Customer Reviews

PackTite Portable Bed Bug Killing Heater Unit

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

I bought this about four months ago to move out of a bedbug infested apartment building. Overall it really is a lifesaver and seems to be the ONLY product out there of its kind. From all my research, heat (>120 deg. F, >1 hr.) seems to be the only reliable method of killing bedbugs and eggs. At the peak of my move (which lasted a full month), I was continuously running this thing for days on end -- literally as I was packing, working, moving, sleeping, etc. So far (knock on wood), one month into my new place, we still seem to be bug free!!

Having said that, I did run into some problems in the beginning, so I thought I might relay my experience in case it might help the next person dealing with the horrible bedbug problem. The main problem I had was that the heater unit didn't work properly. It's a very cheap looking, plastic heater (made by third party I believe) that is mounted on its side with even cheaper metal clips to hang off the grill of the internal cage. Every time I plugged it in, it would start a little while, then stop. I'd have to wait an hour or so and start the whole process over again. The problem I discovered was that the heater wasn't designed to work this way and very quickly melted it's own plastic housing. Then, it didn't work at all. I wrote the company to complain, and to their credit, they mailed me a new heater free and paid for return shipping for the old one. The new heater, of course, looked exactly like the old one -- just as cheap! But, instead of mounting it with the included cheapo clips on its side, I cut the grill to allow the heater to just stand up normally, with the top sticking through the grill a little. This did the trick and the heater stayed on throughout the heating process! This was the only way I could get my heater to work; I don't see how the company's intended method can possibly work. But since then, the only other complaint I've had was that the metal legs poked through the exterior container fabric after couple uses. I just duck-taped the holes and it was fine.

For these two complaints, I'm giving it 4 stars. Other than that, I'd have to say this thing's really been a workhorse. I can't believe it's held together over so many nonstop, repeated uses. Of course, use this thing at your own discretion, but I've even used it for my computer, hard drives, electronics, books -- pretty much everything outside of food and perishables. Hope that helps.

Bought this little gem during a massive bed bug invasion of my apartment. My wife and I moved out of apartment after the landlord ceased to help us out, but didn't want to take the buggers with us. So i bought this and proceeded to "cook" everything that i was taking with me. From my luggage to the toilet paper. Everything. Now it's been 3 months, and i finally feel safe posting this review that we successfully removed our bed bug invasion due to this product.

Even if you don't have bed bugs, it's a good investment. You can spend thousands (literally) trying to get rid of a bed bug invasion after you bring them home from vacation. Or you can spend $300 to prevent an invasion by "cooking" your items when you bring them back before they go back in your house.

If there was one downfall of this machine, it's the thermometer. It works well, but the connection to the thermocouple got stripped out after i used it for a few weeks non-stop. Shouldn't stop you from buying this product though!

This product works great. It is very well made and kills the bed bugs effectively. I bought it directly from PackTite and it came with a digital thermometer to monitor the inside temperature and it gets hot enough to kill bed bugs in all life stages (~120F). I would recommend it! It is a much better way to assure there are no bugs on clothes and expensive bedding than to wash/dry very hot, which can damage your clothes and you are able to put in items that you wouldn't want to put in the dryer like shoes, purses and books.

I have never left a review before in my life, but I was so incredibly disgusted with the rip-off scam of the PackTite Bed Bug Killing oven that I felt compelled to warn others. This company is preying on the fact that bed bugs are horrific and the mere thought (less having them) is enough to send many to a shrink.

You can buy this, or you can buy a duffel bag, this turkey thermometer that you can leave in the bag (i.e. oven) with your stuff CDN Digital Programmable Probe Thermometer, and this digital timer Taylor Digital Minute/Second Timer. Now all you need is a cheap space heater that you can fit in the bag Impress 1500-Watt Compact Space Heater Fan with Adjustable Thermostat, and voila, you have created your own PackTite bag for less than 50.00. Seriously, this is the exact product you will receive in the mail. Exact. This comes as a duffel bag with a space heater inside. It is not an oven. Then, twist-tied inside is a digital probe thermometer just like this, still in the clamshell package. Next to it, is twist-tied on a timer, also still in its clamshell package. These are not built in products, or part of the oven. Some company who knows how freaked out people are about bedbugs whipped together this thing with some parts that they twist-tie together in a warehouse and then ask YOU to assemble the whole thing and WATCH the temperature and time for HOURS! You can't put your stuff in this after coming home from a vacation and go to sleep... let me explain.

