Heat Treatment Bed Bug Control & Extermination

Most bed bug extermination treatments are extremely tedious, require multiple visits, a significant amount of preparation, and use insecticides to control the situation. Bed bugs are growing increasingly resistant, and there are fewer treatment alternatives as regulator restrictions have diminished many chemical options. However, with the use of heat, a bed bug infestation can be eliminated in a short period of time, without the use of chemicals, allowing businesses to resume normal use of the room quickly.

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What are They? What do they look like?

Bed bugs are small, oval, non-flying insects that belong to the insect family Cimicidae, which includes three species that bite people. Adult bed bugs reach 5-7 mm in length, while nymphs (juveniles) are as small as 1.5 mm. Bed bugs have flat bodies and may sometimes be mistaken for ticks or small cockroaches. Bed bugs feed by sucking blood from humans or animals. Adult bed bugs are reddish brown in color, appearing more reddish after feeding on a blood meal. Nymphs are clear in color and appear bright red after feeding. The wings of bed bugs are vestigial, so they cannot fly.

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Why don’t chemical treatments work well?

There are several reasons why chemicals do not work well in the eradication of bedbugs.

1)  Chemicals will kill bedbugs which are directly sprayed/treated.  However, chemicals can not penetrate inside mattresses, headboards, wall voids, etc.  While some chemicals can have a residual effect and may kill bedbugs that contact the residue, bedbugs are quite adept at avoiding the residue and due to the nature of their “feet”, chemical residues are not easily attached to their bodies.

2) The heavy chemicals such as DDT which eliminated bedbugs back in the 1940′s and 50′s, are no longer legal and are highly dangerous to residents.   Current chemicals that are available are both far less effective than those of the the 40′s and 50′s, plus a significant number of the bedbug population is becoming resistant.

3) Current estimates are that a 3 treatment process over 4 weeks is typically at best 80% effective in the elimination of an infestation.  In addition,  all mattresses must be thrown away and replaced or covered with bedbug resistant covers, which typically cost an average of $150 each.   Chemicals require a three stage process because they are only effective on the adults who are accessable.   Hidden eggs and nymphs mature into the adult stage, requiring retreatment of the same area in two week intervals, hopefully before they lay more eggs and start the process again.

4) Chemical treatments chase bedbugs into adjoining units and bedrooms.  This requires treating not only the infested unit/bedroom, but all those around it.   Heat actually draws bedbugs into the room, where the heat ultimately penetrates all mattresses, bedding, and furniture, avoiding infestation of adjoining units and killing all life stages of the bedbug, from egg to adult.

A successful treatment will take effort on both the home owner and the service provider.

RULE #1 – DISTURB AND REMOVE NOTHING !!! before discussing it with your heat remediation specialist! Bed Bugs are lazy and like to stay close to their feed host. When you disrupt that environment by removing covers, flipping mattresses, and removing clothing, the Bedbugs retreat further away, the colony disperses in multiple directions, and consequently are more difficult to find and destroy. We want them to stay exactly where they are until we kill them all with heat. Less disturbance means a higher probability of success in one heat treatment. However, even if disturbed, the odds of success with a single heat treatment is far greater than the odds of success with a series of 3 chemical treaments, approximately 95%. Undisturbed colonies approach a 100% elimination success rate with heat remediation . Current studies show chemical treatments to be about 80% effective when applied three times over a one month period.

We recommend the following items be removed or placed in your bathroom prior to thermal remediation;
Candles, Crayons, spray canisters, live plants and animals, musical instruments, anything heat sensitive. Computers, TVs, and other consumer electronics are designed to withstand heat up to 150 degrees and will not be affected by the thermal remediation process. In order to eliminate the transfer of bed bugs, it is very important that you visually inspect each of the items before removing them.

Again, Please do not remove or disturb any bedding, clothing, or furniture prior to discussing it with your heat remediation specialist!

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BB Thermal of Charlottesville VS other solutions.

(cost comparison to come)

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