Got Bed Bugs? Bedbugger Forums » Bed Bug Treatment
Thermal treatment available in New York state?
(25 posts)-
Hi gang - Are any companies offering thermal treatment for pest control in NY? Have any NYers used them?
I've read here that the fuel used in thermal is banned from residences in NY, therefore the treatment wouldn't be available to treat building structures. Is this still the case?
Could someone in the know please elaborate on this? What is this forbidden fuel? If thermal hasn't hit NY yet, is this why?
-
The "forbidden fuel" issue is aparently true in NY City. I do not know about the rest of the state. Perhaps BakedBedBugs or a NY PCO will know more about the availability in NY State.
-
Hey there,
I spoke with the people at ThermaPure. Their main focus for years has been drywood termites and toxic mold. Since there are hardly any Drywood termites outside of California there are no curent licensees in NY.
The issue with fuel in New York revolves around Liquid Propane. Many of the companies who do offer thermal treatments use an older style of heater that relies on bottles of propane close to or in the affected units. Many jurisdictions will not allow bottles of propane inside an occupied building. Some do.
There is a new generation of electric radiant heater currently being tested by the people at ThermaPure which should alleviate this problem. I've worked with those heaters in their alpha prototype stage and they are very, very cool. A bit expensive but cool nonetheless. There are also glycol based temporary heating systems like I currently use that place the fuel outside of the building being treated. These work very well but are very, very expensive.
I'm not sure but you might be able to get around some of the rules by placing bottles on balconies etc.
I spoke with one of the V.P.'s at ThermaPure about this issue the other day. They are having a strategic meeting specifically about bed bugs and focusing on licensees for this market. As soon as I have some additional information I'll let NoBus know about it. I wish there was someone in NY, but there currently isn't. If we could gather up enough clients I bet we could convince someone from another locale to come and do some treatments. -
Thank you, Baked.
-
Thank you for the responses and explanations, guys.
I found an old thread on apartmenttherapy that discusses natural gas as a possible fuel for thermal treatment. Is that the same fuel used in some stoves and home heating systems? Whatever that stove "gas" is, a lot of apartments in NYC are linked up for that.
BakedBedBugs, could that be a possible fuel source for the treatment?
-
persona,
if you still have it, feel free to link to the thread. -
http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/ny/news/bedbugs-take-manhattan-024721
A couple of familiar names in the comment section. :-)
Towards the end of the comments, Jessica in MN references natural gas. She opines it might be feasible to hook up their gizmos to a gas connection in the home. Any second opinions on this?
-
Hi persona,
I remember that one!
You know, you might contact Jessica and find out the status on their electric unit. She may also know if someone here could do it.
http://community.apartmenttherapy.com/com/User/jmulinix -
Yes, Jessica has the right of it. Natural gas will work. However many of the heaters used by the older thermal applicators require more btu's than are usually available in a standard fireplace or stove outlet. This also doesn't change the fact than an "open flame" device is quite often illegal inside of a building. Not always and not in all jurisdictions. Electric heaters are very promising. The challenge there is how inefficient electricity is in producing large quantities of BTUs (British Thermal Units) for comparison ONE of the usual older style heaters employed by many thermal applicators (myself included in the right circumstance) has an input of 400,000 btus. A 220V construction heater puts out around 17,000 btus. Most single family homes only have two 220V outlets, a dryer and a stove plug. In most apartments there would simply not be enough power to generate a high enough btu load inside the structure to acheive thermal death point for two hours.
This is a complex issue, much more so than many traditional treatment methods. It absolutely works but it does require a lot of training and knowledge to pull it off without burning a place down or causing the situation to worsen.
Tony Canevaro -
Persona,
You may want to look into providers of ozone treatment. These units run on simple electric current from a wall outlet and are able to do the same job as a thermal treatment. Just plan on leaving your house for at least 18 hours if you can find a provider. To do an efficient job, it would be best to have this type of treatment performed at a longer duration. The longer the ozone is being generated in an enclosed dwelling, the higher the concentration of ozone gas. I'm not sure of any providers in NY, as this technology is so new many people, even PCO's aren't aware of its existence. For your situation it seems that it would be worth looking into.
-
Greg, any effectiveness studies you can point to?
