The electric bug zapper is the best way of clearing your immediate vicinity of insects, especially the flying ones such as mosquitoes. The indoor bug zapper vaporizes any insect from a mosquito to a gnat instantly on contact with a nice, loud, electrical ‘zap’!
However, this is not to say that the electric 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 indoor bug zapper dry and definitely do not use it while you are standing in water!
Models do vary a lot, but there are really only two kinds of indoor bug killer: the battery operated bug killer and the rechargeable electric insect zapper. Both models are equally effective at zapping bugs and work on the same methods.
The indoor bug killer resembles a ‘kids’ tennis racquet, but with three layers of ‘strings’, which are in fact wires. The innermost grid of wires becomes electrified at the push of a button, while the other two grids, one on either side, are harmless earths.
When an insect is caught between the wires of the electric bug killer, it creates a short, which evaporates it instantly with a loud crack and a flash. The hand held bug killer will kill other bugs too, but they tend to burn instead of explode.
I have been using the rechargeable type for about five years and am extremely happy with the indoor bug zapper. In fact, the electric bug zapper has come a long way over the last few years. A fully charged electric insect killer is strong enough to last for a few hundred swipes and will hold it’s charge, when unused, for weeks without any appreciable discharge.
The rechargeable battery pack will take serious use for the best part of a year, although its capability to hold a charge for several weeks gradually reduces after six or seven months.
The latest indoor bug killer I’ve had has a main on/off switch, an LED that comes on when it is activated (the brightness of this light also gives an indication of the battery’s strength) and an LED that comes on when it is plugged in on recharge.
The instructions on the wrapper say that it should be (re)charged for about sixteen hours. I usually put mine on charge over night once or twice every week or two, although the indoor bug killer shows a marked increase in performance with only a couple of hours recharging.
The latest version I’ve seen also comes with a strong beam called a ‘headlamp’. I have found this very useful when walking in the garden, but I’m not sure whether it’s supposed to attract the flies in the dark so that you can zap them if you’re feeling bored or just vindictive. You know, a bit like an Anglerfish.
I’ve used the headlamp on my indoor insect killer for that too, but the light uses a lot of battery power. All in all, the electric bug zapper is a big asset to any outdoor event. The indoor bug zapper is useful to ‘clean out’ your bedroom before retiring; it’s unequalled for evening mosquitoes and it will clear a lunch table of wasps too.
Have you ever heard of an indoor bug zapper? If you haven’t, or if you are interested in getting an electronic insect killer, just click one of the hyperlinks to our website or blog.