Livin’ Well Bug Zapper GH-18A

Update 2: I received the replacement bulb and although there were no instructions on how to replace it, I was able to do so with a little trial and error. The zapper is shining brightly and is once again back on heavy duty. Within a few minutes, I received an audio confirmation of its effectiveness. Kudos to Livin' Well for their great customer service. Sending a replacement bulb gratis to make good on their advertised longevity was above and beyond what I expect these days. I raised my rating a star to five stars accordingly. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Update: I received an email response from the Livin' Well Team informing me that they have replacement bulbs but they're not sold on Amazon. However, they offered to mail me a replacement if I sent them my address. I did so and they responded again with a confirmation. I'll update again if and when I receive the replacement bulb. This almost sounds too good to be true but if they come through, I certainly feel that this product and customer service will warrant an upgrade to five stars. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------I was so impressed with this bug zapper that I purchased a second one the following month. My primary objective was to add another layer of protection against mosquitoes when I'm out on covered patio, working on my plants and vegetable garden. I already use dunks/natural soap in my water pots/buckets, have a large shop fan blowing across the patio and light up a coil between the fan and my patio sliding door. During the Summer down here in south Florida, I really need defense in depth since I'm out there for several hours every day. I ordered the second one to use inside our house since bugs always seem to sneak in when I open the sliding door to get in and out. I know that scientifically, UV light doesn't necessarily attract mosquitoes but these zappers sure offed a great number of them, even if it was just by chance. My wife who is very susceptible to mosquito bites (they really swell badly) frequently tries to swat them in the house with our tennis racket zapper when she sees one. She's rarely successful and is convinced that they flee and avoid her when she picks up the racket zapper. Several minutes after she gives up and sits back down, we hear the Livin’ Well Bug Zapper, sitting on a kitchen counter sizzling away. While there's no guarantee that it was the mosquito that she was chasing, we never see it again. They also zapped a slew of other flying bugs, many that I couldn't even identify. My wife and I were truly amazed at the number of bugs that were in the house. One "con" that we noticed is that not only do many of the zapped bugs not fall into the removable tray nor get caught/burned into the mesh, many seem to get thrown out of the trap altogether as evidenced by the many bug carcasses lying around the perimeter of the zapper. The six foot long cord is a big plus since it greatly expands placement/deployment of the zapper. Many competitors only have a four foot cord, a complaint written by numerous reviewers. The cord is also thick and sturdy, giving me peace of mind, especially for the one used outside. The metal hanging ring on top is sturdy enough (double rings) and is an inch in diameter but the plastic nob that it's mounted on blocks half the ring making it a little difficult to hang on thicker hooks. I would have given this five stars but knocked on off because the bulb on the first one I purchased just went out after 5760 hours and didn't last the 8000 hours in the product description. We leave both of them plugged in 24/7. I contacted the seller for information on replacement bulbs because there's no listing for them on Amazon and am waiting for a response. It may be more cost effective to buy a new zapper and if so, that's what I'll do. I'm willing to pay this price for eight months of added protection.

