Heat kills bed bugs and other insects?

by Tommy Underhill
August 7, 2020

The short and simple answer: Yes, heat kills bed bugs (and other insects, too!).

If you’ve ever spent time in the desert, you know it gets hot! A quick look around and you can see the impact heat has on the environment. Most insects and other animals are active at night and spend the days sheltered away from the heat.

Slightly hotter than the desert

Temperatures at Lake Havasu, Arizona can reach 120°F during the summer. Add in brisk wind, and the heat index can feel like 130°F. At this temperature, the crazy humans are the only animals out and about— everything else must be smarter and is sheltering below ground to avoid the heat!

This is the target temperature range achieved during a heat treatment: 120°F to 140°F. Most insects and their eggs cannot survive in this temperature range for more than a couple of hours.

In fact, many odors, allergens, bacteria, molds, and viruses will also be killed or denatured at these temperatures. Not only does a bed bug heat treatment kill all bed bugs, your home ends up smelling fresher and is a healthier environment following the treatment.

Why trust a heat treatment?

• Heat naturally kills all bed bugs, termites, cockroaches, fleas, spiders, sliverfish, and other insects in a single, one-day treatment: adults, nymphs, eggs. Because heat kills the eggs, there are no future generations to bite and pester your family.
• Just like cooking with a convection oven, our equipment gets everything up to lethal temperatures and the treatment holds that temperature long enough to kill all insects in the treatment area— adults, nymphs, and eggs. All furniture, furnishings, drapes, electronics, clothing, bedding, mattresses, and structural materials— including walls— reach lethal temperatures. There is no where for a bed bug or other insects to hide and they’re all killed the first time. Our comprehensive training gets you ready to use heat for a 100% kill.
• Heat is 100% safe to the contents of any strucure— and the structure itself. Anything that has been shipped by truck or ocean container has already been exposed to the temperatures in a bed bug heat treatment. The interior of the building gets about as hot as the inside of a parked car on a hot day.
• Heat has no chemicals or pesticides to irritate people or pets. Heat is safe for dogs and cats. Heat has no allergic properties. The building is freshened after a heat treatment.

GreenTech Heat technology is also 100% effective for bed bugs, cockroaches, termites, and all other insects. GreenTech Heat equipment bring a little bit of the desert wherever you need it and allows you to self-treat with heat on your schedule and as your needs demand. Our certified training lets you do it right and do it safely the first time. Heat safely kills insects and microbes everywhere they may be found in a single one-day treatment. Call us at 888-699-3944. We have bed bug heaters for sale to get started with heat today.

What People Say

About three months ago, we treated an apartment in a senior home with our GreenTech Heat equipment. We were using heat to primarily kill the bed bugs, however this tenant also had a very severe infestation of German cockroaches. Before heating we applied boric acid powder and Seclira aerosol (IGR). As we were heating with the Titan 800, the cockroaches were running everywhere! We heated at about 150˚F for 5 hours and we applied some gel bait after. Three months go by and I go back for the first time and guess what: Not a single cockroach!

Sean Jourdain
Royale Extermination