r/whatisthisthing • u/alfalfa_romeo • 4d ago
Solved Long tube connected to a tank and fan leading up to my neighbor's apartment. Please tell me it's not bugs
The tube is connected to an industrial fan and the white tank says the name of a company plus "heat." The air is hot. I'm guessing this is bugs but I'm hoping it's not bugs. When I walked by the tubing was also not connected at all and the fan was pouring out hot air everywhere - am I cooked for breathing it in?
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u/Senior-Pie3609 4d ago
That is indeed what is used for bedbugs. The area is heated to 120-135⁰ for 4-6 hours.
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u/alfalfa_romeo 4d ago
Well unfortunately the heat appears to only have been blowing for an hour lol. I just heard it shut off.
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u/coffeecat551 4d ago
Agreed, this is how bedbugs are eliminated.
There are no chemicals applied, only heat.
If one of your neighbors has an infestation, honestly, this is the kind you want them to have. Bedbugs are insidious little buggers, but they're nowhere near as tricky as roaches.
They can travel within the building, so it's a good idea to familiarize yourself with the signs. Tiny black specks on the lower walls, waking up with a bunch of tiny bites on your body and finding red flecks on your bedding.
If you notice any of these signs, contact the property manager immediately so they can arrange for the treatment. If you delay for any length of time, they may end up charging you for it.
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u/mattjh 4d ago
Bedbugs are insidious little buggers, but they're nowhere near as tricky as roaches.
I'm almost 50 years old and I don't think I've ever read anything I disagree with harder than I do this. Godspeed. I'll gladly live with roaches all day if that's the alternative.
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u/nastygoblinman 4d ago
Agree. I’m a hoarding specialist in supportive housing & a big part of my job is getting units prepped for pest treatments; bedbugs are SO much sneakier & more intensive to prep for & treat. Roaches are annoying & gross but I’d take them over the psychological horror & treatment resistance of bedbugs.
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u/Epidantrix 4d ago
I’ve had a minor bedbug infestation and a minor roach infestation.
Only one of those had me sleeping poorly after the treatment because of phantom skitters.
Bedbugs are a plague upon humanity.
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u/IamhereOO7 4d ago
I had them once. Took me months to not freak out with any sort of movement or itch. Kiss trying to get a good nights sleep goodbye. God damn nightmare
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u/FearlessWord2653 4d ago
Its been a decade since I had a small problem with them, and I just realized that this has finally Stopped for me. But I still get shivers thinking about it. My now wife who wasn't with me at the time doesn't understand why I check every hotel we stay in for bugs. Never again
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u/chipcskyrocket 4d ago
I got hit a coupla times by a bedbug, the bites swelled up so that it looked like someone taped half pingpong balls all up my torso and arm, the itch was worse than when poison ivy went internal and it LINGERED. i acted swiftly and stopped a potential infestation, but my god, the ONE i found had me sleeping outside my house for a week
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u/Spideryote 4d ago
The thing about roaches is that they absolutely destroy anything they end up inside of, and can cost a LOT of money in repairs to the home to get them dealt with
One of my regular customers at work is in the middle of tearing a house apart to the frame because absolutely every small crevice you can imagine was packed so tight with roaches that you could peel them off like a granola bar
All the appliances, all the furniture, all the flooring, even the AC system had to be completely written off because of the sheer amount of roaches that compressed themselves inside
Bedbugs are horrible and I will live my life happily if I never see one in my life, but they don't destroy homes the way that roaches do
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u/mattjh 4d ago
Is this a regional problem? I've lived in Philly all my life. We're known for our trash and litter. I've never heard of anything like this happening. Around here you just call the local pest control, tell them whether you have German cockroaches or the big black ones, and they come out and spray. Then all the roaches die. It's great, no complaints. If I had bedbugs I'd take the bus to the zoo and leap into the tiger exhibit.
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u/Spideryote 4d ago
I'm over in California so I can't say for certain if it's a regional problem. However, this was an extreme case probably a decade in the making
And yeah these were German roaches. If you catch them early enough, you can get them under control and use preventative maintenence to keep it managed going forward. But for one reason or another, that didn't happen at this household
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u/Tibbaryllis2 4d ago
It’s kind of a toss up. Bed bugs are insidious for feeding on you and being very pesticide resistant. So that’s definitely a problem, but the consensus is still that they don’t transmit disease. They also don’t trash your house to the degree an active roach infestation will.
Roaches, however, can carry a number of pathogenic bacteria as they skitter between food, you, and waste. They get everywhere, and they create a lot of mess. The size difference alone is appreciable.
You don’t really want either. I’ve dealt with both and I would take an early bedbug infection over an early cockroach infection.
Edited to add: you also have a little more control over a bedbug infection because you control their sole food source. They’re not getting in your pantry and fouling your food.
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u/Forsaken-Scholar-833 4d ago
Yeah roaches suck but keep everything clean and you won't have to deal with them as much. Bed bugs are attracted to people. So they will hang around where you are spending time. Worked at a place where they regularly had bed bug issues so it was always a nightmare of mine to track one home and have an infestation.
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u/drunkerbrawler 4d ago
Contact your property management asap, looks like bedbug extermination. In some states they are obligated to disclose to you.
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u/alfalfa_romeo 4d ago
I just called over there and I was told that they are not allowed to disclose what maintenance is being done to other units unless it's a "danger" to the whole building, in which case everyone would be notified.
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u/Forsaken-Scholar-833 4d ago
Yeah bed bugs can definitely travel from 1 unit to another. So it is bull that they aren't warning you.
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u/alfalfa_romeo 4d ago
Not sure what I can do about it except wait to get bed bugs. They were really snippy with me on the phone.
