Four categories, per the federal integrated pest management framework: heat, chemical (insecticides), non-chemical adjuncts (encasements, vacuuming, interceptors, diatomaceous earth), and — for severe cases — fumigation. CDC and EPA's own position is that non-chemical methods alone are usually "very difficult, potentially less effective, and usually more resource intensive," and insecticides alone won't control an infestation either. Professional treatment nearly always combines methods.
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How do the methods actually compare?
What each method reaches, and what it leaves behind.
Whole-room or targeted heat
3- Kills at the temperature reached inside the insect, commonly cited at 120–140 °F for whole-room services
- No residual effectkills what it reaches on the day, nothing more
- Bed bugs show limited ability to evolve resistance to it, unlike pyrethroids
See our heat treatment temperature page for the full figures.
Insecticides
3- The most recent nationwide screen found 0% of 233 populations still pyrethroid-susceptible
- Insecticide applications alone won't control an infestation, per UC IPM
- Over-the-counter foggers specifically are not recommended by the underlying research
See our chemical treatment and sprays page.
Encasements, vacuuming, dusts
3- Encasements starve what's already inside; they don't treat the rest of the room
- A single vacuum pass rarely gets everything and is repeated
- Registered diatomaceous earth products are one federally-listed non-chemical option
Adjuncts to a plan, not a plan on their own, per CDC and EPA.
Why does combining methods matter so much here?
Because each method has a specific gap the others cover. Heat has no residual effect, so it does nothing to stop reinfestation. Insecticides often don't kill the egg, which is why a follow-up visit is scheduled two to three weeks out. Encasements handle the mattress and box spring but not the rest of the room. A plan that combines heat or chemical treatment with encasements, vacuuming, decluttering and monitoring addresses more of the infestation than any single method does alone.
Sources
4 cited- IPM framework and the non-chemical-alone limitation: CDC & EPA, Joint Statement on Bed Bug Control in the United States, 2010 (checked 2026-08-18).
- Insecticides alone won't control an infestation: UC IPM Pest Notes Publication 7454, Bed Bugs, May 2013 (checked 2026-08-18).
- Pyrethroid resistance figure: Lewis, Levine, Schal, Vargo & Booth 2023, J. Pest Sci. 96:415–423, doi:10.1007/s10340-022-01505-4 (checked 2026-08-18).
- Heat resistance research: Ashbrook, Scharf, Bennett & Gondhalekar 2019, PLoS One 14(2):e0211677 (checked 2026-08-18).