If you're wondering how to remove the bottom tray, you have to twist the bottom counterclockwise (as seen from facing the bottom) kinda forcefully the first time. The instruction manual just says something like "To clean it, remove the bottom tray" without actually explaining how to remove it. That aside, it's pretty self explanatory. You place it somewhere, bugs go towards the pretty light, the little coils surrounding the pretty light go zap zap, the shocked bug falls to the tray (or just sticks itself to the coil for me to awkwardly clean off later). Keep in mind: This is just a UV light. Mosquitos are attracted to a variety of things, especially depending on the variant of mosquito. Some seek the sweat on our skin. Others seek the CO2 in our breaths. Some even just have a weirdo fixation with bananas. This means if you, this trap, and a hungry mosquito were chilling together in a room, chances are that mosquito would bite you anyway because you're the more enticing subject. So to let the trap run its course, it's best to just leave it on somewhere without people or pets. I've run the trap in two locations: indoors in a dark living room at night, and outdoors in the early evening to nighttime. Indoors, there's thankfully a lot fewer mosquitoes that have snuck in, but it has managed to catch the lil invaders that have snuck into my home somehow. From what I could hear it do, it doesn't just make one be pop, it makes a series of smaller shocks. Outdoors, the cable it super thick and kinda hard to run through like windows and doors, but it's a decent length to work with an extension cable. There's an abundance of mosquitos and tiny moths for it to zap outdoors, but it does kind of indiscriminately attempts to kill everything that is remotely interested in UV light. Note that I say "Attempts" here because when I decided to clean it and see how well it worked outdoors, I could see it that worked very well based on the numbers, but was surprised to encounter a few bugs that were stunned and definitely not dead. This happens because they get shocked without getting killed and instead of being able to exit the trap after being stunned, they fall into the collection tray at the bottom and get trapped in there. So when I opened the tray to dump it, they immediately flew towards my face in vengeance. So be careful of that one. In conclusion: Pros: - It performs pretty much as expected - it zaps bugs that are attracted to UV light and they mostly fall to the little bucket below. - It's not too hard to clean - I emptied the tray and was able to shake and air can out the rest. - It's bright enough to attract bugs to it even in broad daylight. Cons: - It doesn't always kill the bug - sometimes they just fall into the collection tray while stunned. - The top of it heats up over time. Not to the point of burning, but definitely awkwardly warm. - It's kinda heavy and doesn't hang well on flexible branches because of this. It doesn't affect me much because I just place it on the floor instead of hanging it.

Bright and powerful zapper, but with some quirks I’ve been using the Livin’ Well Bug Zapper around my patio this summer, and overall it does the job of thinning out the mosquito population. The 4000V grid is no joke—it makes a sharp zap when it catches something, and the 18W UVA bulb is bright enough to draw in bugs from a decent distance. On nights when I sit outside, I’ve noticed far fewer mosquitoes buzzing around me, which is exactly what I was hoping for. Setup was simple: hang it up or set it on a flat surface, plug it in, and it’s ready. I like that it covers a large area (advertised as up to 1,500 sq ft), so I can use it for both backyard gatherings and indoors when needed. Cleaning is also straightforward thanks to the removable collection tray. That said, there are a couple of quirks to be aware of. It’s not a “silent” zapper—the loud crackling can be surprising if you’re not used to it. Also, while it works well on mosquitoes, flies are hit-or-miss. Some nights it seems to catch plenty, other nights hardly any. It’s also not weatherproof, so you need to bring it in if rain is expected. Bottom line: A reliable, powerful bug zapper that noticeably cuts down mosquitoes in its range, but expect some noise and remember to keep it sheltered from the elements.

Right on the box it says "Up to 8,000 working hours". Mine just died after about 35,000 hours of working perfectly. It's not an LED bulb so that is impressive. I'm ordering a new one right now after 4 years of use. It works great. I have been using it in various rooms and it's easy to clean out but gross because there are DEAD BUGS IN IT. 5 stars.

It doesn't make the distinct *ZAP!* noise associated with the bug zappers of old. There are dead bugs in the bottom of it. Mostly lady bugs for some obscure reason. Didn't get to use it until after the return period ended so couldn't return it don't know if it's fully functioning or not. 2 stars *EDIT* I have changed my rating to 5 stars. This company went above and beyond! More than any other company that I have ever dealt with. By any company I am talking about online retailers and brick and mortar stores. They did not have to do any of the customer service that they did. I will not go into details about what all they did without being asked to do so. But it was so good even if the new item I received was non working I would still have changed my review to 5 stars. That being said they did send a new item and it works stunningly. And then after all they did to make sure I was content (which I definitely was) I received a handwritten letter from the head of their customer support department making sure everything was to my liking. I will 100% be referring people to Livin' Well in the future. Thank you again!!!

