Kill Bedbugs With Heat

Instead of using pesticides to kill bedbugs, use heat. As Dr. David Williams wrote in his popular health newsletter Alternatives:

It takes only 113 degrees F to kill them, once it’s determined that bed bugs are present. Researchers simply built a foam box around the furniture to be treated, using the simple 2-foot by 4-foot insulating panels that are available at larger home hardware outlets or lumber yards. They then placed a heater inside. A sealed, oil-based heater eliminates the fire risk. They raised the temperature to 140 degrees F. The bug infestation was eliminated. The entire process takes a couple of hours.

Clothing and bedding can be thrown into a clothes dryer. You do not have to wash the clothes. It’s the high heat of the dryer that kills the insects.

Rooms can be treated by raising the temperature.

For this research, Dr. Williams provided the following reference: Med Vet Entomol 09;23:418-425.

Some Notes on How Heat is Measured

113 degrees Fahrenheit is 45 degrees Celsius.

140 degrees Fahrenheit is 60 degrees Celsius.

In the Fahrenheit system, the boiling point of water is at 212 degrees above zero on the scale. The freezing point is at 32 degrees above zero.

In the Celsius system, the interval between the freezing point of water and the boiling point of water is divided into 100 degrees. Zero degrees represents the freezing point, and 100 degrees is the boiling point.

To convert Fahrenheit to Celsius, subtract 32. Then divide by 1.8.

To convert Celsius to Fahrenheit, multiply by 1.8 and then add 32.

Some Questions for Discussion:

(1) Where you live, is temperature measured in degrees Fahrenheit or in degrees Celsius?

(2) What is considered a nice temperature where you live?

(3) Where you live, how hot is too hot?

(4) Where you live, how cold is too cold?

Copyright (c) 2010           Barbara A. English          All rights reserved.