Every November somebody asks whether the first hard freeze will take care of their bed bugs. It's a reasonable hope, since plenty of insects die off in winter. Bed bugs mostly don't, because they spend the winter where you do: inside, at whatever your thermostat says, a few feet from a warm body.
Cold can kill them, though. Knowing exactly how cold, and for how long, tells you when freezing is a smart tool and when it's a waste of a weekend.
Yes, but only extreme cold held for days kills bed bugs. In a University of Minnesota study, every life stage died after 3.5 days at 0°F (-17.8°C), while some bugs were estimated to survive a full week at about 10°F (-12°C). A cold snap, a chilly room or a mattress on the porch won't do it. A freezer can, for small items.
What Temperature Kills Bed Bugs?
Bed bugs handle cold better than most people expect. A 2013 study by Joelle Olson and colleagues at the University of Minnesota, Ecolab and Rutgers, published in the Journal of Economic Entomology, tested every life stage from egg to adult. The bugs turned out to be freeze intolerant: they lower the freezing point of their body fluids and hold on until it gets cold enough, for long enough, to kill them.
Time matters as much as temperature. Here's what the researchers found.
| Temperature | Exposure | Result |
|---|---|---|
| About 10°F (-12°C) or warmer | A full week, nonstop | Some bed bugs still estimated to survive |
| About 3°F (-16°C) | 80 hours | All life stages killed |
| 0°F (-17.8°C) | 3.5 days | Recommended minimum for freezing infested items |
| -4°F (-20°C) or colder | 48 hours | Enough if the temperature stays that low |
| As low as -13°F (-25°C) | Short exposures | Some eggs survived |
Two other findings from that study matter at home. Bugs that lived through a cold exposure still went looking for a blood meal afterward, so half-freezing them only delays the problem. And insulated items can take one to three extra hours just to reach lethal temperature in the middle.
University of Kentucky entomologists say the same thing in plainer terms: bed bugs will die below 32°F, but freezing temperatures "must be maintained for a much longer period."
Does Cold Weather Kill Bed Bugs in the Winter?
Almost never. The first reason is simple: bed bugs don't live outside. They live in mattress seams, headboards, couch frames and the cracks around a bed, all inside a heated house. The weather never touches them.
The second reason is our climate. Even the coldest snaps in Columbia, Greenville or Raleigh don't sit anywhere near 0°F for days on end, and Charleston and Virginia Beach stay milder still. Frost on the windshield is a long way from lethal.
Cold doesn't starve them out faster, either. If anything, it does the opposite. The University of California Statewide IPM Program says bed bugs develop fastest between 70° and 82°F, and that adults have survived more than 400 days without food in the lab at low temperatures. A cool house slows them down and lets them wait.
Will Turning Off the Heat Get Rid of Bed Bugs?
No. The University of Kentucky says efforts to get rid of bed bugs by raising or lowering the thermostat will be unsuccessful, and that leaving a home empty to "starve" an infestation is usually impractical. When apartments sit vacant, bed bugs often disperse to nearby units. In January, an unheated house is far more likely to give you frozen pipes than dead bed bugs.
Dragging a mattress onto the porch or parking a couch in the garage overnight fails for the same reasons. Thick padding insulates the bugs deep inside, and one cold night is nowhere close to the days of exposure the research calls for. It's the same pattern you see with sleeping with the lights on: bed bugs are tougher and more patient than most home remedies assume.
How to Freeze Bed Bugs Out of Clothes and Belongings
A freezer is the one place cold works reliably. It's handy for things you can't run through the wash, like shoes, books, stuffed animals and small bags.
- Check the temperature first. The EPA says the freezer has to be at 0°F and warns that many home refrigerator freezers aren't cold enough. Put a thermometer in it before you trust it. A standalone chest or upright freezer is your best bet.
- Bag everything. Seal items in plastic bags so live bugs can't crawl out into the freezer, and so condensation doesn't soak your things as they thaw.
- Don't cram it. Dense, insulated items take hours longer to chill through. Several small loads beat one packed freezer.
- Leave it long enough. The EPA says three days at 0°F. The Minnesota researchers recommend at least 3.5 days, or 48 hours if the freezer holds below -4°F. Four days covers you either way.
- Keep items bagged afterward until they go back into a room you know is clean.
For clothes and bedding, the laundry is faster than the freezer. UC IPM recommends washing in hot (120°F) water and drying on the hottest setting, and says at least 10 to 15 minutes in the dryer is needed.