So you buy this. Peace of mind? Well, if you don't mind watching the bag get to 120 degrees on the little cheap thermometer they send with it that you insert in your bug filled clothes. And then, after you have sat there and waited for it to reach 120, you need to make sure that your stuff registers at 120 degrees for 60 minutes to kill all life stages of bedbugs. This is more or less a quote from the manual inside. Then, you can't leave it, because "if thermometer reaches 150 end immediately" -- i.e. there is no control of the temperature, so if you walk away for too long, you might burn your stuff at too high a heat because you didn't see it register to 150 (or more!) because you werern't SITTING WATCHING THE CHEAP THERMOMETER that ISN'T EVEN BUILT IN as part of the bag/heater. So let me summarize. This can take no fewer than 60 minutes, but can take overnight -- you are required to sit and check your thermometer probe off and on to make sure your stuff is "cooking" -- when it reaches 120, you can start the 60 min countdown. But no, you can't walk away and relax yet -- if the bag gets to 150, you have to end it immediately, so you have to keep checking back all the time to make sure that you don't overcook something, or worse, burn down your house! And then, inside, there is a large totally unusable area that has these admonishing warnings on it saying something like this "this area must remain free and clear for venting -- any malfunction because this was covered will not be covered by PackTite." Too bad that it takes up about 20% of the space the description is claiming is "usable". It is also too small to cook an entire house or apartment's contents -- it would only be useful for a vacation -- and it would take several "loads".

A terrible product that WILL burn someone's house down, if not make you nuts with sleep deprivation watching your thermometer and timer tick tick tick. Be warned. I only wish I could give this a zero!

To prevent bb's or to treat, this is a MUST HAVE. Saves tons of money when you figure how much it would cost to dry clean everything. I no longer have bugs but I still use it when I come home from a trip. You MUST follow the directions carefully to make sure you are using it properly. Put the thermometer in the middle and make sure it is past 120 degrees for over an hour. I HIGHLY recommend this product. Easy to use. Gets the job done. Also easy to collapse and store.

I ordered this last week after I found out I had bedbugs(yuk). I ordered from a local exterminator, not on Amazon.IT's basically a big box with a space heater. The heat sensor was not working, sent Packtite an email on Saturday and got a call back the same day. They Fedex'ed it on Sunday. I am taking away one star because they sent it ground, rather than overnight. I finally got the timer to work(i hope)and it seems to be doing a fine job. This is a huge money saver. I have put clothes, electronics, important papers etc. Bedbugs are here to stay. Everyone should buy one of these!!!

Working in product development, I travel extensively. I recently brought home beg bugs from a trip. After spending $2500 to rid my house of bedbugs, I bought the Packtite ($320) as a preventative measure. I just unpacked my new Packtite and I am wondering what I paid for. It seems like the unit was made by MacGyver and not a manufacturing company. We have: an unlined, non-insulated duffle bag that may or may not be custom made; a section of wire shelf from a standard shelf unit; an off the shelf outlet timer (still in the package from do-it best hardware); an off the shelf remote thermometer (packaged for retail sale); and a very cheap looking space heater strapped with cut metal pipe banding to the underside of the wire shelf.

For the money spent on the unit I would have expected something of higher quality. Basic things I would have expected are:
1.) An access port in the bag for cords to run out of. (You just run them up and out the zipper.)
2.) An integrated heat control module with a timer based on a set amount of time for the internal temp of contents to be in the kill zone and an auto temp shut off. (As designed I have to monitor the thermometer while it is in use as the space heater comes set to high temp, hi fan and the instructions say to turn it off if it exceeds 150 degrees.)
3.) An insulated housing or bag to allow for less heat loss and less energy used.
4.) A heater of higher quality.

