Just found out that there are bed bugs in your house? Wondering what the next step is?
Depending on your circumstances, a bed bug heat treatment might be the best option for you and your family. This means that you’ll need to take necessary precautions against potential damage from heat treatment.
Continue reading to find out more about how to prevent bed bug heat treatment damage.
What Is Bed Bug Heat Treatment?
When it comes to bed bugs, heat treatment is sometimes needed to completely rid your residence of pests.
A bed bug heat treatment consists of a professional bed bug exterminator coming into your home with the necessary equipment and turning the heat up.
Heat treatment is meant to raise the temperature of your house to at least 120°F to kill bed bugs and eliminate eggs. This involves a unit and heat trailer to power fans and circulates heat throughout your home.
Bed bugs and their eggs die within an hour and a half at a high temperature–your professional exterminator will ensure a thorough heat treatment of your home and eradicate all bed bugs within a small amount of time.
When Do I Need Heat Treatment?
Are you finding out that your home has bed bugs and are you unsure about what to do?
If you are pregnant, have small children, or have health conditions, a bed bug heat treatment may be necessary for your health.
Bed bugs can cause medical problems, such as allergic reactions, infections, and mental health issues. When your home is found to have bed bugs, you’ll likely need a bed bug heat treatment to completely rid them from your residence.
When it comes to health and safety, put yourself and your family above the rest, especially when dealing with bed bugs. If anyone in your family suffers from a medical condition or is susceptible to allergies, focus on leaving the house and scheduling a heat treatment.
However, after you’ve scheduled your bed bug heat treatment, you’ll need to prepare your home properly to avoid bed bug heat treatment damage.
How to Prepare for Bed Bug Heat Treatments
There are several things to make sure you do before setting up a heat treatment in your house.
Avoid moving furniture or attempting any pest control methods of your own. Leave your home relatively undisturbed to ensure that you’re not providing room for bed bugs to travel more in your house.
Preparing for a bed bug heat treatment starts with you doing almost nothing. The professionals will safely handle and treat your home. However, if you try to perform any DIY bed bug removal methods, you may do more harm than good.
Because bed bugs find their way into everything you own, be careful when moving and removing items in preparation for heat treatment.
Items that are flammable or meltable should be removed. These include books, posters, candles, alcohol, perishable food, and important papers and documents. When removing these items, take extra care not to transport bed bugs with them to their new spot.
There are several main ways to prevent heat damage to your home–keep reading to find out more.
1. Don’t Move Anything
The general rule to preparing your home for heat treatment is to not move anything.
Items that you intend on keeping in your home should be left there–taking items out and bringing them back may reintroduce pests to your residence.
Moving personal items can be tricky — relocating them to your car, a friend’s house, a hotel room, or a storage locker can provide risk for those spaces as well. Preferably, you should keep most of what you own in your home, as professionals will keep you, your home, and your belongings safe.
Keep linens on beds and furniture — moving these can create a high risk for spreading bed bugs. This goes for clothing as well. While it may seem strange or feel wrong, keeping your clothes in your drawers and closets will be safer being treated than being with you.
It might seem strange to leave everything you’d normally take, but it’s better for your safety and health to leave as much as you can at home.
2. Keep Your Electronics Where They Are
Bed bug heat treatments will not damage your electronics. Your laptops, gaming consoles, TVs, and other electronics are safe from damage and are best kept where they are.
Electronics are especially liable to bed bug infestations, which means if you take your laptop with you out of your home, you may be carrying bed bugs with you.
Trust your professionals with your belongings, as they’ll move each item as needed to keep them as safe as possible throughout treatment. If you’re getting ready for a bed bug heat treatment, leave your electronics at home to be properly taken care of.
3. Turn Off A/C and Close Windows
Before the professionals arrive at your home, you’ll need to make sure you turn off the A/C and close all your windows.
This will eliminate the possibility of external factors that can get in the way of proper heat treatment. A/C and open windows counteract the effectiveness of heat treatment.
It’s important to seal your home off from outside forces before a heat treatment. Double-check that all your windows are closed and that your A/C is off.
4. Vacuum Your Home
If you have pets, vacuum your home before a bed bug heat treatment. Fur and other factors can get in the way of proper treatment.
Vacuum your home a day or two before your heat treatment. This will clean your house effectively before needing to begin heating.
You’ll also need to take any and all trash out of your house prior to leaving. Waste is a common factor that can interfere with the outcome of your heat treatment. Bed bug heat treatment damage prevention begins with doing the most you can at home.
5. Take Your Valuables Only
Of course, several things exceed the rule of leaving everything in your home. These include valuables like:
- Pets
- Plants
- Artwork
- Family photos
- Medical equipment/devices
Only take irreplaceable items with you when leaving your home for treatment. Everything that is not extremely valuable should be left to be safely treated at home.
Knowing how to prevent bed bug heat treatment damage will be worth it in the long run.
Avoiding Bed Bug Heat Treatment Damage
When preparing your home, you’ll need to know how to prevent bed bug heat treatment damage. This means taking only your valuables and cleaning the necessary areas of your home.
Trust the professionals with your home. If you’re in need of a bed bug heat treatment, schedule a heat treatment with us today.
