Heat treatments are the only proven method to kill bed bugs in one treatment. Some of the common reason’s customers choose a heat treatment over chemical treatment are as follows:

  • Kills both adult bed bugs and eggs in 1 treatment
  • Easy preparation 
  • Nothing needs to be thrown away
  • Safe for electronics, furniture, and belongings
  • Eco friendly

Midwest Bed Bug Services offers a pressurized heat treatment with a 1.2 million BTU furnace system. This allows us to heat the entire house to the temperature that kills bed bugs in a safe and timely manner. Our furnace sits inside of our white, unmarked box trucks, and the heat will go into your home (via doors or windows) by our ducts attached to the furnace. 

Preparing your house is necessary for a successful 1 time treatment. The time is takes someone to prepare is different for each person. Some families can prepare in 1 afternoon, while others will need to reorganize and downsize their belongings over a week period. The following post will walk you through the preparation process, as well as what to expect during the treatment. 

For a downloadable PDF preparation guide (in color), Click Here

For a print friendly PDF preparation checklist (black and white), Click Here

Table of Contents

 Click on any of the items below to jump to a section. 

  1. What to Expect During the Heat Treatment
  2. Preparing Your Home for the Heat Treatment
  3. What to Expect After the Heat Treatment
  4. Frequently Asked Questions

What to Expect During the Heat Treatment

The heat treatment will last anywhere between 8-12 hours. We will begin at 8am, and will finish around 5pm. What determines how long a treatment will last?

  • The type and age of home
  • The quantity of items/clothes/furniture in the home
  • If the basement is finished or unfinished
  • If the garage or vehicles will need to be treated
  • The accessibility of the home from our work vehicle

The bigger homes do not necessarily take longer to treat than smaller homes. Each home is different, and it is ultimately dependent on the proportion of things to the size of the house. So a small home packed with things will take longer than a large home with few things inside. 

Here is a breakdown of how the 8-12 hours will be spent.

  • 30-60 Minutes. Home walk through and Q&A with the customer
  • 1 Hour. Setting up our equipment
    • Turning on the propane and finding a power source
    • Setting up 25-30 fans inside your home (circulating the hot air)
    • Turning on the furnace and running the hoses inside your home
  • 3-4 Hours. Heating up the home to 130-140F
  • 3-5 Hours. Maintaining 130-140F temperatures in each room of the house to ensure all of your belongings reach at least 122F
  • 1 Hour. Shutting down and packing up equipment
  • 15-30 Minutes. Post treatment walk through with customer

Preparing Your Home for the Heat Treatment

The two guides listed below will walk you through the preparation process. The two images can be clicked on to be downloaded and viewed. The “Easy to Print Preparation Checklist” was created specifically to be printed, as it is in black and white with no images. After you read through the documents, scroll down below to find post treatment information.

Easy To Read Preparation Guide

This guide walks home owners and renters on preparing their home for a bed bug heat treatment. Preparing your house properly ensures the successful removal of all bed bugs in one single treatment.

Easy To Print Preparation Checklist

This is a step-by-step guide on how to prepare for bed bug heat treatment.

After Your Heat Treatment

Your home will not look the way it did after the heat treatment is over. During the treatment, our technicians were inside monitoring temperatures and moving items around your house as necessary. Items are moved around to ensure even  heat distribution. While it is not our intention to make a mess in your home, the short time period we work in extreme temperatures does not allow to move everything back to its original place.

  • Bed sheets and linen will be hanging on doors and cabinets
  • Couch cushions will be removed and chairs reclined
  • Pictures and blinds will be taken down
  • Beds will be lifted off of the ground and leaning against the wall
  • Drawers will be open and clothes removed as needed

It is recommended that you naturally cool your house down following the treatment. We recommend opening the windows and using fans. The AC unit cannot be turned on until after the house has began cooling down. 

Before the house is picked up, we recommend a thorough vacuuming of all dead bugs, eggs, and castings. This will help you monitor your situation and time goes on.

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