I hope this review will let you know in advance what you are getting as all marketing photos of the unit are only of the closed bag.
I will update my review as I use the unit, but my initial thoughts are I paid $300+ for an item that, for the price, should have included the improvements above.

Here are links to the actual product used as components in the Packtite. These are the exact models used, but are included in the Packtite labeled for retail from various mfg. All are available on Amazon.

Holmes HFH111T-U Heater Fan with Comfort-Control Thermostat
Timex TX5040 Electronic Indoor/Outdoor Thermometer with Clock - White
Digital Countdown Timer

** Packtite works well. So far I am unable to keep temperature under 150 degrees on the first two batches I have done. During the 2 batches I have progressively turned the heater down. Will turn to low heat next time and see if it will regulate. If not there is something wrong with the thermostat in the heater as within 30 minutes it runs the temp up in excess of 150 (the thermometer doesn't go any higher).

I'm happy with the investment. The Packtite arrived timely, box intact, and contents well packed and tied down. Inside the unit, is a thermometer, such as you could find at a hardware store, independently packaged with its manufacturer's instructions; and, a digital timer, also independently packaged with its manufacturer's instructions. The unit itself has a shelf on which to set items, a heater/fan unit that is well tied down. There is also a metal rack, which is intended to be set over the internal frame, to help keep the top up for ventilation. There are detailed operating instructions for use of the digital timer and thermometer. Operating instructions for the Packtite unit are basic, but the operating principle is fairly straightforward. Even so, a diagram of photos of the set up would really improve usability. Once up and running the unit operated exactly as described. I used it to treat household items that had been in a storage unit in a location known to have a bed bug problem. Packtite recommends that you set the digital timer for 4 hours, and monitor regularly to make sure that the items maintain a temperature of 120 degrees for an hour. I found that books took nearly 4 hours to reach 120 degrees, so I had to run the unit for more than 4 hours. On the other hand, knick-knack items, such as a music box, framed pictures, reached the required temperature in less than one hour. I'd recommend treating in batches loading like materials with like. I also tried to unfold or loosely load items to ensure heat flow. Also, as other reviewers have mentioned, I placed the sensor tip of the thermometer in the densest item: in the middle of a dense book, in the lining of a thick coat, inside a wooden object rather than a metal. Based on my experience I would recommend this product.

I was getting bites and was not sure what it was but wanted to be proactive. I read that bedbugs can be killed by heat at 120F for 20 minutes. I read the reviews for this items and was not sure if this will work. I got the unit and it was very easy to use. You need to make sure the metal spring clips below the metal rack is click on top of the rack to make the sides stay upright when you are using the unit. The timer was very easy to use and the the theromoter checks the internal temperature. If there is a lot of items in the pack it will take about 1 hour to reach 120 F so it is kind of time consuming. You are suppose to shut it off when it reaches 150F but so far it has not reach 150F for me.It is 17 inches deep, 36 inches long and 22 inches high and can fold into a parcel about 5 inces deep so it is quite roomy and can be store out of the way when not in use. I think this is great product for things that I cannot wash and dry. I am not getting bites but I am remaining vigilant and heat all my stuff when I return home from travelling.

Yes, it is a duffle bag BUT it is a duffle bag that has a strong fan powered heater and metal wire shelf that holds your carry-on perfectly has it heats up to over 120 degree and kills any and all bedbugs and lavre that may be hitching a ride in YOUR luggage within your clothing!!! I don't know about you but in today's world of unfettered bedbugs, I am as pleased as I can be with this product. I have used it for the last year after every trip out of town. It comes with a timer that you can set to how ever many hours you want. 120 degrees for a couple of hours should do it. A total of 8 hours is what I go for. You cannot be too carefull these days.