Is Bed Bug Heat Treatment DIY Effective, Safe and Easy To Do? Yes It Is!
Nancy and John are both 81 years old and live in Northern CA. They have been avid international travelers for a very long time. They are both professionals in their respective fields, well read and active in their communities with a rich, extended family life that takes them all around the world.
Although active and fit they are both 81 years of age and very careful and protective of their health.
On a pre-pandemic trip abroad they figured out they had brought home some uninvited hitchhikers when they awoke in their custom built, 3000 square foot home with bed bug bites.
Frantic to figure out a way to get these bed bugs out of their home as quickly as possible Nancy jumped on the internet and searched on “bed bug companies near me”.
She ended up interviewing 3 reputable bed bug exterminators, all of which had great reviews and professional looking web sites. Nancy scheduled them to come into her home in order to provide her a price quote to rid her home of bed bugs.
On the phone she had explained that she was almost certain the bugs were contained in just her bedroom and asked if the companies would be willing to just treat her bedroom.
She was assured by all 3 companies they would provide quotes to kill bed bugs in just her bedroom.
Because this was their first experience with bed bugs Nancy and John were confident Nancy had identified the top 3 professionals in her area to get price quotes and professional advice from. She was not even aware at this stage that killing bed bugs with heat yourself was an option available to her. Using bed bug heaters is indeed the best option for anyone with bed bugs whether you do it yourself or pay a company to do it for you.
Over the coming weeks, while waiting for the pros to come visit, Nancy and John continued getting bitten while they slept. The pest companies showed up in succession to perform a walk thru inspection and give them their professional opinion of what it would take to get the job done and kill all the bed bugs and bed bug eggs.
Take Professional Advice About Killing Bed Bugs With Heat Yourself With A Grain of Salt
The results and recommendations Nancy and John received were not what they were expecting, and they were shocked with what they were being told by all 3 companies:
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All of them only use chemical pesticides to kill bed bugs. No one ever mentioned that heat is an option to eliminate bed bugs or that there were companies that used bed bug heaters.
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Contrary to what you were told over the phone we cannot and will not chemically treat just one room. We must chemically treat your entire home to be sure we killed them all.
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You and John will need to “tear apart your home” (Nancy’s words) in order for us to be able to apply the chemical pesticides in every nook and cranny. Nancy referred to the prep list as like a “book”.
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We will have to return twice more over the next 3 weeks after the initial chemical pesticide application to apply more chemicals once the unhatched bed bug eggs hatch so we can kill the baby bed bugs. Chemical pesticides will not kill unhatched bed bug eggs. This method must take in to consideration the complete life cycle of a bed bug.
Not satisfied with any of the options presented, and feeling misled, Nancy quickly started doing a deeper dive on bed bugs to try and learn more and hopefully find a better alternative for getting rid of them. Her thoughtful research uncovered what science has known for decades and that is that HEAT KILLS BED BUGS, HEAT KILLS FLEAS, HEAT KILLS SPIDERS AND LOTS OF OTHER PESTS. There is absolutely no need to apply toxic, residual chemicals in your bedroom where you will be breathing deeply for ⅓ of your life while you sleep.
Toxic Chemical Pesticides Designed To Kill Bed Bugs Have Lost Their Effectiveness Due to Evolutionary Forces. Bed Bug Heat Treatment Equipment Is The Answer!
Another critically important thing Nancy learned is that chemical pesticides need to be reapplied multiple times while you wait for baby bed bugs to be born because bed bug eggs are laid in places not reachable by pesticide sprays. Nancy also read in entomologist's published papers that as a species, bed bugs have developed resistance to chemical pesticides in the same way that humans are developing resistance to antibiotics developed to kill bacterial infections. Evolution happens and there is no stopping it.
Developing toxic chemicals that will kill bed bugs and be safe for children, pets and adult humans is an un-winnable arms race. There is a reason DDT was banned in the United States in 1972 and it is not because it was safe for living things.
All bed bugs die when exposed to temperatures higher than 113° F. They die faster with higher temperatures but they cannot develop resistance to heat the same way they have to chemical pesticides.
With her newfound knowledge that heat kills bed bugs with certainty Nancy felt more empowered and in control to make a better decision than paying thousands of dollars for chemical treatments that may not work and required an incredible amount of preparation and disruption of her daily life for almost 30 days. She undertook her next round of internet research and started speaking with sellers of bed bug heaters and bed bug heating equipment.
