Placement ·
Where to hang a bug zapper (and where not to)
A lantern in the wrong spot doesn't just underperform; it pulls every flyer in the yard straight to your chair. Here is how we place ours.
The ten-to-twenty-foot rule
Hang the lantern ten to twenty feet from where people gather. Any closer and the glow draws insects through the table on their way in. Any further and the lantern is working a patch of yard nobody is using.
Between the dark and the people
Picture where the bugs come from: the tree line, the creek, the tall grass, the neighbour's floodlight. Hang the lantern on that side, between the source and the seats, so the flight path ends at the grid, not at you.
Height: a little above your head
Five to seven feet up works for most yards. A shepherd's hook, an eave hook or a pergola beam does the job. Lower than that and curious kids and dogs get too close; much higher and the glow spreads thin.
Three spots that work against you
Right over the dining table. Directly beside a door you keep opening. Next to a bright white porch light that outshines the blue. Each one either pulls bugs toward people or drowns the lure.
Give it a head start
Switch it on at sunset, before the crowd arrives, and let it thin the first wave while you're still setting out the plates. A plug-in timer makes this automatic.
ZAP T6 PRO