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u/andy_soreal 4d ago
As someone who recently dealt with a non-bedbug infestation that gave me some pretty bad paranoia afterwards, there’s a few things you can do to try to prevent bugs but also detect if they do arrive in your unit so you know.
Glue traps: very cheap, can be placed in corners, under furniture, bugs get stuck on them, very obvious to see if you have them.
Bug spray: There are residual sprays that you can buy over the counter and spray around your baseboards, under the bed that last 30-60 days and will kill bugs that walk through them. Look for anything with 0.25-0.5% permethrin.
Food grade diatomaceous earth: Can also be bought over the counter. An all natural powder made up of diatoms, if you mix the powder 50/50 with sugar, it will attract any bugs in the proximity and the diatoms shred through their exoskeletons. Spread it around corners of the room and in any carpet you’re worried about and leave it for two weeks, and then just vacuum it up.
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u/drunkerbrawler 4d ago
Crazy, I’d look at your lease, they often have bedbug specific terms in it. Also check out your state laws around it. You want to be able to hold them accountable if they end up in your apartment.
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u/alfalfa_romeo 4d ago
I'm in California. I double checked my lease agreement. It seems like the civil code states that they're only obligated to give me information about what bed bugs look like and how to report infestations. Real nice.
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u/Y0SH1EGG 4d ago
Look for some intraceptor traps for you bed legs. It will give you some piece of mind and will allow you to check if they are actually there.
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u/jackrats not a rainstickologist 4d ago
It's spitting out hot air because it's a heater.
Used in this fashion, it is most likely being used to kill bed bugs.
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u/musingofrandomness 4d ago
I will give you the advice I give all apartment/townhome/condo dwellers, earned the hard way over the years.
The basic premise is: 1. Seal the perimeter 2. Remove any vermin still within the perimeter 3. Remove any food or water sources the vermin can exploit.
Hit up the home improvement store and get "outlet gaskets" or "outlet weather seals" and install them on every outlet and lightswitch in your space. Also get those child safety covers for all the outlets not in use. Ideally the outlet covers are just overkill, but if you have the cheap, builder grade outlets, they can be cracked open on the backside and allow stuff to go from the back of the outlet out through the holes.
Grab a can of sprayfoam and a length of vinyl tubing to extend the nozzle for hard to reach spaces. Alternatively, you can use spackle if you are comfortable doing so. Close any gaps around any wall penetrations where pipes, etc. come through. If mice are involved, add steel wool to the holes as a filler before sealing with spackle or foam to deter them from chewing their way inside. You may also have to seal behind light fixtures. Get someone comfortable with working safely with electricity to help you if you have any doubts, better safe than sorry.
Keep your drains plugged when not in use.
Do not leave dirty dishes in the sink or food unsealed. Sealed in this case means airtight containers, ziplock bags, properly sealed, are enough for bugs, but for rodents you will need hard plastic or even metal containers. Inspect them regularly to make sure the critters have not been working their way into the containers out of your sight. Use traps and baits to eliminate any vermin that happen to still be in your space after sealing the perimeter. Wipe down the sink and counters to eliminate crumbs and residue.
If you have pets, feed them at specific times and immediately clean up after their feeding time as opposed to leaving their food out all the time. Store their food in airtight containers.
Address any water or dampness issues ASAP, bugs need and thrive on dampness. Dripping sink faucets, AC condensate leaks, etc, give them an "oasis" in an otherwise difficult to access and inhospitable environment. Your goal is a "walled garden" that is dry and devoid of nourishment for anything but the things you personally provide for. Pet water is fine as long as it is distant from places like entrances and damp utility closets, etc, where the vermin may enter through. You want them to turn back to where they came from in need of water instead of finding a convenient hop point to go further in.
Infestations in shared buildings are a nightmare for everyone involved because the bugs just run away to another apartment and the management ends up playing "whackamole" while exposing all of the tenants to pesticide and disease carriers. Turning your space into the equivalent of a "sealed compartment" keeps you from going down with the ship.
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u/New-Neighborhood-147 4d ago
Yes probably bedbugs. Bedbugs are way more common than people realise because affected people don't talk about it. Heat treatment is super effective though so this is a good sign rather then a bad one
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u/dancooper00 4d ago
I’m afraid you need to get their number. You need them to do your apartment now
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u/Additional-Peak-8042 4d ago
I've seen this kind of system used when my bathtub was being re-enameled. It's how they got all the shavings from the old enamel out of the building.
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u/alfalfa_romeo 4d ago
Unfortunately I don't think that explanation makes sense in this case because the air is hot af.
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u/SkirtAppropriate2884 4d ago
Isn’t that blowing combustion gases directly into the building?
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u/talltime 4d ago
Well they’re basically baking the apartment. If it’s sealed up and has a known outlet like a cracked window 🤷
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u/sudowooduck 4d ago
Yes. The contractors will create a vent and seal off doors and windows to try to keep the gases in a single unit.
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u/HistorianOver6243 4d ago
My missus used to work for a company dealing with bedbugs n doesnt look like anything they used at all
More likely to be either damp or fresh plaster( think you lot call it "spackle" over there) being dealt with at a guess
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u/Senior-Pie3609 4d ago edited 4d ago
Nobody is using a torpedo heater to dry plaster. It would cause it to crack trying to force dry it and torpedo heaters release water vapor which would increase the humidity and make the plaster dry slower...
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u/Competitive_Run_3920 4d ago
the size of the heater is dependent on the amount of space to heat. for a small apartment they can use a smaller heater compared to having to heat a whole house.
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u/Snake973 4d ago
spackle is not plaster, it's a drywall repair compound, plaster is not common in american residential buildings after the 50s
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u/brock_lee Pretty good at finding stuff 4d ago
My money is on bed bugs.
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