Ridding Your Home of Insects

Got Bed Bugs? Invest in Heat Treatment

by Ted Miller

The first thing that many people do when they need a certain service is to compare prices. Sometimes, this makes sense. Of course, you don't want to pay more than you need to pay for a certain service. When it comes to bed bug treatment, though, going for the cheapest option is not usually a good choice. The cheapest treatment options usually use pesticides. Pay a bit more, and you can have your home heat treated for bed bugs. There are a few key reasons why heat treatment is the better option, even if it's a bit of a financial stretch for you.

1. You only need one treatment.

When you look at the prices of pesticide treatments for bed bugs, keep in mind that one treatment is rarely enough. Most homeowners need at least two pesticide treatments to get rid of bed bugs since a few bugs may survive the first treatment. Some homeowners even need three or more treatments. For instance, a single pesticide treatment may cost $400, but if you need three treatments, your total cost will be $1,200. With heat treatment, you only need to have your house treated once. As such, the cost of heat treatment may be more comparable to the total cost of pesticide treatment than you might assume — and you'll be totally done in one day.

2. You don't have to worry about pesticide exposure.

Bed bugs are resilient creatures. They can be a lot harder to kill than ants or cockroaches. As such, pest control companies have to use some pretty concentrated pesticides to get rid of them. Your pest control company should be careful to apply pesticides in a way that limits your exposure, but you may still end up being exposed to some of these chemicals. This is not a concern at all with heat treatment. Your home will be heated up and then cooled back down to a normal temperature when you're not there. There's essentially zero risks to your own health.

3. You don't have to worry so much about identifying hiding places.

If you were to opt for pesticide treatment, both you and your pest control company would have to spend time identifying where the bed bugs might be hiding so that those areas could be treated. You'd have to wash a lot of clothing and bedding separately, consider whether to treat your sofas, and so forth. With heat treatment, you can skip these steps. The whole house will just be heated up to kill the bugs, regardless of where in the home they happen to be.

Heat treatment is often the more expensive way to treat a bed bug infestation, but it is so much simpler in several ways. If you can manage to fit it into your budget, go for it. Contact bed bug services to learn more. 

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