’m
apprehensive about making a visit do not want to make an infestation at their place. Please help
904-704-3273
If bed bugs are present after heat treatment it means one of three things: someone is bringing them back in, your neighbors (apts) have them and they are coming back from walls/baseboards, or the treatment was not done correctly.
I have to share something to u guys.. if u can’t afford to have heat treatment just put ur furniture and mattressess and beds under a overhead sun.. i did the same.. it works fine.. just be prepared to kill them all as they start to run and hide somewhere.. at most they gather at a place where they can get protected from sun rays.. just find that area and kill them by ur sleeper.. trust me you will get a very satisfing feeling while crushing them.. thats all.. put all these things outside of ur home for 3-4 days.. yes it sounds hectic but this works pretty good.. but their are many downsides to it also like u can’t just heat ur walls and other corners of ur house.. for that find something that will work for u..
Maybe this will help someone in the same boat that I’m in. I can’t afford the conventional bed bug extermination procedures. I discovered the infestation in my home about 6 months ago, have done lots of research online. I live alone in an 1800 sq ft house. I go to bed totally covered in clothing including gloves, ski mask, jeans with rubber bands around the bottom of the legs, knee socks, hoodie tied tight around my head, parka with tight elastic wrists. I sleep with triple layer blankets wrapped around me like a cocoon. I sleep very well now, always on my back. I can live this way a long time in the hopes of starving the little monsters, they can’t get near my skin/blood. I read it takes about a year that they can live without blood, I’m halfway there. Still have plenty of scars from the bites they gave me at first, they take a long time to disappear. For me, it’s worth the starvation technique, even if someone responds that it takes 18 months.
Are you an idiot? They lay fresh eggs every day. By the 18 month, there will be many new child bugs walking around. You can never get rid of them like that.
I’ve been told that the eggs have to be killed as well or they will come back
I noticed a few comments that stated their landlord or management company would not pay for treatments. In California the landlord/management company must pay for it.
In other states I would check with your local tenant advocate attorney service. They should know the law and be able to help you with the landlord/management refusal to pay. In California the service is free.
I’m going to wait til 90degree weather and turn on heat in my mobile home. The heat should kill all bedbugs and their eggs
The bed one bath and a garage. Think a couple torpedo heater will work?
Green tech heat, Convectex, tri-flo and Prevsol sell heating machines to uses with electic power to as low as 1500$ usd. You have to do the treatment room by room but that is a good solution since you can repeat it as often as you like.
I have utilized heat treatment twice now and it works wonderfully. I had it in my home and also with one of my tenants. I live in California and I spent weeks doing research. Like most I wasn’t trying to spend $500-$1500. I found a place that rents bed bug heaters for about $100 each (an equipment company in Inglewood). I heated my house for 10 hours just to be safe and got the temperature gage from Home Depot. I made sure the temperature reached at least 130 in most places some only got to about 122 degrees. I also used fans to circulate the air. To make the heat more concentrated I used this metal stuff you put on water heaters and covered all the windows. I didn’t use chemicals and I’ve been 4 years bed bug free. If a tenant has them as soon as I get home I take all my clothes off in the kitchen and throw everything I have on into the dryer then immediately take a shower. It was so bad that I was having nightmares for weeks. I never understood when my mom as a kid would say,” night, night don’t let the bed bugs bite” that they were a real thing. I am a bit of a diy kind of girl but it was worth it. I did throw out my mattress though just to be on the safe side. Hope this helps. I’m doing another treatment today for another tenant.
By the way the person that says a landlord in California has to eradicate the bugs is both true and false. We have to get rid of them, but if you have a history of needing repeat service we can charge you for the cost. I document my tenants home with photos and videos and send them warning letters about their responsibility for future cost if I continuously have to exterminate.
