Mosquitoes, gnats, fruit flies, roaches, moths, and other annoying flying insects can become an annoying problem if they invade your home. In addition, if you have a real phobia of these uninvited guests, then the thought of them flying around while you’re sleeping at night can even cause you to have nightmares.
So, besides trying to swat and kill them with a fly swatter or rolled up newspaper, or chasing them around the house with the nozzle of your vacuum cleaner in the hopes of sucking the life out of them, what if you could simply relax and let a bug zapper do the job for you?
Can a bug zapper be used indoors? Yes, you can absolutely use a bug zapper indoors! And in fact, there are some zappers specifically designed for indoor use.
We’ll explain it all in this article. Let’s begin.
Can A Bug Zapper Be Used Indoors?
Bug zappers are great devices to use because they attract flying insects through the use of UV light.
The UV light bulbs contained in bug zappers are safe for outdoor use, but you’ll be pleased to hear that many of these devices can also be used indoors.
We’ll share some of our recommendations later on in this article.
The UV light is what attracts insects and there are metal grids that surround them, which is what actually eliminates them. The UV light is harmless to humans and pets, so they can be placed anywhere around your home: including bedrooms (but it’s hard to sleep with these lights on!).
The outer shielding of a bug zapper includes a mesh, which adds a protective layer that will keep you, your family, and pets safe from accidental contact.
Bug zappers are also free of harsh chemicals, and will kill annoying flying pests just as effectively as calling in the exterminators, who will use chemicals to do the same thing.
The outer shielding of a bug zapper includes a mesh, which adds a protective layer that will keep you, your family, and your pets safe from accidental contact.
Many bug zappers also come with wall mounting and ceiling hanging accessories, although they can also be placed on flat surfaces safely. The style of bug zapper you choose will all depend on what’s best for your convenience, but you can rest assured that they are safe to use indoors.
How Bug Zappers Work
Bug zappers will be an important addition to your home if you have to deal with annoying flying insects on a regular basis. They are user-friendly and work silently to do the job that you want them to.
In fact, you may forget that they’re even there! Because with indoor bug zappers, you will generally only hear a brief sizzling sound when the flying insect contacts the metal grid.
These amazing devices also use just a small amount of electricity, and come in a variety of designs, with some looking like miniature heaters and others like lanterns or even handheld tennis-style rackets.
Many designs of indoor bug zappers also contain a removable tray that captures what’s left of the dead critters, which makes it easy to simply throw any remains of the insects into the trash regularly.
And indoor zappers don’t give off any smell when flying insects are vaporized, so you don’t need to worry about inhaling dead bug fumes.
The construction of bug zappers is relatively simple. The basic parts include:
1. The Casing
The outer exterior of the indoor bug zapper keeps all of the working parts in place. It’s usually made of strong plastic or metal that has been electrically grounded and shaped like a cylinder, cube or lantern.
The cases will also have a grid that will keep little hands and pets from touching the electrified grids that kill the flying insects, thus keeping everyone safe.
2. The Bulb
The fluorescent light is what attracts flying insects to the electrified grid. And generally, this is a 40-watt UV light bulb, although it can also be a mercury or neon light, depending on the brand of the device.
3. The Transformer
This is the part of the bug zapper that causes the wire mesh to become electrified. It causes the voltage to rise to 2000 volts or more, which is enough to grill and vaporize flying insects when they come into contact with the electric grid.
4. The Grid
In general, an indoor bug zapper will contain two wire mesh grids or screens, which surround the UV light bulb. These wire mesh grids provide the electrifying effect that kills these critters on contact.
When the flying insect is lured toward the UV light, it will penetrate the space between the outer casing and electrified grid, and will then be vaporized into oblivion. It’s as easy as that!
Most bug zappers can work on a single charge to eliminate 10,000 insects in a day, although (hopefully!) this won’t be a necessity in your own home.
When the flying insect is lured toward the UV light, it will penetrate the space between the outer casing and electrified grid, and will then be vaporized into oblivion. It’s as easy as that!
Indoor bug zappers will work by eliminating any insect that is attracted to the light, which means other creepy crawlies could also be vaporized besides flying critters. This includes ants, spiders, and cockroaches (but probably not silverfish).
The devices don’t discriminate between insects.
However, you should be aware that mosquitoes aren’t attracted to UV light in general, although you can still zap them into smithereens if you choose to purchase a handheld tennis racket-style design.
Our Indoor Bug Zapper Recommendations
Aspectek’s Electronic Indoor Insect Killer is a powerful 20-watt device that will attract all kinds of flying bugs, including moths, flies, and fruit flies.
It does this with its two UV light bulbs.
The device’s high voltage metal grids sit in front of the UV bulbs and will kill the insects on impact. Plus, the removable plastic tray that sits at the bottom will collect the dead bugs. The tray is also washable, so it’s easy to clean and maintain.
There’s also a mesh screen, which provides a protective cage that will prevent accidental contact with pets or small children, while a wire chain allows you to hang it out of the way, although it can also be placed on flat surfaces.
This Aspectek Indoor Insect Killer can be used in any indoor room around the home, including bedrooms, basements, garages, and kitchens, as well as in offices, restaurants and cafés.
Zap It’s Rechargeable Bug Zapper is a racket-style insect killer, just like the type that you may be used to using outside. This zapper features a 4,000-volt grid that will electrify gnats, mosquitoes, flies, and other annoying pests like fruit flies, on contact.
It acts like a modern-day version of a fly swatter, except it’s much better, because it will instantly eliminate your prey with a single swipe, and it works more reliably and faster than using a fly trap.
The Zap It electric zapper can also be used outdoors too, whether that’s in your own backyard, having a picnic in the park, or hiking and camping in the woods.
And it can be used at night because it has a very bright LED that will attract any flying critters.
Because it is a rechargeable device, you can use this electric bug zapper again and again to great effect. Simply plug it into the USB cable to power its built-in lithium battery, which will give you up to 10,000 zaps in just one single charge.
Light in weight and easy to control, the Zap It bug zapper has a triple-layer safety mesh, which gives extra protection when the racket is in use. It also has an activation button and indicator light, which gives you a visual indication of when the racket is active and ready to use.
The Katchy Indoor Insect Trap is an ergonomically designed and compact bug killer that won’t take up much space and can easily sit on your kitchen counter, next to your trash can, by drains or nearby your plant pots to zap away fruit flies, gnats, mosquitoes, and aphids.
It works even better than those homemade fruit fly traps!
Technically, the Katchy trap isn’t a bug zapper, because it is the first UV lamp device that attracts flying insects and uses a fan that will suck them in. Once the insects are sucked in, they get trapped by the sticky glue boards inside, so that the critters aren’t able to escape.
Therefore, there’s no zapping involved. This may be an alternative bug eliminator that you may want to consider, and you can purchase replacement glue boards when you need them.
Conclusion
If you’ve got a problem with flying insects invading your indoor spaces, and you want to use something more effective than a fly swatter, or less dangerous than resorting to harsh chemical repellent, you can use a bug zapper indoors!
And by purchasing one of the recommendations that we’ve provided you with above, you won’t need to put up with these annoying critters flying around your home for much longer.
