‘Night, ‘Night, Sleep Tight, Don’t Let the Bed Bugs Bite
By John Needham - Butane Propane News - April 2007
How many children have been lulled off into slumber by a parent's sweet chiding of some variation of this nursery rhyme? Wee ones don't visualize anything other than an imaginary critter that might visit during the night...but adults now know better.
For more than 50 years bedbug infestations and requests for pest control service were rare in the U.S., notes the National Pest Management Association, thanks to pesticides that have now been phased out. However, with international travel now the norm, bedbugs, which are expert hitchhikers, are making a comeback. Though they can hide just about anywhere, they live and feed in beds, hence their name.
Propane is leading the way to provide a non-toxic solution to the bedbug onslaught. TEMP-AIR (Burnsville, Minn.), has licensees who are using the company's patented process to eradicate budbugs and other insect pests in hotels, assisted living facilities, and homes.
Bruce Lindsay, director of business development, notes one licensee, CENCAL (Los Osos, Calif.), recently treated a 12-story, 150-unit assisted living facility for a bedbug infestation. CENCAL treated 13 units per floor one at a time using 400,000 Btu TEMP-AIR construction heaters. "They prepare the rooms for treatment, install the heating equipment and door insulation with integrated ductwork, and monitor the temperatures remotely to ensure there is no structural damage," he says. CENCAL heated the rooms to 120ºF for 11 hours. The heat treatment kills all pest insects, including bedbugs, cockroaches, fleas, and ants.
CENCAL says when it treats a hotel room for bedbugs, the room can typically be reoccupied within eight hours. Temperatures are held for an hour or more to ensure an effective treatment. The same time frame applies to homes and small business, while large industrial facilities typically require less than 36 hours. Raising the temperature to at least 120ºF will kill all life cycles of insects - eggs, larvae, pupae, and adults, according to the company.
During treatment, items that might be impacted by up to 130ºF of heat are removed. Dresser drawers are opened and mattresses and box springs are positioned to expose as much surface area as possible. Fuel for a typical single-room treatment is provided by a 20-lb cylinder. Rooms can be reoccupied with no mattress, carpet, or drapery replacement, says CENCAL vice president Summer Birchell.
She notes that with chemical pest control, because of the toxicity of the chemicals used, a block of rooms - or even an entire hotel - may have to be closed for up to two weeks. Potential revenue is lost, and guests may have a reaction to pesticides.
Heat Treatment, CENCAL says, doesn't draw as much attention from guests, who can be told the room is being sanitized and deodorized for indoor and quality. The treatment is said to remove 90% of odors and allergens that can trigger asthma, and it also removes most of a smoking room's odor.
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