Bed Bug Heat Treatment in Wisconsin: How It Works and When It Is the Right Call

Bed bug heat treatment kills every life stage of bed bugs, eggs included, by heating the inside of your home past the temperature bed bugs can survive and holding it there long enough for that heat to reach the places they hide. That is the short answer, and it is why heat is often the fastest way out of an infestation. The longer answer still matters, because heat is not the right tool for every house, every budget or every situation.

1st Choice Pest Solutions handles bed bug work across western Wisconsin, including Eau Claire, Chippewa Falls, Menomonie, Somerset and Mondovi, as well as the Green Bay area. Most of the calls we take start the same way: somebody woke up with bites, pulled back a fitted sheet, and found something along the seam of the mattress. You can see where we work on our service area page.

How Bed Bug Heat Treatment Works

Portable electric heaters and high-volume fans go into the rooms being treated. The technicians runs them until the air temperature climbs well above what bed bugs tolerate, then keeps the fans moving that hot air into closets, under baseboards, behind headboards, inside couch frames and down into carpet edges. Temperature sensors sit in the hard spots so the technician can watch the coldest point in the room rather than the warmest.

Bed bugs die from heat, not from chemistry, which is the whole point of the method. There is no residue, no pesticide for your family to avoid, and no waiting period before the room is usable again. Eggs are the real target. Eggs are what survive a lot of do it yourself attempts and what brings an infestation back three weeks after the homeowner thought it was over.

Holding the heat is the hard part. A room gets hot quickly, and the inside of a mattress does not. Our technicians hold temperature for a set period after the coldest sensor reaches target, which is why treatment takes most of a day rather than an hour.

Our heat treatments are structured to bring the entire area up to a minimum temperature of 145° and held for four hours. The temperature needs to be so intense that it passes through inside the walls where it can reach heavy infestations.

Prior to the heat, we perform a chemical perimeter treatment so that as the temperature begins to rise, Bed Bugs start to scatter, they cross over the chemical, and the mortality rate increases exponentially.

What You Will Be Asked to Do Before the Crew Arrives

Prep decides whether the treatment works. We give every customer a written list, and the list exists because heat moves through open space far better than through packed space.

• Strip beds and wash and dry bedding on high heat, then bag it and keep it out of the treated rooms until the crew is done
• Open closet doors, drawers and storage bins so hot air can get inside them
• Pull furniture a few inches off the walls where you can
• Remove anything that melts, warps or is pressurized: candles, vinyl records, aerosol cans, medications, houseplants, pets and fish tanks
• Leave firearms, ammunition and anything else heat sensitive out of the house for the day
• Plan for people and pets to be out for the full treatment window

Pets go to a friend or a kennel for the day. That one catches people off guard, so we say it twice.

Heat Treatment Compared With Chemical Treatment

Neither method is automatically better. The honest comparison looks like this.

Repeat visits are normal with chemical work because product must reach bugs as they move and as eggs hatch. One well run heat treatment can finish the live population in a day, though we still recommend a follow up inspection either way.

When Heat Is the Right Call

Heat earns its keep when the infestation has spread past one bedroom, when there are young children or someone with a chemical sensitivity in the house, or when the family simply cannot live with weeks of staged treatment. It also helps when the bugs are in furniture that cannot be taken apart, since heat goes where a sprayer cannot.

There are homes where we steer people somewhere else. Severe clutter blocks airflow, and heat that cannot circulate is heat that does not work, so a hoarding situation usually needs a cleanout plan first. Some apartment buildings do not have the electrical capacity to run the equipment, and some landlords have a contracted approach we must work around. A single bug found in a guest room after a trip may not call for a whole house treatment at all.

What Bed Bug Heat Treatment Costs

Bed bug treatment costs depend on the square footage being heated, how many rooms are involved, how bad the infestation is, and whether the home needs a follow up residual application. A one-bedroom apartment and a four-bedroom house are not close to the same job, and quoting either one sight unseen does nobody any favors.

Bed bug heat treatment ranges from $6,000 to $8,000, depending on the severity of the infestation and the size of the property. The service also includes a 30-day guarantee.

Our pricing is confirmed at the inspection, not over the phone. If you want a broader sense of what pest work runs in this part of the state, our pest control cost guide covers the common services. For bed bug service specifically, start with our bed bug control page.

Making Sure It Is Actually Bed Bugs

Carpet beetles, bat bugs and spider bites all get mistaken for bed bugs, and we have driven to plenty of homes where the problem turned out to be something else entirely. Look along mattress seams and box spring edges for small dark spotting, shed skins that look like empty shells, and the bugs themselves, which are flat, reddish brown and about the size of an apple seed. Our guide on how to check for bed bugs walks through its room by room.

Bites alone are not proof. People react differently to the same bites, and two people in the same bed can wake up with completely different skin.

“They forgot the outlet cover removal which allows us to dust the wall void in which they move through once the heat starts. If missed these are removed at an additional fee for the time.”Hunter Katusky, Field Technician, 1st Choice Pest Solutions

Frequently Asked Questions

How long does a bed bug heat treatment take?

Most treatments take the better part of the day, because the crew must bring the coldest point in each room up to temperature and then hold it. You will be asked to stay out of the home for that full window.

Does bed bug heat treatment damage furniture or electronics?

Properly run heat does not harm most household furnishings, and our technicians monitor temperature, so rooms do not overshoot. Items that melt, warp or are pressurized come out of the house before we start, and the prep list names them.

Will one heat treatment get rid of all the bed bugs?

A correctly run heat treatment kills the bed bugs and eggs in the treated space that day. Bugs can come back if they are carried in again, which is why we recommend a follow up inspection and sometimes a residual application.

How soon can you get to my house?

Call us and we will give you the next available date for your area.

Is heat treatment safe for kids and pets?

Heat uses no pesticide, so there is no residue to worry about afterward. People, pets and houseplants do need to be out of the home during the treatment itself.

Can I just rent a heater and do this myself?

Rented heaters rarely hold the temperature long enough or push air into the places bed bugs hide and running them wrong is a fire risk. Most of the homes where we end up doing a full treatment had a do it yourself attempt first.

Getting a Bed Bug Inspection Scheduled

An inspection tells us what you have, how far it has spread, and whether heat, chemical work or a combination makes the most sense for your home. Call 1st Choice Pest Solutions at (715) 271-2511 or request a quote and we will get a technician out to look.

If you want pest coverage that continues after the bed bug work is finished, ask about Total Comfort Essentials when the technician is at the house.