In this post, we’ll unravel everything you need to know about bed bug heat treatment, including how much it costs, what’s involved, and how to choose the best company.
What is bed bug heat treatment?
Bed bug heat treatment, also known as thermal remediation, is a method used to eliminate bed bugs by exposing them to high temperatures. This treatment involves heating the infested area, typically an entire room or building, to temperatures that are lethal to bed bugs, generally 50 degrees Celsius. This temperature must be maintained for 90 minutes to be effective.
How effective is bed bug heat treatment?
Bed bug heat treatment, if done correctly by a professional, is 100% effective in killing all bed bugs in all stages of the bed bug’s lifecycle.
What happens during a bed bug heat treatment?
During the heat treatment process, pest control technicians will use industrial grade heaters to pump hot air into the affected room. The technician will monitor the temperature to ensure the heat is consistently above 50 degrees Celsius. The heat treatment will last for 90 minutes.
Before the treatment, the technician will move the furniture around, so nothing is touching the walls. This ensures even hot air flow, and thus reduces the chance of cold spots. Even heat distribution is the key to a thorough bed bug elimination.
During the treatment, the technician will monitor the room continually, looking for cold spots to ensure even heating. The pest controller will also carefully watch out for insect migration i.e. bed bugs running for their lives to escape the heat.
After the treatment, the technician will replace all the furniture back to its original position and remove the heating equipment. The room will immediately be ready to sleep in. If you choose Merlin as your pest control company, you’ll also benefit from a 100% effectiveness guarantee, which means that if, by some bizarre turn of events, any bed bug survives, we’ll retreat the room for free. To date, no one has ever claimed our guarantee.
What do I need to do before a heat treatment?
The first thing to do is just to book a free consultation. When we arrive for the consultation, we’ll advise if there’s anything specific you need to do, but normally it’s a straightforward process and our technician will do everything that needs to be done before the room is heated. Alternatively, if you prefer to skip the free site visit and want heat treatment urgently, then give us a call and we can discuss.
How much does bed bug heat treatment cost?
Bed bug heat treatment costs £600 +VAT for the first room, and any additional rooms treated in the same visit will cost just £400 +VAT each.
With Merlin, there will be no additional costs for power since we use our own portable power supply to conduct the heat treatment.
What are the cheaper alternatives to whole-room heat treatment?
There are two popular alternatives to whole room heat treatment for bed bugs. These are as follows;
Spot heat treatment with sniffer dogs
This process involves using trained sniffer dogs to search for bed bugs. Once any bed bugs are found, the trained dog will indicate the location. The technician will then treat the location with very hot steam. The advantage of this approach is that it can be used to quickly and thoroughly eliminate bed bugs in an entire building. However, with best-in-class trained dogs and dog handlers, the treatment is fully effective 80-90% of the time. Rooms are ready to sleep in immediately after the treatment.
Merlin Environmental also offer spot heat treatment with sniffer dogs. Get in touch to enquire about prices, and to book your free consultation.
Chemical treatment
Chemicals can’t be used in conjunction with sniffer dogs because of the health risks they pose. Therefore, chemical treatments rely on the human eye to find the tiny bed bugs and spray them. Since bed bugs tend to stay in hiding most of the time when they are not out drinking your blood, it’s extremely difficult for technicians to find them. Also, the bed bug insecticide doesn’t kill the bed bug eggs.
We don’t offer chemical treatment for bed bugs because it’s only about 40%–60% effective in eliminating the problem. However, bed bug chemical treatment is by far the cheapest option available. With this treatment, rooms will be uninhabitable for about 1 week since the technician will normally do 3 separate visits, 2- 3 days apart to maximise his chances of eliminating the bed bugs.
How to choose a pest control company for bed bug heat treatment?
Thinking of appointing a pest control company for heat treatment? Here’s some handy tips to make sure you hire a super reliable and effective company:
Check certifications and accreditations
Always ask the pest control company what certifications and accreditations they have. The ones to look out for are CEPA and BPCA.
BPCA: means the company is a member of the British Pest Control Association. This is easy to verify on the BPCA website as they have a list of all the members there. As a BPCA member it means all the staff are qualified, the company is insured, they follow all best practice procedures, and they regularly get audited by BPCA.
CEPA: This certification means the company only uses trained and qualified staff to carry out pest management activities and that they practice integrated pest management, follow all the correct procedures for proper waste management and reduced use of biocides. It also means that the staff offer the correct advice and demonstrate best practice in all aspects of the services they offer.
Below are our accreditations and certifications. The BPCA logo is on the left and Cepa on the right. We’re also certified to various ISO standards which demonstrates our commitment to proper waste management, protecting the environment, and safeguarding the occupational health of our staff.
Book your bed bug heat treatment
If you have a business in either the UK or Ireland, and you are looking for 100% guaranteed heat treatment, get in touch with us as we’d love to help.
