If you’ve booked a heat treatment with Bug Blitz, or you’re considering it, it’s natural to want to know exactly what happens on the day. Here’s a clear, step-by-step walkthrough of the entire process — from the moment the team arrives to the moment you walk back through your front door.
Step 1: The Team Arrives and Assesses the Property
The first thing the team does when they arrive is walk through the property. Even if a survey has already been carried out beforehand, a check on the day is important to confirm how far the infestation has spread, identify any areas that need particular attention, and make sure the preparation has been completed correctly.
If anything has been missed during preparation — a wardrobe that hasn’t been emptied, an aerosol left in a cupboard, a room that isn’t fully accessible — this is the point where it gets picked up and dealt with before work begins. Starting the treatment with everything in order means the process runs smoothly and nothing needs to be interrupted halfway through.
Step 2: Equipment is Brought In and Positioned
Once the initial checks are done, the team begins bringing in the equipment. This includes industrial heaters, high-powered fans, and temperature sensors.
The heaters are positioned to push heat into the rooms as evenly as possible. The fans are placed to keep hot air moving continuously throughout the space — this is important because still air creates pockets where the temperature can vary, leaving potential cool spots where bugs might survive. Temperature sensors are placed inside mattresses, inside furniture, and in other spots where bed bugs are most likely to be hiding. These allow the team to monitor what’s happening inside surfaces, not just in the open air.
This stage typically takes one to two hours depending on the size of the property and how many rooms are being treated.
Step 3: Everyone Leaves the Property
Before the heating begins, everyone needs to be out — all people and all pets. The temperatures involved make it unsafe for anyone to remain inside, and the process works better without doors being opened and closed throughout the day.
This is also the point where you should make sure smoke detectors have been disconnected and all fans and air conditioning are switched off, if this hasn’t already been done.
Step 4: The Property is Heated Up
With everyone out and the equipment running, the heaters begin raising the temperature of the rooms. This doesn’t happen instantly — the air temperature increases gradually, and the equipment is monitored throughout to make sure heat is being distributed evenly across the whole space.
The target temperature is between 50°C and 60°C. At 50°C, bed bugs at every stage of their life cycle — including eggs — begin to die. The higher the temperature, the faster this happens, but the priority is always reaching that temperature consistently throughout every part of the room, not just in the open air.
This ramp-up phase takes time. Rushing it risks leaving cold spots inside furniture or behind walls where bugs can survive. Taking it steadily and monitoring as it goes is what makes the difference between a treatment that works and one that doesn’t.
Step 5: The Temperature is Held
Once the target temperature has been reached throughout the room — including inside mattresses, furniture, and wall cavities — it needs to be held there for a sustained period. This is the most important part of the process.
The sensors placed earlier are doing their job here, giving the team a real-time picture of temperatures inside surfaces rather than just in the air. If a particular area isn’t reaching the right temperature, the equipment can be adjusted — a fan repositioned, a heater moved — to correct it before moving on.
Bed bugs need sustained exposure to lethal heat to be fully eliminated. A brief spike in temperature isn’t enough. Holding the heat at the right level for long enough is what ensures every bug and every egg in the space is dealt with.
Step 6: The Property is Monitored Throughout
The team doesn’t leave the property while treatment is running. They stay on site throughout the process, watching the temperature readings, checking for any areas where heat isn’t circulating as expected, and making adjustments where needed.
This ongoing monitoring is one of the things that separates a professional treatment from a DIY approach. No two properties are the same — different layouts, different amounts of furniture, different wall materials — and the team responds to what the sensors are telling them in real time rather than following a fixed schedule regardless of what’s happening.
Step 7: Cool Down
Once the treatment is complete and the team is satisfied that every part of the property has reached and held the right temperature for long enough, the heating equipment is switched off and the property begins to cool.
This cooling period takes a couple of hours. The team will let you know when it’s safe to return — typically the same evening. There’s no need to ventilate the property for any specific length of time, and no chemical residue to wait for. Once it’s cool enough to be comfortable, the property is ready to use.
Step 8: The Team Packs Up
While the property is cooling, the team removes all of the equipment — heaters, fans, sensors, and any other kit brought in for the job. By the time you return, everything will have been cleared and your home will look exactly as it did when you left, minus the bed bugs.
Mattresses that were stood on their sides will be put back on the beds. Furniture that was moved to improve airflow will be returned to its original position. You shouldn’t have to do anything other than walk back in.
Step 9: You Return Home
When you get back, your home is ready to use straight away. Put your smoke detectors back in place, reconnect any electronics you unplugged before leaving, and bring back in any items you removed ahead of the treatment.
Your bedding can go straight back on the bed. There are no surfaces to avoid, nothing to wipe down, and no smell to wait for. The process is over, the property is clear, and you can get on with things as normal.
What to Keep an Eye on Afterwards
In the vast majority of cases, one heat treatment is all that’s needed. The process kills bed bugs and eggs in a single visit, which is why it’s a more reliable solution than chemical sprays that require multiple visits and often fail to deal with eggs at all.
That said, it’s worth keeping an eye on things over the following few weeks — not because the treatment is likely to have missed anything, but because it’s always better to catch any sign of activity early rather than wait. If you notice anything that concerns you in the weeks after treatment, get in touch straight away rather than waiting to see if it resolves itself.
Bug Blitz by Destrodent provides professional bed bug heat treatment across the whole of Surrey, including Guildford, Woking, Farnham, Reigate, Camberley, Weybridge, Dorking, Cobham, Esher, Walton-on-Thames, Hersham, Epsom, and Redhill. Get in touch today to find out more or to book a consultation.