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

However, this does not mean to say that the hand held insect killer cannot be operated outside, as long as it is not too wet. It should be treated like any other high voltage electrical equipment. Keep the hand held insect killer dry and please do not use it while you are standing in water!

Models vary greatly, but there are basically only two types of indoor bug zapper: the battery operated bug zapper and the rechargeable electric bug killer. Both are equally effective at killing insects and work on the same principle.

The electric bug killer looks like a ‘junior’ tennis racquet, but with three sets of ’strings’, which are in fact wires. The central grid of wires becomes electrified at the touch of a button, while the other two networks, one on either side, are harmless earths.

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

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

The rechargeable battery pack will take intensive use for the best part of a year, although its ability to hold a charge for a few weeks slowly reduces after six or seven months.

The most recent indoor insect zapper I’ve used 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 a light that comes on when it is plugged in on 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 hand held bug zapper shows a marked increase in performance with only a couple of hours charging.

The latest version 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 attract the mosquitoes in the dark so that you can kill them if you’re feeling bored or just vindictive, rather like an Anglerfish.

I’ve used the headlamp on my hand held bug killer for that reason as well, but the beam uses a lot of battery power. All in all, the hand held insect zapper is a big asset at any outdoor event. The indoor bug zapper is useful for ‘clearing’ your bedroom before retiring; it’s unbeatable for killing evening mosquitoes and it will eradicate wasps at a lunch table 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, please click one of the links to our web site or blog. Check here for free reprint licence: Electronic Bug Zapper.

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