A basic guide to equipment and setup

What’s in the kit, where each piece goes, and how to run a treatment that gets every surface in the room above 50 °C.

SETUPAbout 6 min read

3D view of a bedroom set up for heat treatment: a Mosebach heater in the airflow, three high-temperature fans tilted up toward the ceiling moving hot air around the room in one direction, each heater cord on its own outlet, and the mattress propped on a box and a laundry basket above the box spring

WHAT’S IN YOUR RENTAL KIT

The same professional kit our technicians use.

We deliver it, set up your first room and show you how everything works. It runs on your building’s own power, no generator.

Two Mosebach BK15-3 heaters13.9 kW each, about 600 sq. ft. per heater, with a built-in thermostat.

Three high-temperature fans1,720 CFM each, rated for rooms up to 80 °C.

Reflective insulation and polesFour sheets to seal the room or split it into sections.

Wireless temperature sensorsA small sensor inside each fan reports temperature and humidity to a gateway we plug in nearby. We watch it live; you get the full graph.

Infrared thermometerSpot-check the coldest places: mattresses, corners, baseboards.

Every cord and adapterStandard 12-gauge extension cords with lighted ends, and an adapter for every type of outlet.

A high-temperature fan, a Mosebach bed bug heater, the heater’s control panel and a heavy-duty extension cord

Top view of a bedroom with a heater and fan: arrows show hot air circling the room

SET UP THE ROOM

Make the hot air circle the room.

1Open a gap under the mattress. Lift it off the box spring and prop it up on empty boxes, a laundry basket or something similar, so hot air can flow between the two. If the bed base is solid, with no slats for air to pass through, do the same between the box spring and the bed. Leaning them in an “A” frame isn’t needed: over a full treatment, the heat works its way through both.
2Seal the room. Put a towel or blanket under the door. Use the reflective sheets to close off open areas, so the room heats faster.
3Fans along the walls, all blowing the same way. At least one per wall if you can. The air should circle the room like a slow tornado and reach every corner.
4Aim the heater into the airflow. Its hot air should be picked up by the fans, not blow straight onto furniture or a wall. Keep its air inlet and outlet clear.
5One cord per circuit. Plug each 120 V cord into an outlet on its own 15 A breaker. You don’t have to use every heating element, but the element that powers the controls must always be plugged in.
6Switch it on and leave the thermostat alone. It comes set to 60 °C, and the factory locks that as the highest setting. The heater cycles on and off to hold the room there. Don’t turn it down: a lower setting may leave some surfaces too cool to kill bed bugs.

HEAT, HOLD, COOL DOWN

How a treatment runs, hour by hour.

We heat the room to 60 °C (140 °F) and hold every surface above 50 °C (122 °F) for at least 3 hours — lethal to bed bugs at every life stage, including eggs.

SetupFans, heater, cords, sensors

1–3 hWarm-upRoom air reaches 60 °C. Furniture and mattresses take longer.

3 h+HoldCounted only once every sensor reads target.

Cool-downHeaters off, room returns to normal.

We recommend 8–10 hours per room, setup to cool-down.

Why it matters for your heat treatment: concrete, plaster or block walls soak up heat. Expect them to take more time and about 50% more power than drywall rooms.

READ THE TEMPERATURE GRAPH

What a good setup looks like.

A real log from one of our rentals. A small wireless sensor inside each fan reports temperature and humidity to a gateway we plug in nearby and connect to Wi-Fi, so we can watch your room live from a phone.

✓Good setup. The temperature climbs to about 60 °C, then holds steady for hours while the humidity falls as the air heats up.

✕Sudden fall. A sudden drop in temperature usually means a breaker tripped. Check the cords and breakers, and keep each cord on its own circuit.

A real temperature and humidity log from a HeatZone rental: the temperature climbs to about 60 °C and holds for hours while the humidity falls

DURING THE TREATMENT

Three things to keep in mind.

We watch remotely

We monitor your room temperatures over the internet and send you the data history, free.

Fire sprinklers

Each sprinkler head has to be covered with cold ice-packs for the whole treatment. Our cooling covers are $100 per rental (not per day). Check with your building manager or fire department first, and tell us when you book.

Keep visits short

Step in only briefly to check the temperature, then close the door. Pets stay out the whole time. You can stay in the rest of your home.

Why it matters for your heat treatment: a treatment only works if the coldest spot reaches 50 °C. Check mattresses, corners and baseboards with the infrared thermometer before you start counting the hold time. Read the safety guide

WATCH

See the system in action.

Start with our own setup guide, also on our YouTube channel, then a short video from Mosebach, the maker of our heaters. That one plays on YouTube in privacy-enhanced mode.