Comments on: Thermal treatment for bed bugs: bake the little B@#$%^&s!

By: jeanellingen

jeanellingen — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 05:21:33 +0000

I am happy to report I am free of bedbugs. I found two since my initial thermal treatment, the exterminators came out to spot treat on both occasions. The last bedbug was found mid October; nothing has happened since then.

I would definitely say thermal treatment is the way to go!!

By: nobugsonme

nobugsonme — Sat, 28 Mar 2009 08:03:58 +0000

Hi Howard Ursaner,

Done properly, professional thermal heat treatment can work in one session.

There are a few possibilities for what went wrong in your case:

* Treatment was not done properly. As with ANYTHING ELSE on earth, of course it can be done improperly.
* You’re in an attached home or apartment and neighbors are sending bed bugs.
* Some other unknown source of reinfestation exists (car, friend, workplace infested).

The latter two scenarios can and do happen, as well as the first. If the company knows what they’re doing, then it seems like the latter two are more likely than three failures.

I would be interested in hearing about your situation. Are you in a free-standing home or apartment? Which company did you use?

Thanks!

By: Howard Ursaner

Howard Ursaner — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 15:45:05 +0000

I had 3 heat treatments and i still have bed bugs.It did not work for me.

By: nobugsonme

nobugsonme — Fri, 02 Jan 2009 06:07:26 +0000

Jackie, I suggest you read two discussions in our forums: this one, and this one. You might want to post there too. I would look into any agreement the thermal company provided -- most seem to have some warranty for service. Treatment does apparently fail sometimes and -- assuming you were not reinfested by other means -- it sounds like it did in this case. Please do come to the forums, where you will get many more responses.

By: Jackie

Jackie — Fri, 02 Jan 2009 00:08:08 +0000

We had the heat treatment done about a month ago. The day of it we saw some bugs in my daughters room so the pest control company came out and did some chemicals in her room and we haven’t seen bed bugs since. Just today my husband and I found about 5 bed bugs crawling on the wall. A month ago it cost us over $2000 to get rid of these bugs in which we thought we had done. It was grueling work to prep for the treatment, buy covers for the beds, buy new beds and get rid of the rash my Daughter had for 2 months before we found them. When I found them today I am just at a loss as to what to do. We called the pest control company and haven’t heard back but we can’t afford to do this all over again!! It took a toll on our bank acct., our lives, and our mental health. These bugs are the worst things I have ever encountered and if anyone has any advice for us at this point that would be wonderful. Right now our first instinct is to move and get the hell out of dodge!! Obviously even if we do that how do we live until we can pull that off. It seems like they are only in our room right now. Please let me know if anyone else has had a re-occurance after their heat treatments, and if there is anything we can do to minimize the upheaval this burden placed on us before!! I am not sure my family is up for it again, but we have to be…

By: charles dolwin

charles dolwin — Tue, 30 Dec 2008 21:57:55 +0000

The use of heat treatment is certainly gaining popularity, but it has been going through some evolutionary development. The first types of heat treatment i heard of were in enclosed plastic chambers into which homeowners placed their belongings, but did not treat the space. More recently Chromalox a firmt that specializes in heating systems and controls has partnered with a pest control firm and developed a system, but the start up costs for a pest control operator are considerable – i heard more than $50,000 to buy the equipment and get some basic training on how to do it.. Treatment costs for a 1 bedroom apartment are in the range of more than $1200 i heard and it can take up to 6 – 8 hours and one could presume is labour intensive as it necessitates someone to be there to monitor progress. Probably a wonderful process for a hotel room in which it is fairly easy to remove electronics and other materials that might be damaged, but not so easy for an apartment dweller. The other point of course is the bed bugs reatreating from the heat and I guess part of the slow cook process is to put them into a bit ofa lobster modality — i.e. if you cook ‘em slow, they hardly notice the water getting hotter… mind you I have never asked a lobster.. they usually try to get out of the pot as soon as the heat is turned on .. so it is rumoured. I never cooked one not being one from either coast.
Heat treatment does hold a lot of promise and the actual temperatures to kill bed bugs are lower than initially thought. But this is not an easy process and it will likely not catch on as a mainstream treatment until costs drop and the process can be done without major risk of damaging goods. The good news is that technology does enable amazing monitoring of hte process. 20 minutes to a half hour at 40C is said to be fatal, and that is mid day in Tel Aviv or Mecca in the summertime.
When the technology has been developed to the point that charges are not so high, this method could be the best thing since apple pie and ice cream in clean “heat fumigation”… Nobugsonme is right on about the term “fumigation” … means using fumes or smoke or gas… though some love to use the term for any pest control treatment, especially spraying. “Heat fumigation” does capture the meaning but “heat treatment” is really the most accurate way of describing this without getting into poor usage of language. But you know…. language does have its own life and English has a long history of borrowing terms and doing bends like a skilled mouth organ player.. makes me think of Stevie Wonder.. or should i say Blues Harp, but that is actually a trade name. OK Harmonica… for the purists

By: nobugsonme

nobugsonme — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 13:34:29 +0000

Jean,
Thermal treatments, done properly, should probably be 100% effective.

But you really need to consult your provider. Did they claim 100% effectiveness? Did they give you any kind of guarantee?

It is possible to do Thermal improperly, of course.

And re-exposure is always possible: are you being exposed to bed bugs? (Via work, school, public transit, friends/family?) Are you in an attached unit where they may be coming from neighbors?

By: Jean M Ellingen

Jean M Ellingen — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 05:50:46 +0000

does anyone know if thermal treatments are 100% effective? I had that done tuesday and today found a bed bug. please reply!!!

By: willow-the-wisp

willow-the-wisp — Mon, 30 Jul 2007 21:33:56 +0000

I looked at the site–the fans …
the voltage scared me.
the temps scard me
guess I’m scared!
chicken willow.

By: Winston O. Buggy

Winston O. Buggy — Mon, 30 Jul 2007 19:46:07 +0000

Presently in NYC one problem is that the heat generator must be fueled by
natural gas or popane neither of which is permitted in NYC buildings. There
are ways to push it up to four (maybe 6) floors or so but that requires a
larger unit. Electrical units which are used in some commercial food opps are usually 220v based as 110v usually ends up blowing fuses and cascading circuit breakers. Also there are other issues such as home belongings that might not
deal well with heat. Keep in mind this technology started with drying concrete
in industrial settings and in the food industry is used in specific controlled
non living space environments like silos and processing floor areas.
As you can imagine units are costly and fans are needed as well.
I mentioned a number of other concerns in a previous post
but I certainly feel that heat plays into the future solution.