Home Heater for Bed Bugs

razam

Hi


I've recently discovered I've got bed bugs :eek:


I've tried washing everything at high temperature, hoovering everything down, bed bug powder, etc.but the blighters still seem to be around.


I've been told the only guaranteed method is the heat the room to about 50oC for about 6 hours. The only problem is this "Heat Treatment" seems to quite expensive from the pest control services, and the industrial heaters all seem to need to be wired in to the mains, or need a generator to work.



I was wondering if anyone knew of a plug-in heater I could buy for £60ish, that would be powerful enough to warm a 10ft x 10ft room to 50oC within a few fours?


Your help would be greatly appreciated.

LadyDee

Have you tried approaching the local Council for help? Most Councils do provide a pest control service, and it's likely to be more effective than anything you can manage yourself.

tacpot12

You will not find a plug in heater that is powerful enough. The room will lose heat faster than the heater can provide it (even on a hot day), and you will have a problem overloading your electrical circuits if you plug more than one heater into anything other than a ring final circuit protected by a 32Amp breaker.

If you have two 32A ring circuits in your house, you might be able to get enough heat from ordinary fan heaters, say by running two off the ring in the room and using extension cords to bring power from the other ring to two other heaters. Check that the extension cords are rated for 13A - lots are only rated to 10A.

Ask your friends, family and neighbours if they have any heaters you can borrow for the day and spend the money on an infrared thermometer so you can check that the bed and other items in the room are more than 50 degrees C. Infrared Heaters, or fan heaters without thermostats would be best.

Doing this on a hot summer's day will save energy, but you will need to seal the room well. You also need to be able to check on progress without letting too much heat out. There is a risk that you will set fire to something, or damage your electrical wiring or the heaters, so I would have a rethink about whether using a professional service would be better.

HampshireH

Bed bugs are the 1 area I feel professional pest control is important. They hide and breed so well. They also transfer very easily to others.

With a professional you at least know a treatment plan is in place and have recourse to call them back of you have any problems.

Novice_investor101

Most domestic electric heaters come with thermostats & overheat safety cut offs. You'll never get a room to 50c with any of those.
Just pay the professionals to do the job properly.

sevenhills

Bed bugs are challenging pests to get rid of, since they hide so well and reproduce so quickly. In addition, the egg stage is resistant to many forms of treatment, so a single attempt may not be sufficient to complete the job.


Heat treatment using a clothes dryer on high heat, black plastic bags in the sun or a hot, closed car (pest management professionals have other methods that are not suitable for non-trained individuals to use).


https://www.epa.gov/bedbugs/do-it-yourself-bed-bug-control


https://www.familyhandyman.com/pest-control/get-rid-of-bed-bugs-a-diy-guide/view-all/

AmberMorris

Heat treatment isn't the only option that works. If done properly, and if products change each time, spray treatments are also effective against the bugs. It is a fact that they become resistant but a good treatment will implement different insecticides each time in order to avoid just that. And it's much cheaper than a heat procedure and MUCH more effective than anything you could ever do on your own, without knowledge and experience. I would strongly advise you to stick to professional help and get a few quotes from different pest control companies. And yes, Rentokil are a big brand so it's only normal for them to charge more.

Good luck with the bugs, keep us posted on the issue

sevenhills

razam wrote: »

Hi


I've recently discovered I've got bed bugs :eek:

If they are in your bed, an ideal time to get a new mattress.

AmberMorris

Now, I've just looked up for "bed bug treatment price" in google and there's a fair amount of different websites that pop-out. You can check those out as well.