DIY Bed Bug Treatment Myths - Part 1

There are tons of myths out there on what temperatures and environments will kill bed bugs.  Some say to put your bed outside in the winter to kill the bugs.  Other myths advise DIYers to heat up their homes using standard room heaters to achieve lethal temperatures.  Convectex is here to clear up those myths and help DIYer and professionals kill bed bugs the RIGHT way!  Improper heating (and cooling) could damage your home and belongings and could even be potentially dangerous.

The Myth:  Put your belongings in the freezer, or out in the cold winter to kill bed bugs.

The Truth: While cold temperatures, such as the freezer, will kill bed bugs; this is hardly a good solution to a bed bug problem.  Bed bugs are rarely confined to an item small enough to put in the freezer and it would be impossible to cool your entire room to a temperature lethal to bed bugs.  Likewise putting your bed outside in the winter MIGHT kill the bugs on the OUTSIDE of the bed, but the bed would have to nearly freeze solid to kill all the bugs hidden inside the mattress.  If you find a bed bug on your clothes, bag, in a book, or another small item, feel free to place that item in a zip lock bag and place in the freezer…however you should not assume that you have killed ALL the bugs.  Bed bugs spread quickly.  If you find one bed bug there is a HIGH chance that others are hiding in your room or home.  An inspection and possible treatment are highly recommended after ANY bed bug sighting.

A Better Solution:  Use your dryer on the highest setting to kill bed bugs in your clothes and linens.  Perform a professional quality heat treatment using Convectex heaters to kill bugs in the rest of the room.  If you are a home-owner with a bed bug problem, you can even call one of our certified bed bug heat rental providers to set you up with an affordable DIY bed bug heat rental package.

The Myth: Bed bugs need your body heat and blood to live, so I’ll just go on vacation and they will all die.

The Truth: WRONG!  Bed bugs can live for weeks without a blood meal and they do not need your body heat to survive. 

A Better Solution:  Call one of the hundreds of professional bed bug experts that use Convectex heaters and have a professional inspection and heat treatment applied.  OR, purchase your own equipment from convectex.com and kill the bugs yourself.

The Myth:  I can heat my room with a standard space heater and that will kill the bed bugs.

The Truth:  This myth is not only FALSE, it is extremely dangerous!  Space heaters are not designed to heat a room to the temperatures required to kill bed bugs.  These heaters should be monitored closely, even when used for the intended purpose. Likewise, those people that try to use their home furnace to kill bed bugs are putting their entire home at risk for fire. 

A Better Solution:  It is best to use heaters designed for killing bed bugs and follow the directions for intended use very closely. Call Convectex or visit www.convectex.com for more information about heat treatments!