Can Bedbugs Live in Laptops and Electronics in Camden?

Bedbugs are not drawn to electronics as such. They are drawn to a sleeping person, and they hide in the nearest dark, tight gap they can squeeze into. On a bedside table that gap is often a device: the vents of a clock radio, the back of a router, the hinge of a laptop left open on the duvet.

Which Devices Are Worth Checking

Distance from the bed is the thing to think about. Something on the bedside table or plugged in by the headboard is worth a look. A television on the far wall or a games console in the living room is much less likely to matter.

• Clock radios, alarm clocks and speakers on the bedside table.
• Routers and extension leads tucked behind the headboard or under the bed.
• Phone and laptop chargers left plugged in at the bed, and the plugs themselves.
• A laptop that is used in bed and left there, especially around the hinge and vents.
• Baby monitors, lamps and fans clipped to the bed frame.

Look for the same signs you would on a mattress: small dark spots, pale husks and eggs in the corners and joints. A torch and a card slid into gaps show more than a quick glance. Where bedbugs hide that gets missed lists the other places near a bed people forget.

What Not to Do With a Laptop

People try some odd things with electronics once they suspect bedbugs. Most of them damage the device and do little to the insects.

• Do not spray insecticide or anything else into vents, ports or keyboards.
• Do not put a laptop in the oven, on a radiator or in a hot car to cook it.
• Do not freeze it, which risks condensation getting inside when it warms up.
• Do not take a device apart unless you know what you are doing.

The sensible steps are dull ones. Wipe the outside, look at the seams and vents in good light, and keep a device you are unsure about in a sealed clear bag somewhere other than the bedroom until the room has been treated.

What Heat Treatment Does With Electronics

Heat raises the whole room to a temperature bedbugs cannot survive, so anything left in the room gets hot as well. Some electronics cope with that and some do not. Before the day we send a list of what to take out, and laptops, phones, tablets and anything with a battery you would be upset to lose are normally on it, along with aerosols, candles, medication, vinyl and plants.

Whatever you take out still needs checking before it goes back in. Bag it, look it over, and keep it away from the bed until then. The London guide to preparing for heat treatment covers the rest of the list, and the borough heat treatment page covers a flat in a shared house.

What Chemical Treatment Does With Electronics

Chemical treatment puts a residual insecticide into seams, frames, skirtings and the joints of furniture. It is not put inside devices. Electronics can stay in the room, but anything on or around the bed is moved so we can treat the furniture and the skirting behind it.

Because the insecticide does not reliably kill eggs, there are usually two or three visits about 10 to 14 days apart. Between visits, keep checking the devices near the bed, and tell us at the next visit if you have seen anything on them. The borough chemical treatment page explains how those visits fit around a shared flat.

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