When Will and Sandy Rubenstein's children's summer camp was invaded by bedbugs four years ago, the couple spent $40,000 to get rid of them: chemicals, freezing and even tossing out furniture. None of them worked.
Then they came across a heating system that did. Sandy Rubenstein was so impressed with the results that she and her father started PureHeat, a bedbug extermination company, which licensed the heating technology.
PureHeat's technicians use special propane-fired or electric heaters to raise the temperature of an infested residence or business to 140 degrees. The heat kills the pesky critters, but leaves furnishings and other items undamaged.
Sandy, her father and the company's six employees travel all over New England, she said. Clients include high-rise buildings, nursing homes, drug-treatment facilities, or any place that has communal living.
Rubenstein generally charges $2 a square foot to eradicate the little beasts.
Business is booming, she said. And as bedbugs continue to be a problem, she expects her company to grow.
"Life handed us lemons," said Rubenstein. "We made lemonade."
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