March 2nd, 2020 by Chris Chapman

There is so much to love about the summer but one of the big downsides is the flies and bugs that come with warmer weather. Why is it that they can fly into your home with no trouble at all but never seem to be able to find their way out? They are certainly annoying but more importantly than that, they can be very unhygienic with the potential to spread disease.

Luckily there are some really effective ways of dealing with flies and they’re much more sophisticated than chasing after them with a rolled up newspaper!

While we may be more accustomed to seeing electric fly killers in cafes and restaurants, they are becoming increasingly popular in homes – especially as our summers become warmer and flies become more of an issue. They’re a great option because they do all the work for you: no chasing flies around, no spraying chemicals into the air and they even deal with them while you’re out, minimising the chances of them contaminating food, such as fruit, that’s left out in the open.

How do electric fly killers work?

Electric fly killers use UV light to attract flying insects and then kill them. UV light can’t be seen by the human eye but is very attractive to flies. The light draws them in and they are killed either by sticking them to a glueboard or zapping them with an electric killing grid. Traditionally, the UV light has been generated by a UV bulb and this has worked pretty well for a long time. However, there is now a new generation of electric fly killers on the market that uses UV LEDs as an alternative UV source to UV bulbs. Both are effective in killing flies but there are a number of points of difference that you should take into consideration when choosing an electric fly killer.

UV LED fly killers v UV bulb fly killers

The best way to understand the difference between UV LEDs and UV bulbs is to explain how they generate UV light. UV bulbs use mercury phosphor which emits visible and invisible UV light when excited by an electric charge. As a means of creating UV light it works well, however the mercury phosphor has a shelf life and will degrade after around 12 months. This means that the bulbs will need to be changed every year in order for the fly killer to continue working.

LEDs, on the other hand, don’t use mercury phosphor; they use electrical currents to lure in the flies. By allowing the current to flow between the positive and negative sides of a circuit, the LEDs emit light at a very short bandwidth, which produces invisible UV rays. Because this is an electrical process rather than a degradable material, LEDs will last much longer (usually around 10 years!) and do not have to be replaced every year as UV bulbs do. This not only makes it easier to maintain, it means that running costs are much cheaper (LEDs can last over 10 times as long as bulbs giving you 20,000 hours of continuous use).

Do LED fly killers have any other advantages over traditional UV bulb fly killers?

Actually, yes they do. They include the following:

LEDs are more robust than bulbs

UV bulbs are fabricated from long tubes of glass whereas LEDs are tiny, lightweight bulbs fixed within the unit. UV bulbs are therefore much more fragile and vulnerable to breakage if the device is dropped or knocked over – meaning you may have to replace them even sooner than you had bargained on! LEDs are robust and designed to be long lasting.

LEDs are lighter than bulbs

You would normally associate ‘robust’ with ‘heavy’ but in fact LEDs are much lighter than UV bulbs. This reduces the weight of the whole unit so it’s much safer to mount or hang and it can be easily moved around into the best position.

LEDs are quieter than bulbs

Have you ever noticed the low level humming that can be emitted from a traditional electric fly killer? This sound is given off by the magnetic ballasts in fluorescent bulbs. LEDs use different technology so they’re completely silent.

LEDs are cooler than bulbs

LEDs generate less than a fifth of the heat of the bulbs in a traditional electric fly killer. This not only makes it safer for curious fingers, it means you’re not adding extra heat to an already hot summer day.

OK, so which LED fly killer should you choose?

Given all these advantages, it’s clear that LED electric fly killers trump UV bulb models at every turn so then comes the question of which one is best for you? Area coverage is a key consideration as this indicates how wide an area it will cover in UV light: the bigger the area covered, the more flies it will attract. The design of the unit is therefore important. A model such as Xterminate’s LED electric fly killer is a really good one due to its double sided design and reflective panelling to maximise the coverage (up to 80m2). From a practical point of view, the deep catching tray can be removed and emptied quickly and hygienically. It can even be used in very bright spaces such as conservatory where other fly killers may struggle to compete with natural sunlight (and let’s face it, isn’t this always the area that seems to attract flies the most!).

Xterminate LED Electric Fly Killer 30W

Price: £59.99

Buy Now

LED electric fly killers really do represent a safe, cost effective method of ridding yourself of the nuisance of flies in the summer, whether at home, in the office or workplace. Don’t be bothered by flies again!