5 Questions with Tom Costello

1. What advantages are there to using thermal technology?

Heat can be an effective tool in achieving complete elimination of termites in a single treatment, thus reducing and eliminating callbacks and time-consuming retreatments. Heat also will kill non-target pests such as cockroaches, spiders, and other residential insects.

2. How is heat different than fumigation?

Unlike fumigation treatments that take multiple days to perform, require specialized safety equipment, and utilize restricted use pesticides, heat penetrates every part of the structure and will in most cases eliminate infestations in a single treatment. Also, extra processes such as bagging food, structure tenting, and air samples are not required.

3. What is the difference between a traditional chemical treatment vs. a heat treatment for termites?

Traditional termite treatments are very labor intensive, cost prohibitive and often require multiple applications as well as having a negative impact on the environment. On the other hand, heat treatments for termite control are less labor intensive and, in most cases, can be completed by one person in a single work day. They are also more environmentally sensitive since they don’t require the application of a liquid termiticide barrier around the perimeter of a structure.

4. Is heat effective in interrupting a termite’s life cycle?

Yes. Unlike most traditional termite treatments which do not impact future generations, the use of heat is ovicidal by killing both adults, nymphs and eggs. This process then kills the queen which, in turn, stops any further reproduction. Heat will also sanitize and denature organic matter left by infestations.

5. What is the best heater for termite treatments?

Because of the thermal energies required to raise core temperatures of wooden structural members to 990,000+ BTU, the Titan 800 portable propane heater is the best heater to use when treating for termites.