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Bed bugs are a tricky little pest; once they get into bedrooms and bedding they are difficult to eradicate. Finding the most effective method is key because this will maximise the elimination of the mature bed bugs, and reduce the likelyhood of reinfestation. One of the best methods is to kill the bug with heat. Heat treatment of bed bugs is both simple and cost effective.
Using heat against the bed bug fundamentally renders the parasite unable to survive. When the heater pushes the temperature past 50°C (122°F), all active stages, and the laid eggs will die. Other methods might be effective at killing eggs and larve but heat is effective at killing all the bed bugs development stage.
Finding The Best Heater For Bed Bug Treatment
Heat has proven to be a effective technology in this field, it not only provides a competitve edge in the cost and quality of bed bug treatment, but also leaves no chemical residues, and holds a greater margin for safety. The next step is to figure out which heater will be most efficient and practival for the application. There a various treatment systems to choose from, starting with either an electric heat system, or a propane or oil fired heater.
Electric heaters are a closed system, which operates within the structure to generate heat, using a power source. Oil or propane fired heaters by contrast are generally used outside of the building and the hot air ducted in. Despite having a higher air output, oil or propane fired heaters can be seen as more difficult in application. Having a seperate heater outside the building requires copius amounts of ducting which could be difficult in the application of a high level room. In addition comes the task of blanking off openings in windows or door ways through which the ducting is routed.
All that being said, what heater can do the job most efficiently?
There are currently 3 electric heater options which can be offered from Puravent.
TheFire-flo FF3HT-15 is perhaps the most basic unit and it is a variation on the popular FF3 heater which is used for general industrial heating applications. Although a single phase heater and in normal circumstances would be perfectly capable of heating a hotel room to 'comfort' level, its 3kw of output is not sufficient to heat a hotel room to the temperature required for bed bug treatment. What this means is that the bed and bedding require enclosue in a bed bug treatment tent within the room, or indeed outside it. The obvious draw back of this method is the additional equipment and time needed, as well as the partial nature of the job. But also, what if there are other bed bugs beyond the bedding, perhaps in the other room furnishing and carpet?
The Kroll E18SH, like the Fire-flo is a variation on a standard industrial heater. This heater gets over the power limitation of single phase supply by using for a 415v 3 phase solution. Although this will easily generate sufficient temerature for bed bug treatment in a typical hotel room, the issue is that hotels generally don't have a 3 phase supply. For this option to be a option for a bed bug treatment contractor, the additional equipment needed here is a 3 phase generator. So the arrangement here is a generator outside and a heavy power lead from the generator outside to the Kroll heater inside.
The KillMann heater currently stands out in the market as the most sophisticated tool for the job. Unlike the other two options it has been designed from the ground up as a high temperature heater. As well as bed bug treatment it is also ideal for other high temperature applications such as product drying, warm rooms and raw materials preheating. Rather than just a simple thermostat, it has a sophisticated electronic control and 5 heat stages. There are 3 versions, 415v 3 phase, 230v single phase and a dual voltage version which offers both voltage options on the same unit. The single phase version recognises that there is a limit to the amount of power that can be drawn from a single 230v socket so it draws from 3 sockets (ideally on different circuits) simultanisouly to generate is maximum 7kw of heat. It is not as powerful as a Kroll but it is more controlable.
For more information on what system would suit your application, or for any other questions regarding our range, please see our website.
For more information on Bed Bug Treatment - Options For Treatment with Heat talk to Puravent