The continuing saga of bed bugs and HUD/housing authorities: heat is the answer

by Tom Costello, Technical Director
July 14, 2021

Bed bugs are not like cockroaches that make a living from our food scraps, filth, and detritus. While bed bugs are seen as societally disgusting, their presence in a home, restaurant, or business is not a statement of cleanliness or social status.

Many people regard bed bugs as a pest specific to filthy homes in need of cleaning, but the pest control industry’s expertise say it’s a common issue that can plague a residence, restaurant, hospital, or business in any part of town. A traditional chemical bed bug treatment can require several weeks or more to knock out an active infestation. Bed bugs are expert hitchhikers, and easily move from location to location in search of fresh feeding opportunities. The National Pest Management Association lists the top three places exterminators find bedbugs are in single-family homes, apartments (including other multi-unit housing and HUD/housing authorities), and hotels. Now that the economy is open again, you don’t need to live in one of these cities to have a potential bed bug problem... the person next to you could have traveled through one and brought them to visit you!

Step into the HUD/housing authority world

Housing authorities often contend with the unfortunate reputation of working with the downtrodden members of our society. HUD/housing authority properties are very different from the stereotypical “projects” of the past. You could step into a housing authority property and easily mistake it for a college dorm, senior housing, or an extended-stay hotel.

The executive director of a Missouri housing authority commented that bed bug infestations are becoming more common than in the past and are often discovered by their maintenance teams. When there is an infestation, that doesn’t mean the area is unclean— it means bed bugs hitchhiked from somewhere else.

Findings of a 2018 survey by the National Pest Management Association supports this rising bed bug trend as well. In the NPMA’s Bugs without Borders survey, almost all (97%) of pest professional have treated bed bugs in the past year with the majority of them saying that overall bed bug service work and the prevalence of these pests are increasing. More than 50% of exterminators tabbed summer as the busiest time of year, according to the 2018 study.

Hypothesized reasons for the increase include global awareness of damaging effects of pesticides on human health and the environment, increased world-wide exposure through travel, and urbanization which brings infested household in close contact with others.

Make a bed bug action plan

Bed bug control should include a comprehensive plan of protection, quick action if infested, and then ongoing maintenance. A GreenTech bed bug heater should be a vital part of your bed bug plan. Heat indiscriminately kills everything within the treatment area. When properly conducted, a heat treatment is 100% lethal to all stages of insect life, 100% of the time. Temperature measurements provides an empirical ensurance that every bed bug in the treatment area was exposed to the proper time at a lethal temperature and achieved a 100% kill. No other bed bug treatment methodology can provide this level of surety.

No games or gimmicks. No spray, hope, and pray you got all the bed bugs. GreenTech Heat has the best single-day heat treatment solution for killing bed bugs with heat. So how does GreenTech Heat get you to a 100% kill every time?

• The best bed bug heat equipment.
• The best temperature measurement strategies.
• The best bed bug heat training.

No other bed bug heat solution can match the results you will achieve with GreenTech Heat equipment and comprehensive training.

For HUD/housing authorities, property management, dorms, senior housing, pest control operators, restaurants, airlines, and apartment owners, GreenTech Heat technology is 100% effective for bed bugs, cockroaches, and all other insects. Heat kills microbes, viruses, and bacteria that can cause allergies and odors. GreenTech Heat equipment 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.