Got this a few months ago and it works like nothing else. If I have a fly in my house I can turn this on and 15 seconds later its dead, even in the day. This is a hard review to write because it really works SO well. However it has some MAJOR flaws that you need to be aware of before you buy this (and hopefully flaws they fix): 1. Its incredibly hard to fully clean. You can unscrew the bottom with a substantial amount of force and get whatever dead bugs happened to fall into that part of if but if you want to actually clean this out you need to get to the metal contacts that electrocute the insects, which 99% get fused to after getting killed. To do that you have to fully disassemble this light, you will need to be adept with a screwdriver and it is extremely difficult to reassemble because of multiple flimsy plastic parts that have to be clipped into each other before the screws can be put back in. 2. It has a major design flaw, where the cord is coming out of the top of the light, making it extremely wobbly if set on a table for example. On top of that, all of the electronics are in the top and it has no weight at the bottom, amplifying the issue. This really only should be used hanging securely from something. 3. Because it is cheaply made if it falls more than a 12 inches or so, its going to break. So do not buy this if you are not fairly adept with a screwdriver, intend to set it on a table or if it has any chance of falling. If you can deal with those issues then it really does work great and hence the three star review. After mine broke I actually bought a second one with the intent to be more careful. I hope the manufacturer addresses these issues because if they did they would have the most effective product on the market.

I live next to a very large orchard. Bugs and pests are a real problem. Some of the bugs fit through the screen and coalesce around the lights at night, which has also caused spiders to build webs near the light sources. After 2 years of frequent cleanup, I decided to get some sort of pest control indoors. Bug zappers are typically very loud, and I've only seen them used outdoors. When I stumbled on this product, some of the reviews mentioned it was quieter than traditional outdoor bug zappers. I went ahead and purchased the product. After receiving the unit and running it for 2 nights, the amount of bugs caught in the trap was startling. I had no idea this many bugs were coming inside my home. The noise is noticeable but I'm able to sleep through it just fine. There is sometimes an off putting smell from the burning bugs. Nothing you can do about this. I'm very happy with the product. As a side note, I set the unit on my countertop and ran it from there. After a couple of days, I knocked it over and the bulb was damaged. After contacting Livin' Well to locate a bulb, they sent me a free replacement. I'm back up and running. I would recommend hanging it from something rather than a flat surface.

Recently, I started seeing a few flies in our garage. I grabbed my handheld electric bug zapper and killed two or three, but would immediately see two or three more. One day, I walked into the garage and was horrified to see the windows covered with flies and I knew my handheld zapper was no match for this. I decided to buy the Livin’ Well 4000V High Powered Electric Zapper for it's good reviews, size, and I could get it delivered the same day. It's ready to go right out of the box, I just found a place to hang it in the garage and waited until dark to turn it on for maximum effect. As soon as I plugged it in, the flies immediately were drawn to it. It was so satisfying to hear and see them get zapped! Many would hang out on the outer grill though, refusing to explore the more dangerous areas of the zapper so I would help them along by scaring them into the zapper. Fun! In the morning I found about 20 dead flies on the ground underneath the zapper and about another 20 in the tray. Of the flies in the tray, 2 or 3 were still alive and were just stunned. I took the zapper outside and emptied the tray out onto the grid of my handheld zapper to finish them off. Unfortunately, not all of the flies were enticed by the zapper and I did have to kill about 6 or 7 stragglers with my handheld zapper, but it did get the vast majority of them. I docked this zapper one star because the collection tray is quite difficult to remove the first couple of times, the instructions suck and don't explain HOW to remove the tray (turn it counter clockwise), and I think the zapper would be even more effective if the electric grid extended down further to cover the entire UV light. I noticed several flies hanging out on the bottom of the bulb and avoiding the electric grid. Still, this zapper was very effective and I didn't have to use any chemicals to rid our garage of flies. Winning!

This product worked for less then a month. Do not buy. I wrote the supplier and got zero response.