There are numerous inquiries about heat treatments and yes at Bed Bugs all Gone we do use heat…a lot of heat, but selectively. Whole house heat treatments have not proved successful for total eradication of bed bugs in many, many instances. We often do remedial work for people who have bought the more expensive whole-house heat treatments to kill their bed bugs, but the bed bugs came back! How can that be? Well, heat is a repellent and bed bugs see in infrared, the color of heat. As the heat rises, bed bugs head for cooler areas such as another room, a neighboring apartment or a condo unit with adjoining walls. This is a real problem for multiple-unit structures since no one wants the bugs to spread. But that is exactly what whole room/unit heat does; it spreads the bugs.
Even in detached homes, the bed bugs can find places where the heat does not get to the required 125-degree lethal level for the time duration required. Areas in which bed bugs often survive are behind insulation in the walls where there is only one inch of wood or stucco between the bug and the outside temperature of perhaps 50-70 degrees. Bed bugs can snug up against a cold-water pipe or go down into an unheated crawl space. The bugs can also travel down into a crack in a concrete slab foundation; the earth below a slab is about 55 degrees year-round. If it gets into a drafty attic on a cool day, that supplies shelter from the heat, or the bed bug might just sneak into a drafty window casement.
Not only do you have a significant probability that ALL bed bugs will not be eradicated, but whole-home heat treatment takes a lot of preparation. You must remove all animals and plants from the home along with anything else, such as food, make-up, and candles that would be damaged by 150-degree heat.
You must also leave your home for six to eight hours. And if that is not enough, if you re-introduce bed bugs to your home (through no fault of your own) you have no protection from infestation after whole-home heat treatment. With Bed Bugs all Gone, the barrier we put down, after we use the selective heat, will continue to kill bed bugs for two years or longer.
Bed bugs can survive 400 days without a meal. All it takes is one pregnant female or one breeding pair to survive and you’ll have a “nightmare” revisited. The female lays two to three eggs per day which can be up to 100 breeding pairs in just three to four months. Remember: heat today can’t kill a bug tomorrow.
At Bed Bugs all Gone we use a multi-faceted approach to killing all of the bed bugs; wet heat (270-degree steam), dry heat in special circumstances, IPM measures, and a special eco-friendly solution of Cimi-Shield sprayed everywhere bed bugs might walk when they come out of hiding to get a meal, which kills them in a fraction of a day. This invisible barrier we spray out is a Virtual Minefield. Our eco-friendly bed bug treatment is the most complete and successful eradication program any money can buy. You’ll not only get rid of your bed bugs, but your home will be bed bug resistant for years to come.
So yes, at Bed Bugs all Gone we do use heat but only in ways by which the bed bugs have no chance of fleeing. 75% of the bed bugs in your home are almost always in the bed area itself. For bed frames, we pump 275-degree steam into all the cracks, crevices, and joints to kill bugs hiding there. Your bed frame is sterile when we are finished. We then encapsulate the mattress and box spring in a bed bug proof, cloth encasement, giving bed bugs no place to survive; they will never get out of the encasement to bother you again. When we are finished, your bed is completely isolated as an Island Fortress and looks pristine. Bed bugs will not be able to get on it and bother you again.
For upholstered furniture with lots of padding such as couches, reclining chairs, upholstered bed frames, etc., we use a heat tent to bake the items that are infested. In three to four hours at a temperature of 140 degrees, the thermocouples which are buried in your furniture, will register an internal temperature of 125 degrees; enough to kill bed bugs. The tent is closed tight so bed bugs cannot escape the heat. In all cases we treat the furnishings and carpeting with our completely eco-friendly spray for lasting results because heat today can’t kill a bug tomorrow. We are so sure of our process, we give a full year warranty that bed bugs will not get back on those beds to bother you, while most companies that do whole-house heat treatment warranty for just 30 days or less.
Our more complete eco-friendly method kills bed bugs for over a year, every time they try to get a meal. Why use heat treatment that can’t kill a bug tomorrow when you can use the Bed Bugs all Gone Eco-friendly bed bug treatment which lasts for over a year and is backed by a full year warranty?
