Looking for ways to combat a bed bug infestation, local owners of Oklahoma Pest Services Company Tom and Tami Drake use a heat treatment machine which is one of 10 available to the nation and the only one of its kind in the state.

Bed bugs can be exterminated at temperatures of 121 degrees Fahrenheit. The co-owners are trying to make people aware of a problem that can cause many issues in the home as calls about the pest grow more and more frequent.

“There are 10 of them in the United States and the closest to us is in Jackson, Missouri,” Tami Drake said. “We are getting 10-12 calls a week in Duncan alone just for bed bugs.”

One of the reasons they invested in a machine like this is because of the effectiveness of the treatment. It is also one of the safer ways to eliminate the problem without using chemicals which can harm people in homes.

The machine can go up to 150 degrees, but Tom Drake said they only heat it up to 130 to make sure the whole house is at a temperature above the 121 threshold. They also make sure to use a thermal camera to check the temperature.

“Basically we heat it until everything in the structure reaches 121 degrees and we use the thermal camera to verify that we are getting the results we are looking for,” Tom Drake said. “Bed bugs pretty much immediately die at 121 degrees when the air temperature is that hot.”

No matter what the temperature is outside, the company will perform treatments, but it is lot easier if the temperature outside is hot to make sure the machine works faster on the treatments, according to Tom Drake.

The system is a propane system and before treatment can happen, workers will come out and make sure there is a bed bug infestation. Once that is determined, they will give you a checklist of items to remove.

Tom Drake said the most important items to remove include anything pressurized or flammables and other items subject to heat damage through melting, expansion or bursting.

They said the schedule is usually pretty jam packed, but once you see there is a problem they recommend to call their number to set up a consultation.

With a bed bug infestation, Tom Drake said most people won’t realize it is a problem but he recommends to not bring any used furniture from a garage sale inside a home because that is one of the easier ways to begin a problem.

“A lot of people are embarrassed by bed bugs, which they should not be. It is not a sanitary issue or a hygiene issue,” Tom Drake said. “It is not a lifestyle condition, it is somebody brought them in some sort of fashion.”

—The 18th China(Guangzhou)Int’l Heat Treatment, Industrial Furnace Exhibition