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get the house extra hot

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jumper
jumper Member Posts: 2,248
in THE MAIN WALL
I read that you can kill insects including bed bugs by heating home over 120°.
So close windows on a hot summer day and short the thermostat. I suspect that is a bad idea with hot air heating but how about otherwise?

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  • SWEI
    SWEI Member Posts: 7,356
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    Sustained high temps are one of several nontoxic methods I have seen used to eliminate termites. Takes a day or so for the heat to work its way into the wood, but once it does they are toast (pun intended.) I'm not sure what kind of target temps they were shooting for, but they had big flex hoses on a giant truck-mounted gas burner and an insulated tent over the whole house.

    A deep, hard freeze also works.
  • ratio
    ratio Member Posts: 3,626
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    I've heard something similar too. Apparently a neighbor had that done to his place for cheap (I hear that it's "green", which means expensive?), SWMBO said you could feel the heat coming off of the place. This was during the summer. It kinda gives me the willies. I'm not sure that residential construction, even older stuff, is up to that kind of thing.

    Not sure I'd use the furnace for that though. In fact, I'd be nervous using the house service, the terminations are probably only rated for 60*C, 140F.

  • hot_rod
    hot_rod Member Posts: 22,143
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    we had someone contact use recently with an idea for a hydronic system, no need for the big flex duct. he didn't share many details of his idea, maybe just a few large Modine unit heaters with a trailer mounted boiler outside. plenty of rental, portable boilers out there.

    I'm think more solar thermal driven "bug killers"
    Bob "hot rod" Rohr
    trainer for Caleffi NA
    Living the hydronic dream
  • Mark Eatherton
    Mark Eatherton Member Posts: 5,853
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    Funny, I had a guy contact me recently on the same topic, and wanted to know if radiant was the way to go. I steered him towards convection like HR suggested, and he said that all the other "experts" out there were saying that radiant was definitely the way to go... Trailer for putting mattresses, rugs, and couches into for treatment.

    If it were my idea, I'd go with electric fan coil units, plug into the customers 220, and let them pay the energy bills. Only fair.

    ME
    It's not so much a case of "You got what you paid for", as it is a matter of "You DIDN'T get what you DIDN'T pay for, and you're NOT going to get what you thought you were in the way of comfort". Borrowed from Heatboy.
    Gordy
  • Gordy
    Gordy Member Posts: 9,546
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    I would think subjecting an envelope to 140 degrees could have some adverse side effects.
  • bob_46
    bob_46 Member Posts: 813
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    I don't know about bugs but I can tell you about fish. I had a customer with baseboard, Triad boiler etc. . They went away for Easter, the boiler ran away cycling on 220º limit. On return a large wax Easter egg on the dining room table had turned into a table cloth, the fish jumped out of the aquarium and pictures hung with adhesive fell down.
    bob

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