The indoor insect zapper is the best way of clearing your immediate vicinity of insects, especially the flying ones like mosquitoes. The indoor bug zapper vaporizes any insect from a mosquito to a gnat instantly on contact with a pleasingly loud, electrical ‘zap’!
However, this is not to say that the hand held bug killer cannot be used outdoors, as long as it is not raining. It should be treated like any other high voltage electrical equipment. Keep the electric insect zapper dry and definitely do not use it while you are standing in water!
Models vary greatly, but there are basically only two types of indoor insect killer: the battery operated bug zapper and the rechargeable electric bug killer. Both are equally effective at zapping insects and employ the same principle.
The electric bug killer resembles a ‘kids’ tennis racquet, but with three sets of ’strings’, which are in fact wires. The innermost network of wires becomes electrified at the push of a button, while the other two grids, one on either side, are only earths.
When a bug is trapped between the wires of the electric insect killer, it creates a short, which vaporizes it instantaneously with a loud crack. The indoor bug killer will kill other insects too, but they tend to burn rather than explode.
I have been using the rechargeable kind for five years and am extremely happy with the hand held bug zapper. In fact, the electric bug zapper has come a long way over the last few years. A fully charged indoor insect zapper is strong enough to last for several hundred swipes and will hold it’s charge, if unused, for weeks without any appreciable discharge.
The battery recharge unit will take intensive use for the best part of a year, although its ability to hold a charge for several weeks gradually reduces after six or seven months.
The latest indoor insect killer I’ve used has a main on/off switch, an LED that comes on when it is live (the brightness of this light also gives an indication of the battery’s strength) and a light that comes on when it is plugged in for recharge.
The instructions say that it should be (re)charged for sixteen hours. I usually put it on charge over night once or twice every week or two, although the indoor insect killer shows a marked increase in performance with only a couple of hours charging.
The latest model I’ve used also comes with a powerful beam called a ‘headlamp’. I have found this very handy when walking in the garden, but I’m unsure whether it’s supposed to lure the flies in the dark so that you can zap them if you’re feeling bored or just vindictive, rather like an Anglerfish.
I’ve used the headlamp on my electric insect killer for that reason too, but the beam uses a lot of battery power. All in all, the electric insect killer is a huge asset at any outdoor event. The hand held bug zapper is useful to ‘clean out’ your bedroom before retiring; it’s unbeatable for evening mosquitoes and it will clear a lunch table of wasps too.
Have you ever used an indoor bug zapper? If not, or if you want to get an electronic insect killer, just click one of the links to our web site or blog.
categories: review,products,advice,happiness,holidays,travel,garden,insects,gadgets,electronics,skin care,accessories,self help,other