Bed bugs and biting pests
What temperature kills bed bugs?
Lethal heat for Bed bug is about 113°F (45°C) held long enough to reach harborages — a professional whole-room protocol, not “crank the thermostat.” For clothing and bedding, a clothes dryer on high for at least 30 minutes is a common extension step after you confirm the insect. Cold treatments need days in a true freezer, not an overnight porch. Eggs take longer than adults. Foggers still fail.
Why 90°F in the house does nothing
Bed bugs hide in seams, baseboards, and screw holes. Air at 90°F does not heat those cracks to a lethal core. Professional heat monitors the coolest harborages. If you cannot do that, you are in encasements, interceptors, laundry heat, and often a licensed operator. See Bed bug heat and non-chemical control.
EPA and CDC both warn against foggers and unlisted “bug bombs” in bedrooms. Heat is a method. Poisoning the room is not a substitute for temperature.
Dryer vs freezer
A dryer is for items that can take high heat. A freezer protocol, when used, is long and complete — not a chilled garage. If the item cannot be heated or frozen, it stays in the room treatment plan, bagged, or discarded with the rest of the harborage in mind. Throwing only the mattress leaves the box spring and the headboard.
Species pages
The question is only the field note. Control sequence, legal notes, and identification live on the species article.
Related questions
- Will a dryer kill bed bugs?
- Can bed bugs live in a suitcase?
- How long can bed bugs live without feeding?
- Do bed bugs fly?
- Can you see bed bugs during the day?
- Do bed bugs live in hair?