Well, it's mosquito time of year again. I don't get Minnesota-size ones here in the California, but I'm in the Central Valley where we have lots of nearby rice paddies, so I have plenty of them. As my brewery has been increasingly moving from the kitchen to the back porch, I've begun to need to control the mosquitoes so they're not ending up contaminating my wort.
Information about sizing bug zappers is surprisingly hard to find. Top Google results are mostly spammy "How To" and Alibaba import-type results. The top thread here that shows up is a guy asking people to name his. Most YouTube results are people having racket-style zapper fights or licking them. I'd love to hear your opinions and experiences of the various bug zappers available, especially as they relate to brewing.
My house sits on a 1/8th acre suburban lot like most. I have an average sized back yard and a larger-than-most back patio. I also have more mosquitos than average. Do I need the 15 watt ("1/2 acre"), 40 watt ("1 acre") or 80 watt ("1-1/2 acre") model? Gut feeling says not to trust the acreage ratings and tells me, "go big or go home," but I also don't want to attract all of the neighbors' mosquitos to my yard either.
Is one big one better than multiple small ones?
Walmart isn't stocking them in the seasonal section yet, so Amazon is the only game in town. Price isn't really an option here, as size and features seem to scale really linearly. Long-term availability of bulbs and mosquite attractant will definitely be deciding factors, and I don't want to buy a new one every year because they tweaked the bulb length .1" and the new ones are too long to fit.
It's already too late for shipping to today (Thurs), so it looks like I'll be ordering by tonight for delivery Monday. Will report back on what I learn and end up buying when the time comes.
Information about sizing bug zappers is surprisingly hard to find. Top Google results are mostly spammy "How To" and Alibaba import-type results. The top thread here that shows up is a guy asking people to name his. Most YouTube results are people having racket-style zapper fights or licking them. I'd love to hear your opinions and experiences of the various bug zappers available, especially as they relate to brewing.
My house sits on a 1/8th acre suburban lot like most. I have an average sized back yard and a larger-than-most back patio. I also have more mosquitos than average. Do I need the 15 watt ("1/2 acre"), 40 watt ("1 acre") or 80 watt ("1-1/2 acre") model? Gut feeling says not to trust the acreage ratings and tells me, "go big or go home," but I also don't want to attract all of the neighbors' mosquitos to my yard either.
Is one big one better than multiple small ones?
Walmart isn't stocking them in the seasonal section yet, so Amazon is the only game in town. Price isn't really an option here, as size and features seem to scale really linearly. Long-term availability of bulbs and mosquite attractant will definitely be deciding factors, and I don't want to buy a new one every year because they tweaked the bulb length .1" and the new ones are too long to fit.
It's already too late for shipping to today (Thurs), so it looks like I'll be ordering by tonight for delivery Monday. Will report back on what I learn and end up buying when the time comes.