Hand-held Mosquito Zapper

The indoor bug killer is the best way of ridding the space around you of insects, especially the flying ones such as mosquitoes. The indoor bug zapper evaporates any insect from a mosquito to a gnat instantaneously on contact with a nice, loud, electrical 'crack'!

However, this is not to say that the indoor bug killer cannot be used outside, so long as it is not raining. It should be handled just like any other high voltage electrical item. Keep the indoor bug zapper dry and please do not use it when you are standing in water!

Models do vary greatly, but there are really only two kinds of hand held bug zapper: the battery operated bug zapper and the rechargeable electric bug zapper. Both are equally effective at killing bugs and employ the same principle.

The indoor bug killer looks like a 'kids' tennis racket, but with three sets of 'strings', which are in fact wires. The innermost network of wires becomes live at the push of a button while the other two networks, one on either side, are earths.

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

I have been using the rechargeable kind for about five years and am extremely happy with the electric bug killer. In fact, the electric bug zapper has come a long way over the last few years. A fully charged electric bug zapper is strong enough to last for several hundred swipes and will hold it's charge, when 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 slowly diminishes after six or seven months.

The most recent indoor bug killer I've had has a main on/off switch, an LED that shines when it is activated (the brightness of this light also indicates the battery's strength) and an LED that comes on when the zapper 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 electric bug killer shows a marked increase in performance with only a couple of hours charging.

The latest model I've used also comes with a strong light called a 'headlamp'. I have found this very handy when out in the garden, but I'm unsure whether it's meant to lure the flies 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 electric insect zapper for that too, but the light uses a lot of battery power. All in all, the indoor bug zapper is a big asset to any outdoor event. The electric bug 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.

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