Bed bugs are remarkably hard to kill with chemicals. They've developed resistance to most pyrethroid-based sprays sold in the UK over the last two decades, and even the strongest professional residual treatments leave the most stubborn life-stage — the egg — completely unaffected. Heat treatment sidesteps both problems by attacking bed bugs through their physiology rather than their nervous system.
Why bed bugs can't survive heat
Bed bugs are ectotherms. They cannot regulate their own body temperature, so when the air around them rises past about 45°C their internal proteins begin to denature. At 50°C death is rapid; at 55–60°C every life stage — adults, nymphs, larvae and eggs — dies within minutes. Our treatments hold the property at 50–60°C measured at the coolest point for a minimum of 90 minutes, well past the lethal threshold for everything in the room.
Why sprays leave the job half-done
Bed bug eggs are wrapped in a waxy chorion that is largely impermeable to liquid insecticides. A spray that kills adults perfectly well will leave eggs alive — and those eggs hatch 6 to 10 days later into a new generation. That's why spray treatments almost always need two or three repeat visits, with the bed bug population rebounding in between.
What happens during a heat treatment visit
Our technicians arrive in the morning, walk through the property, identify hotspots and place sensors at the coolest points (typically inside mattresses, under skirting boards and inside wardrobes). We then deploy industrial electric heaters and circulating fans, bring the property to 50–60°C, hold that temperature for the required dwell time, and monitor every sensor throughout. By late afternoon we cool the property back to room temperature and you're back in.
Why it's a one-day job
Because heat kills every life stage simultaneously, there's no need for a second visit. There are no eggs left to hatch, no nymphs that have dodged the treatment, and no chemical 'wait-and-see' period. You sleep in your own bed the same night.