After doing a lot of research on the different types of bed bug treatments, the one main bitch concerning the heat treating is what do they do about the bugs that retreat into your walls and hide on the other side of insulation. I’ve seen videos where they heat up a house and while the inside walls were a good 120 to 130 degrees, the outer walls were only at about 80 degrees. That is the job of insulation after all. One of the ways Ive seen some companies combat this issue is by using both heat and chemical. But Im finding a lot of companies in my area are not using this combined method. Also the last company wanted to charge almost $6000.00 for a 5 bedroom 1200 square foot home. This seems way over priced to me. I understand that heat equipment is expensive, but lets be honest. They are getting back that money real quick considering what they charge and what it actually takes to do the job. Essentially your paying for labor only. They wheel in heaters and fans, hook it up to the homeowners electricity and flip the switch. And a few hours later they leave. To me it seems heat treating should be one of the cheaper methods out there. But apparently its the exact opposite. That same company also stated that we are to be out of the house for 2 to 3 days. WHY???? This takes at most 7 or 8 hours. That makes no sense that we would have to leave that long.
[…] You may have to pay by the hour to rent a heater or you might be charged a per day rate. Depending upon how many retreatments you need to do with heat, you might end up paying in the neighbourhood of $1,200 for this method. […]
Raid Bed Bug Spray is a waste of money and time. I’m leaving hot Phoenix for three days, so I’ll seal up the house and let the outside 115 temps see if they can raise enough heat inside.
I’ve had these rotten things just recently (I strongly suspect I picked them up when visiting London three weeks ago). I’ve tried fighting them back, but I realised I needed professional help. I’m getting the heat treatment on Wednesday. Its also expensive in the UK, its costing me near £1,000 but with them if it doesn’t work completely first time they will come back free as many times as needed for the next three months. That said I really want it to work first time, I’m already really sick of them. Good luck to all of you…
I put items that couldn’t’ be put in the dryer plastic garbage bags and boxes then heated my electric smoker up to 150 degrees. I put them in the smoker for 45 mins. I can’t get any large stuff in it but it does the trick. I tested it by putting some live bugs in a thick book inside a zip lock bag. 45 mins later…dead bugs.
Ive had the vamp bugs 3 times 3 different houses. Each house before this got rid of them thru heat treat after de and chems did nothing. In the current place we had no bugs for first 2 yrs. Then downstairs neighbors moved in a lady who brought her stuff from storage n a week later was throwing out her stuff from bedbugs. Well her lack of notification caused them to migrate while she cleaned. Now shes gone n we have been battling with alcohol every 2 weeks. House smells like a doctors office but im still awaiting my landlord to get someone here before i call the city on her.
Chemicals do not work…. my daughter’s bedroom had bed bugs from friends staying the night.. her room was the only area I seen them in..I tried sprays, powder , foggers and nothing seem to work I was spending money almost every day on something new and still no luck…a friend of mine told me to use a heater 130 f and I bought one..I bagged up her stuffed animals , clothing ,dolls ,toys , blankets and dried the items I can on high heat in dryer then rebagged it, tied it and sat it outside in 20 degree temp for a week.. her shelf with bins in it also went outside in cold..I opened all drawers and left the dr infrared heater in room for 3 hours and again the next 2 days.. haven’t seen one single bug yet… also purchased bye bye bug spray online only for 36.99 and sprayed that when done..
I have discovered bed bugs in my 3 bedroom apartment.my landlord has a company that is doing steam treatments to the baseboards, beds, and furniture only.it takes them 30 minutes to get every room and then we wait an hour to be able to enter our home. This is my landlords idea of taking care of the situation.. every extermination plan I have looked up says that the entire house needs to be heated and held at the 140 temp for 2-6 hours to really kill them.. so I am wondering if I should be asking the landlord to bring in an exterminator that provides the proper service? They didn’t even have an inspection on it to determine how bad it is or so they can get the proper treatment in getting rid of them completely. I have been doing everything I can to help in getting rid of them as I am learning via online the correct and affective things to do to get rid of them.. but I am pretty much waisting my time and money because it’s just getting infested again. I have fecal signs all over my carpets and couches and beds, now that I know what it means. I Know they are in every part of my place. I have 4 kids single mom, no where to go and no way of moving and starting all over. I am not able to pay for the extermination that is needed for my place. And the landlord seems to think that the steam treatment on just our furniture, beds and around the edges is going to do the job. I am overwhelmed and stressed. I am trying to tred lightly because I have no support system to be able to fall back on. Any advice?