Since all the Google search results first show the Sponsored/Paid ads Nancy started there.
Electric Bed Bug Heaters Should Be Metal, Not Plastic Which Deforms With Every Bed Bug Heat Treatment
She quickly determined that buying a “cheap” plastic bed bug heater was not cheap at all and it would be very challenging and complicated to use and the total cost of ownership or TCO would be much higher. These heaters typically require up to 8 separate power cords with each cord plugging into their own 15 or 20 amp circuit. Luckily, she and John were educated on how their home’s electrical system worked and understood what this meant. It did not mean they simply needed to plug into 8 different 110v outlets. It meant that each cord would need to plug into its own room since each room is typically on its own circuit depending on how many outlets there were.
Bed Bug Heat Machine Power Should Not Be Complicated
Alas, Nancy and John were beginning to feel a bit desperate and that maybe “bait and switch” had become the norm for anyone wanting truthful and accurate information when it came to how to get rid of bed bugs.
Going beyond the Sponsored/Paid ads on Google Nancy identified some other options. She placed a call to us here at PestPro Thermal Systems and was surprised that someone actually answered the phone.
We spoke at length about her experience and I assured her that if she had an electric stove or dryer outlet to plug into she could handle her bed bug problem on her own terms using our Universal Bed Bug Heater Package.
We discussed every step she and John would need to take including the limited preparation before turning her bedroom into a "bed bug death sauna" using her PestPro Thermal electric bed bug heater and fan.
We covered how she would use her stove outlet for power and which of the 4 included pig tail adapters to choose that matched her outlet.
We discussed how, if she, at another time, chooses to plug into a lower amperage 30 amp electric dryer outlet that she would simply choose a different pig tail and turn off the toggle switches that temporarily disconnect some of the heater elements inside the bed bug heater to make this possible.
The conversation went beyond just killing bed bugs to also using the heater to kill other bugs since most bugs, like bed bugs, die at around 120° F. Nancy learned that killing molds and mildew is also something that safe, electric dry heat can do very well. When you use dry heat to kill mold it also eliminates the smelly odors.
By the end of our first conversation Nancy was feeling fairly confident she and John would be able to safely use their bed bug heater and that the price was equal to the quotes she received from the service companies for one treatment - none of which were guaranteed. She said she was told there was no way to prove that a new infestation of bed bugs had not been brought into their home after the chemical treatments were concluded.
To make a long story longer Nancy spoke to a few more bed bug heater companies and ended up calling us again to place an order. She said she felt more confident dealing with us and that we came across as being committed to her long-term success. She liked that our bed bug heaters are built using steel, not plastic.
She liked that the bed bug heater design used high quality parts that could be ordered from Amazon and that if needed John would be able repair the heater and not be reliant on us, the manufacturer to do so. They could avoid paying hundreds of dollars in round-trip, LTL (less than truckload) shipping costs for repairs in our facility given that we ship all our heaters tightly bound and secured in plastic wrap on wooden pallets ensuring maximum protection.
Paying Hundreds of Dollars for Round-Trip Shipping to Repair Your Bed Bug Heater is Unacceptable
Another benefit that Nancy liked about her bed bug heater is that she would have the flexibility to create a temporary "bed bug hot box" using simple plastic sheeting and spring loaded poles. By creating a bed bug hot box in her home she would be able to "cook" any items that might be infested with bed bugs that she could not put into her clothes dryer. Things like luggage, books, furniture or her shag rug cat house could all be heated up in the temporary bed bug hot box without having to dedicate an entire room which might not need heating. The smaller the area to heat the more quickly the bed bug heater can get up to lethal temperatures and take care of business. See photos below.
John commented it would be foolish to not be ready for another round of bed bugs given how much they travel internationally, and he never wants to go through the stress, emotional trauma and aggravation again - especially at his advanced age. They both liked the idea that owning a bed bug heater would give them the control they required in an affordable and safe way. They also relished the notion they would be in a position to help friends and family and other community members with their bed bug heat equipment given that bed bugs continue to be worsening globally and are not going away any time soon. They are both vaccinated and ready to hit the road as soon as it is safe to do so. Bon Voyage Nancy and John!
Needless to say Nancy and John are beyond satisfied with their bed bug room heater and continue to help me spread the good word which is PestPro Thermal electric bed bug heating equipment is built for professionals but easy and safe enough for senior citizens to use in their homes as well.
Watch Nancy's Video Testimonial Here.