Electronic Bug Zapper

The indoor bug killer is the best way of clearing the space around you of insects, especially the flying ones like mosquitoes. The hand held insect killer evaporates any insect from a mosquito to a gnat instantaneously on contact with a pleasingly loud, electrical 'zap'!

However, this is not to say that the electric insect killer cannot be used outside, 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 do vary a lot, but there are basically only two types of hand held bug killer: the battery operated bug zapper and the rechargeable electric bug killer. Both are equally effective at killing bugs and employ the same principle.

The electric insect killer looks like a 'kids' tennis racket, 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 networks, one on either side, are earths.

When a bug is caught between the wires of the electric insect zapper, it creates a short, which evaporates it instantaneously with a loud crack. The hand held bug zapper will kill other insects too, but they tend to fry rather than explode.

I have had 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 in the last few years. A fully charged electric bug killer is powerful enough to last for a few hundred swipes and will hold it's charge, when unused, for weeks without any significant discharge.

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

The latest indoor bug 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 on the wrapper suggest that it should be (re)charged for about sixteen hours. I usually put it on charge over night once or twice every week or two, although the electric bug zapper shows a marked increase in performance with only a couple of hours recharging.

The latest model I've seen also comes with a powerful beam called a 'headlamp'. I have found this very useful when walking in the garden, but I'm not sure whether it's meant to lure 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 hand held bug killer for that too, but the headlamp uses a lot of battery power. All in all, the hand held bug killer is a big asset to any outdoor event. The indoor 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 as well.