In short
Most fixed appliances tolerate the temperature rise of a heat treatment as long as they are unplugged, but anything with a lithium battery (phones, laptops, e-scooters), aerosols, medicines and anything that can melt must leave the room. Those items aren't forgotten: they are inspected and handled separately so they don't re-infest the home.
Bed bugs can't cope with heat: France's health agency ANSES lists washing at 60 °C and steam appliances among effective methods and notes that heat can be used to treat a whole room. But a heated room also contains fragile items.
Dry steam or room heating: two different uses
Dry steam is applied right where bugs hide (seams, slats, skirting); we simply avoid aiming it at electrical devices or sockets. A whole-room heat treatment raises the air temperature for several hours to reach insects in every corner, and that is when the question of devices arises.
What stays and what goes
Before the visit, the technician gives you a precise list for your home. As a rule:
- Can stay, unplugged: TV, household appliances, furniture, bedding, hanging clothes.
- Must leave the room: phones, tablets, laptops, power banks, e-scooters and e-bikes (lithium batteries).
- Also out: aerosols, lighters, gas bottles, candles, medicines, cosmetics, food, plants, aquariums, vinyl records, delicate musical instruments.
- People and pets obviously stay out of the room during treatment.
How the removed devices are handled
Bed bugs rarely hide in a phone, but they can shelter in an alarm clock, a power strip or an internet box next to the bed. Removed items are inspected, surface-cleaned and sealed in bags during the treatment, then brought back once the room has been checked.
Don't just drop them in another bedroom: that's one of the most common ways an infestation moves.
Key points
- Unplug the devices that stay in the room.
- Anything with a lithium battery leaves the treated room.
- Removed items are inspected and bagged, never moved carelessly.
- The technician gives you a tailored list before the day.
General information, correct at the date of publication; it does not replace personal legal or medical advice.