Electronic Bug Zapper

The indoor insect killer is the best way of ridding the area around you of insects, especially the flying ones like mosquitoes. The indoor insect zapper vaporizes any insect from a mosquito to a gnat instantly on contact with a pleasingly loud, electrical ‘zap’!

However, this does not mean to say that the indoor insect zapper cannot be used outdoors, so long as it is not too wet. It should be handled just like any other high voltage electrical item. Keep the hand held bug zapper dry and please do not use it when you are standing in the pool!

Models do vary a lot, but there are really only two types of electric insect killer: the battery operated bug zapper and the rechargeable electric insect zapper. Both models are equally effective at killing bugs and employ the same methods.

The hand held insect killer looks like a ‘kids’ tennis racquet, but with three layers of ‘strings’, which are in fact wires. The innermost grid of wires becomes live at the touch of a button while the other two grids, one on either side, are earths.

When a bug is caught between the wires of the indoor insect zapper, it creates a short, which vaporizes it instantaneously with a loud crack. The electric insect killer will zap other insects too, but they just burn rather than explode.

I have been using the rechargeable kind for about five years and am extremely happy with the electric insect zapper. In fact, the electric insect zapper has come a long way in the last few years. A fully charged hand held bug killer is strong enough to last for a few hundred swipes and will hold it’s charge, if unused, for weeks without any noticeable discharge.

The rechargeable battery pack will put up with intensive use for the best part of a year, although its ability to hold a charge for several weeks gradually diminishes after six or seven months.

The latest indoor insect zapper I’ve had has a main on/off switch, an LED that comes on when it is live (the brightness of this light also indicates the battery’s strength) and an LED that comes on when it is plugged in for recharge.

The instructions suggest that it should be (re)charged for sixteen hours. I usually put mine 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 had also comes with a strong beam called a ‘headlamp’. I have found this very handy when out in the garden, but I’m unsure whether it’s supposed to attract the mosquitoes 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 indoor bug zapper for that too, but the light uses a lot of battery power. All in all, the hand held insect zapper is a big asset to any outdoor event. The hand held insect killer 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 used an indoor bug zapper? If not, or if you are interested in getting an electronic insect killer, just click one of the links to our website or blog.