-
Heating will supply a great means for treating many belongings similar in approach to fumigation but without the toxic gas. Urban studies that I have seen and I discussed this with an expert at last years Purdue conference is as stated the propane and natural gas inside. As electric heater technology improves and can run effectively off 110 it will be used more. There are some firms that have heat containers which the hotel industry uses to treat mattresses etc. I have heard mention of ozone but have not seen any data and
wonder about penetration in mattresses. -
Bugologist
member
Joined: Nov '07
Posts: 174
Posted 2 years ago
Fri Jan 4 2008 7:56:43
#
Login to Send PM
Ozone is unproven in its effectiveness on bed bugs but researchers are starting to look into it. Personally, I'm open to hear more about it but based on what I've heard and read thus far, I have my questions and doubts. Therefore, if it's me, I wouldn't want to spend the money on something I'm not even sure is going to work.
-
All of you are absolutely right, there isn't much data on ozone's capabilities at eliminating BB's.... yet. However, no one has ever been able to generate a high enough concentration of ozone gas to get the job done until now. Once you achieve high levels of ozone in a room, the ozone seeks out any space where oxygen is present in hopes of becoming a more stable molecule. This is why this new technology is capable of penetrating mattresses, pillows, floorboards, and walls. These same ozone generators are currently being used in schools to clean locker rooms and sports equipmnet to stop the spread of MRSA. If ozone can penetrate football pads, which have very low permeability, it can enter a mattress.
-
HI Greg,
Is anyone in your industry doing tests on killing bed bugs with ozone? I suggest this is the thing to do. (It might be best to discuss Ozone further in another thread, if you wish to pursue this, since people are not likely to find it in a topic on thermal.) -
AAA Superior Pest Control now offers Thermal Remediation in NY, NJ and PA. It is simply the best method for quickly eliminating bed bugs I have ever used. It is not right for every application and it it takes time and is more costly but nothing is thrown away, no dry cleaning and no residual biting. Baked bed bugs! Yummy!
-
Hi Jeff,
This is an exciting development!
Can you tell us which thermal technology your company is using, and whether you can do one single unit in a building (in New York City), assuming adjacent units are found not to have bed bugs?
Thanks!
-
jeffklein - 4 hours ago »
*snip*
Baked bed bugs! Yummy!Shucks, thanks!
Seriously though, good news!
Tony -
We are doing apartments in the City as well as private homes. Multi-Family units are challenging so we couple chemical application with heat.We will provide pesticide free treatments if we can access all surrounding units for canine inspection.
-
V. Bugged
newbite
Joined: Apr '08
Posts: 15
Posted 1 year ago
Wed Aug 27 2008 13:03:15
#
Login to Send PM
Wow, I wish I had known about this...so the heat doesn't cause the little buggers to flee to neighboring buildings, it just kills them? Sounds good to me...
Unfortunately, I doubt my LL would have gone for it...more expensive for him, plus he's not the one who has to do all the prep or throw away excess belongings.
-
buggyinsocal
oldtimer
Joined: Jun '08
Posts: 1,259
Posted 1 year ago
Wed Aug 27 2008 13:10:48
#
Login to Send PM
One of the PCOs explained the lack of fleeing bugs to me this way: the bugs realize it's getting hot and burrow deeper into whatever they're in (your dresser, your mattress, what have you). By the time they realize it's too hot in there, since interiors will temporarily insulate them, if they try to escape, they escape into the heat and they fry like evil little bastards.
Oh, um, sorry, was that outloud?
Anyway, you get my idea. Their instinct is to flee inward to cooler spaces. By the time the heat reaches those inner spaces, the exterior is hot enough that they die before they leave the apartment.
I live in a small multi-unit apartment building. They treated only my unit and then inspected the neighboring apartments and found nothing.
I split the cost with my landlord, and I would bet that many landlords would be willing to use thermal if you offered to pay for the difference between the cost of chemical alone and thermal. I mean, okay, a big property management company might be less willing to negotiate, but it might be worth a try if people are really set on thermal.
-
Hi Jeff,
Thanks for clarifying the multi-unit dwelling situation.
I am curious how the heating is done. We understand some thermal service providers outside NYC use liquid propane as a heat source but that's not possible in the city.
-
prevention
newbite
Joined: Nov '08
Posts: 12
Posted 1 year ago
Sat Nov 1 2008 10:30:38
#
Login to Send PM
What's IC2?
-
prevention
newbite
Joined: Nov '08
Posts: 12
Posted 1 year ago
Sat Nov 1 2008 10:31:35
#
Login to Send PM
Also, what's an estimated cost of thermal remediation for a 500 square foot apartment in Manhattan? How does that compare to the spraying, sleep-in-bed-as-bait standard treatments?
Thanks!
-
And now two companies have been doing thermal in NYC -- even in single apartments: Van Helsing and AAA Superior. (I have used neither, but there are reviews of both in the forums. See tags at top right.)
Reply
You must log in to post.