I have also gotten the encasements for the beds and sofas. Doing what I can to make it better for my kids. It just doesn’t seem to be enough.
the heat treatment doesnt owrk i learned it the hard way i bought a few large kerosene heaters and put them in my apt and then remembering those animal shows like nattiona georgraphic they had one of those long nose animals that eat ants so i thought that bedbugs are small like ants so i thought i would also put one of thos long nose animals that eat ants in my apt with the kerosene heaters but he long nose animal died and when i took it back to the zoo place they called the police on e for stealing the long nose animal and killing it and when i was in jail my apt burned down because i was not there to turn off the kerosene heaters i mean i was homeless but in a funny way after all this caos i was not really homeless for i was in jail and it was ike in reality having a home you get food and a bed but you have to jin the gang of people that you belong to so you wont get beaten up like if you are white you join the gang of whites i did not know and i joined the gang of black people and i am white so they beat me up so trust me when i say heat treatment does not work i would rather live with bedbugs than in jail all because i thought heat treatment works and it does not.
If you want to be rid of these horrid bugs you have to be ready to fight. If you go the professional route you will have to work with, not just hire, an exterminator. The only way to eliminate bedbugs is to use several methods together, and then you have to be on the offence… forever.
The first step is to clean everything and everywhere, vacuum everywhere, and bag up all cloth items in the home. Empty vacuum bags outside into garbage bags and seal them. All the cloth items need to be put in a dryer for at least 45 to 60 minutes, bagged up, and sealed again until they can be put away without fear of being reinfested. All of the mattresses need to be sealed in bite-proof and escape-proof covers. You will then need to create islands out of your furniture. Meaning the legs of each piece need to rest on a coaster type disc with dietenatious earth in it and no cloth (bed skirt, bed spread, sheets, slipcovers, etc) touching the floor. Next will be the extermination method of your choice. Heat or freezing or chemical or whichever, and all that goes with each one. Followed by more cleaning everything and vacuuming everything. (Keep the islands of furniture until you are sure the bedbugs have gone.) Check for evidence of re-infestation everyday for a couple weeks. If all clear, space out your inspections as you see fit. I’d recommend checking every month for at least a year.
I forgot to mention two things:
1.) If possible, figure out how the first bedbug got in your home so you can stop the whole nightmare from happening again.
2.) They can also live in your vehicles, so those will need to be treated as well.
It took us a year and a half to feel normal again. It’s been over two years since we noticed that first bite (or trio of bites) and we still inspect monthly. You have my sympathy and my wishes of good luck if you’re in this situation. It’s hard work, but it can be be done. ✌️
These Blood Sucking Bastards are driving me nuts. What items needs to be removed from the home in order to treat with heat. I have tried looking for a list but haven’t been able to find one.
It would really help me out if I could see the actual graph for time and temperature for killing all stages of bed bugs. For instance, if I had this graph, I could better choose what items to put into an oven and at what temperature. So far all I can find are a few tiered examples. It would save me time to see a graph, so that I could throw all of the items I know can get hot in there at X temperature for a short period of time. Then, I could group them. And then finally, throw the more sensitive things in there for 4 (or x) hours at y temperature. Some scientist somewhere has to have this graph! It is just hard to find filtering through all of the advertisements for companies and articles.
does the heat treatment ruin the cabinets in the house? my cabinets in the kitchen and bathrooms are not hardwood. so I am worried. and the doors. please help.