Why Heat Beats Cold for a Whole Room
Freezing handles a box of belongings. It can't treat a bedroom, a box spring or a sofa. Heat works faster: UC IPM lists 113°F as the minimum lethal temperature, and commercial heat treatments call for at least 140°F for two hours or 130°F for three.
That takes professional equipment and monitoring. The EPA specifically says not to try it by cranking up the thermostat, a propane space heater or a fireplace, because it doesn't work and it's dangerous. Kentucky's entomologists add that bug bombs are ineffective against bed bugs and potentially dangerous when used incorrectly.
What works in most homes is a combination: an inspection, targeted treatment of the bed and nearby hiding spots, laundering and freezing what you can, then follow-up visits. Our guide on how to get rid of bed bugs walks through the full process.
Winter Is Still Bed Bug Season
Bed bugs don't take the winter off. Holiday trips, houseguests and secondhand furniture move them around in December just as easily as in July, because they ride in luggage and furniture rather than flying or jumping. The habits in our travel checklist apply year round: keep suitcases off the hotel bed, check the mattress seams and headboard, and run your clothes through a hot dryer when you get home.
When to Call a Professional
- You're finding bugs, eggs or dark spots on more than one bed or piece of furniture
- Bites keep showing up after you've laundered and bagged everything you can
- You live in an apartment, condo or duplex, where bugs move between units
- You've tried freezing or store-bought products and still see activity weeks later
- You're not sure what you're dealing with
Our bed bug control team works in homes around Charleston, Columbia, Greenville, Spartanburg, Raleigh and Hampton Roads. Before the visit, read what to do before the exterminator comes, and request a quote to get on the schedule.
Key Takeaways
- Cold kills bed bugs only when it's extreme and sustained: 3.5 days at 0°F, or 48 hours below -4°F, in University of Minnesota research.
- Some survive a week at about 10°F, so a cold snap or a chilly room won't touch an infestation.
- Winter weather never reaches them. They live indoors, next to you, at room temperature.
- Turning off the heat doesn't work, according to the University of Kentucky, and vacant units can spread bugs next door.
- Use a freezer for small items: bag them, confirm 0°F with a thermometer, and leave them at least three to four days.
- Heat and professional treatment are what handle the bed and the room.
Sources: J. F. Olson, M. Eaton, S. A. Kells, V. Morin and C. Wang, "Cold Tolerance of Bed Bugs and Practical Recommendations for Control", Journal of Economic Entomology 106(6): 2433-2441 (2013); Entomological Society of America, "Bed Bugs can Survive Freezing Temperatures, but Cold can Still Kill Them", Entomology Today (2013); U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, "Do-it-yourself Bed Bug Control"; A. M. Sutherland, D. H. Choe and V. R. Lewis, "Pest Notes: Bed Bugs" (Publication 7454), University of California Statewide IPM Program; M. F. Potter, "Bed Bugs" (ENTFACT-636), University of Kentucky Entomology.
Frequently Asked Questions
On the cold side, 0°F (-17.8°C) held for at least 3.5 days, or below -4°F (-20°C) for 48 hours, according to a 2013 University of Minnesota study. On the hot side, UC IPM lists 113°F as the minimum lethal temperature, and professional heat treatments run 130°F to 140°F for two to three hours.
Not usually. Bed bugs live indoors near people, so outdoor winter temperatures never reach them. Even Southern cold snaps don't hold anywhere near 0°F for days, which is what it takes.
No. University of Kentucky entomologists say raising or lowering the thermostat will not get rid of bed bugs. UC IPM notes that adults have survived more than 400 days without food in the lab at low temperatures.
It won't work in the Carolinas or Virginia. The padding insulates the bugs inside, and research calls for several days at or below 0°F to kill every life stage.
Seal items in plastic bags and keep them at 0°F for at least three to four days. The EPA says three days and the University of Minnesota researchers recommend 3.5. Check the freezer with a thermometer, since many home freezers run warmer than 0°F.
Most likely, yes. In lab tests some bed bugs were estimated to survive a full week at about 10°F, and a car or garage in our region rarely stays that cold for that long. Treat the car or the stored items rather than counting on the weather.
Yes, cold slows them down. UC IPM says bed bugs develop fastest between 70°F and 82°F, so a cool room slows their growth, but it also helps them last longer between meals.
Photo credits: CDC / Harvard University, Dr. Gary Alpert, Public domain; Photo: Osman Rana on Unsplash; OH-BugMan, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.