Imagine you are camping outside in sub-zero temperatures, with snow piling up around you! It is the last day of your vacation and after packing your things, you prepare to leave. You notice that underneath the log cabin where you stayed, there are several clumps of bugs huddled together for warmth.
Of course, they are not the only insects that do this during cold weather. Bed bugs also seek shelter under similar circumstances. That is because they have a hard time regulating their body temperature when it gets too hot or too cold. They simply cannot survive in extreme weather conditions. This is unless they hide away from the elements by entering tiny crevices or crawl spaces.
A question many people ask is the effectiveness of freezing bed bugs to get rid of them.
What are the things that can be frozen?
To answer that question, here is a list of things that freeze:
- items where bed bugs hide
- items one would suspect has bed bugs on it
In essence, when a thing or a place can fit a typical household freezer at 0 degrees Fahrenheit, it is possible to freeze the item. This is guaranteed for some people because their appliances have temperature gauge displays.
A typical household freezer measures from 0 to 10 degrees Fahrenheit. When anything in the home goes lower than that temperature range, there will likely become some type of notification of it as too cold. Otherwise, you will see a set point that tells the appliance when to stop freezing. Just chill food without damaging it will come into effect.
What should you not freeze?
The effectiveness of freezing bed bugs does not work on the following items:
- items to keep at room temperature or above
- items that temperature-sensitive individuals cannot afford to get rid of
Many people would not get rid of their expensive electronics, designer gowns, antique furniture, and so on. It is too cold outside for bed bugs to survive! You can still protect those things from these bugs. Place these items into an airtight space such as a plastic bag. Put them inside the freezer with the rest of your things. That way, you can both safeguard your belongings and kill the bed bugs in one fell swoop!
Required temperature to kill bed bugs?
The effectiveness of freezing bed bugs works best when the temperature is 0 degrees Fahrenheit! Anything lower than that gets compromised.
It means common household appliances can kill them! This is not just by chilling but also by freezing the bed bugs. Their eggs freeze as quickly as a ray of light beams down from the sun!
In some parts of Canada and Northern Europe, they have to deal with those frigid temperatures all winter long. They have seen first-hand how effective an ice age can truly become in eradicating any living thing from existence on Earth.
Can bed bugs survive during winter?
Bed bugs can survive during extremely cold temperatures. They make it through winter by freezing themselves and hiding away from the elements. There was an occasion where a woman brought bed bugs into her home in Canada. The temperatures there were -34 degrees Fahrenheit. The winter weather killed 60% of the bugs she carried with her. But the rest died later.
They died from the heat coming from the fireplace, which was located right by where she stayed. The effectiveness of freezing bed bugs is not a sure thing. It will kill them eventually. It is only a matter of time before they succumb to a state of suspended animation given how cold it gets in some regions.
Will freezing get rid of bed bugs?
The effectiveness of freezing bed bugs is not always guaranteed. However, it is possible to kill them! Follow the simple step of putting their hiding places into a freezer that measures less than or equal to 0 degrees Fahrenheit.
They do not fare well at those temperatures because they cannot regulate their body temperature as you do. Remember, they are poikilothermic creatures. They only move around when there is warmth.
You want to make sure your objects and possessions are free from these pests! Put them in a freezer set at 0 degrees Fahrenheit for four hours. This will ensure everything freezes solid and quickly enough! Do this before organisms within items thaw out again once the appliance returns to room temperature.
Is Cryonite the best way to get rid of bed bugs?
Cryonite is an effective way to kill a bed bug! First, a technician will use the technology to freeze the insects solid.
You have to make sure they die from this state before you try and clean up their mess afterward. Otherwise, they will simply thaw out again and head for your warmer regions. This is as soon as they can find a suitable hiding place in there.
The effectiveness of freezing bed bugs is not a guarantee that every single one has come into contact with it. You may just waste your time even when you have already tried this method.
How does Cryonite freezing work?
Cryonite is the process of using liquid nitrogen to freeze bed bugs solid. This often kills them on contact! It has more effectiveness than just leaving them in your freezer.
However, you have to make sure it works fast enough before they head for any warmer cavity they can find later on! You cannot use Cryonite when you are not sure what temperature your appliance runs at.
The effectiveness of freezing bed bugs requires that you implement this technology right away once they invade your home! Use it for all items you bring into the house as well as those located within it already.
Chemical-free to eliminate bed bugs at home
The effectiveness of freezing bed bugs is quite high! This is as long as you place all items that might hold moisture into a freezer set below 0 degrees Fahrenheit for at least four hours. That will make life difficult for these pests because they cannot survive those temperatures.
But it becomes compromised when you use liquid nitrogen and ice crystals to kill them. That means they will only die later on and not straight away.
Freezing bed bugs is effective to remove them from your home or business. But you have to put the right temperature.