Last Updated on September 26, 2024
Heat treatment is a specially tailored method suitable for the majority of the common pests in the UK, as well as in the world. You can order this professional service from your local pest control company or buy/rent equipment to perform it via an online DIY step-by-step safety guide if you are invaded by bed bugs, fleas, cockroaches, termites, and you name it.
By all means, taking this precautious measure against the infestations is the best thing you can do. It will secure your home hygiene, comfort, and safety, too, as many pests spread diseases, bite to bleed and can drive you mad. Though, if the pest control initiative is the safest thing you can do to restore the home’s snugness, how secure is the heat treatment procedure, especially for your beloved pet, which is a living creature, too?
Table of Contents
The Importance of Safety in Pest Control
Pest control is a common term that embraces the existing measures against home infestations. When it represents the homonymous industry, it includes the state and international requirements for safe performance. Security measures are generally focused on the aim of protecting the customer’s home environment, but mainly his health and every living creature’s life.
Pets have always been considered when a pest control team handles the extermination procedure in a client’s flat or house. When you hold the operation on your own, you have to protect your dog or cat.
How Heat Treatment Works
What’s common for the latest trends in the pest control industry is to avoid the application of pesticides in as many extermination services as possible and against as many as possible insects. The chemical substances are hazardous not only for bed bugs, cockroaches, etc. but for all living creatures. Even if the pet remains outside of the property during the procedure, there’s a high rate of residue, which remains for weeks and threatens your dog’s health condition.
Due to these, many pest control companies prefer to switch to the green, eco-friendly heat treatment alternative.
The Heat Treatment Process
This procedure involves no pesticides but just heat. The heat treatment is not made to chase away the bugs temporarily but to them permanently.
No pesticides or chemical residue are involved in the heat treatment to provoke poisoning risks, but the procedure is not 100% safe for your pet. The thing is that to lead bugs to a lethal ending, the temperature is gradually rising till it reaches up to nearly 50 C (it varies depending on the insect type). As a result of this pest control mechanism of work, your pet is at risk.
Equipment and Technology
When it comes to pet safety while performing a pest control heat treatment procedure, the applied equipment and the integrated technology play a critical role in guaranteeing the final positive result and the pet’s safety.
Today, the most typical equipment set includes portable electric heaters, special ventilating fans and monitoring screens. These devices provide a gradual rise in the temperature, which allows the homeowner to take the pet outside the property in time. Besides, the required final temperature is not that high to lower at a regular rate when the moment for the client with his pet comes back home.
Safety for Your Home
Heat treatment has been definitely proven to be the safer option for pest control in comparison to any other method. However, this procedure includes concrete, precautious measures and preparation to avoid absolutely any risk for both beings and objects inside the property.
Impact on Home Structures and Belongings
50 C is not a very pleasant temperature, is it? The majority of the population on the planet cannot even imagine what it’s like to be in such a hot place. Well, this is why people might underestimate the risks that such high temperatures cause even to inanimate objects. Some items can melt, while others are damaged forever or at least lose their functionality temporarily. Thankfully, there’s an easy way to avoid such negative consequences and still enjoy the heat treatment efficiency.
Preventive Measures to Protect Your Home
During the consultancy with the heat treatment company (or the inspection stage of the process), you will be instructed to take some precautious measures, including:
- Remove all the green living plants from the house;
- Eliminate any food, drinks and medications;
- Turn off the electric devices and make sure they are at least 2 feet away from the walls;
- Everything that’s hanging on the wall should be removed, too;
- Wax melts at high temperatures, so hide such items, too;
- Building materials are at risk of damage due to melting, as well.
Safety for Your Pets
When considering your pet’s safety in case of an ordered heat treatment service, treat it like yourself, your kids, like a being. A dog or a cat, as well as an aquarium full of fish, shouldn’t experience this hot extermination.
Effects of Heat on Pets
There are two dangerous consequences for your pet if it remains on the property during the heat treatment process:
- Since the temperature is gradually rising, the insects might want to escape their present location, and your pet’s body would seem to be the ideal option. In other words, you put your pet at risk on one hand, and you put the extermination to a failure on the other hand.
- The efficiency of killing bugs’ temperature is dangerous for the pet’s health condition. Dehydration and the blockage of the metabolic processes are the main reasons why pests die at 50 C. However, they will not pass your dog or cat by.
Temporary Relocation and Care Tips
The safest thing you can do to secure your pet’s well-being is to relocate it. No being should be on the property during the process. This might be a stressful situation for a dog or a pet, but if you manage to provide it with a comfortable enough space for the day, everything will be alright. Make sure to remain with your pet. This will make it feel safer and more tranquil.
Ask the pest control technicians how soon a pet, as well as people, can come back to the property to plan your relocation. Usually, it takes up to 6-12 hours for the premises to become inhabitable again. Renting a hotel room for a night might be needed. To save money, you can ask a relative, a friend or a neighbour for a night stay.
Benefits of Heat Treatment
All the heat treatment risks for your pet and your property we have listed up to now might provoke a dilemma. Is it worth it at all? Well, considering the fact that it’s going to be just for a day and the day after, you will come back to a 100% pest-free property, we can claim that it is definitely worth it. Besides, heat treatment is the most beneficial pest control option, including when comparing its risks to the risks that the rest of the alternatives bring.
Chemical-Free Pest Control
Heat disappears in less than a day, while the residue left after the chemical pest control procedure lasts for several days. The thing is that the pesticides are incapable of killing the bugs at all life stages. This means that another visit might be needed to stop the infestation. Sometimes, using chemical solutions might be fatal for a pet and cause permanent health risks, especially in case of allergic reactions and chronic diseases.
Effective and Eco-Friendly Solution
It’s essential to remind ourselves that when doing something for our own good, we should think more globally and consider others and the surrounding nature. Heat treatment is beneficial because of its zero negative impact on nature. Unlike the chemical alternatives, this pest control meets all the latest sustainability standards. And we believe that this advantage matters for all animal lovers and pet owners.
Addressing Common Concerns
We hope that everything we’ve said up to now has made you feel more comfortable and confident about using heat treatment to finally deal with bed bugs, dust mites, cockroaches or any other insects that bother your home snugness right now. However, it’s a pity that we keep learning numerous misconceptions about the procedure, both online and in real life. Many homeowners avoid this pest control option due to fear, which is caused by myths that still need to be debunked, including:
- It takes several heat treatment procedures for the complete extermination. – As a matter of fact, in 90% of the cases, one single visit is enough for the pest control technicians to liberate your house from the concrete insects.
- Heat treatment is unsafe not only for the pets but for the kids, too. – As we have said above, no being should remain on the property during the heat treatment, including the children. But when the temperature gets back to normal, all the premises inside become safe to be occupied again.
- It is safe to handle a DIY heat treatment at home. – The truth is that the majority of people are not well enough prepared, experienced and educated to complete the extermination, which is why it is better to use a professional service.
- Your home is in a mess after heat treatment. – On the contrary, it takes one quick sanitising job after the procedure. Besides, the high temperature serves as the best disinfection method in medicine and cleaning spheres, which is why you will get a sterile and bacteria-free environment afterwards.
Traditional heat treatment is a truly effective green method for pest control that should not be avoided because of any concerns regarding your pet’s wellness. When performed the right way, with certified and intact devices, and with all safety measures put into force, this procedure is reliable and risk-free.
