Outside light that DOES NOT attract bugs

[Toothpick]

What kind? Where can I find one?

I went out and bought a super bright LED for the back porch. The thing is like....1600 lumens or something. Anyway, it’s perfect in that it lights up the whole backyard. But good golly the amount of bugs it attracts!

I know there are some lights out there that claim they do not attract bugs. So help me out.
Which ones?
The light must be bright. I suppose it doesn’t have to be 1600 lumen bright. And it sometimes it will stay on all night.

Thanks!

 

[Iloverootbeer]

What kind? Where can I find one?

I went out and bought a super bright LED for the back porch. The thing is like....1600 lumens or something. Anyway, it’s perfect in that it lights up the whole backyard. But good golly the amount of bugs it attracts!

I know there are some lights out there that claim they do not attract bugs. So help me out.
Which ones?
The light must be bright. I suppose it doesn’t have to be 1600 lumen bright. And it sometimes it will stay on all night.

Thanks!

Any shade of light that would actually be useful to you will attract bugs. They make Yellow-tinted lamps that they claim don’t attract insects, but they still do (first hand experience.)

 

[davent]

I'm assuming the light is close to a house door and the hordes invade when the door is used. Any other outside light further from that door that could be used for an all night light instead?
dave

 

[Toothpick]

I'm assuming the light is close to a house door and the hordes invade when the door is used. Any other outside light further from that door that could be used for an all night light instead?
dave

Yes, but it’s a motion light.

I’d rather have the porch light

 

[Joshua223]

Any shade of light that would actually be useful to you will attract bugs. They make Yellow-tinted lamps that they claim don’t attract insects, but they still do (first hand experience.)

Yeah, my parents tried one of those. Still plenty of bugs.

 

[simon1]

I've been here 25 years, which looks to me from the pics. you posted of you property, is about like yours but I'm quite a bit further out from people than you are. There was a yellow light on the back porch but I quit messing with it because it didn't work. I've had the bug zappers for quite awhile, and they get full of bugs, but it is just moths and not skeeters. My pond is about 30 yards away and those are bad. And there is water standing in the bar ditches and drainage ditches by the driveway with all the rain we have had this year.

I've also used the citronella oil in about three tiki torches placed around the back porch, and also the citronella candles, but to no avail about dark.

I also had two purple martin houses but they got destroyed by weather. I've been looking at making or getting some more. There used to be some bats that would roost on the front porch but I haven't seen them in years. I'm also thinking about getting one of the commercial made bat houses they make to put up since the bats don't roost under the eaves of the front porch anymore, and I don't know why they don't. They seemed to make a difference. I'm not scared of a little bat.

I just don't go out fishing or walking around in the pasture a bit after daylight or just before dusk, but sometimes mowing at anytime can stir them up. I wear a long sleeve shirt, long pants, and a hat when I mow in the summer. Also spray my clothes good with DEET.

I have about 6 or 8 three hundred watt floodlights around the house that lights up the front, back, and side yard but no effect on bugs. The light just seems to attract them.

If anyone has any suggestions on light in a very rural area I'd be glad to hear it. I don't think that exists in this universe though.

 

[Jim99]

I’ll be following this thread because, short of turning off the port has light, I’ve never been able to get rid of those insects.

 

[Iloverootbeer]

About the only thing you can try is buying some UV filtering widow film and cut it to fit your light. Since insects are attracted to the UV spectrum, this can reduce the swarm to some degree.

 

[Toothpick]

OK, maybe I should have said “outside light that attracts LESS bugs”. Can’t tell me that in 2019 there isn’t one.

 

[davent]

You just have the wrong kind of bugs where you are, what you want to have is cockroaches, they run and hide when you turn on the lights.

Apparently it hasn't been figured out, agreement reached as to why bugs are attracted to lights in the first place so going to be hard to hit the target if you don't know what you're supposed to be shooting at.
dave

 

[Mr. Bonney]

Humf, I would have thought that LED light would be less attractive to pests. Being they can be tailor-made as to what wavelength of light they produce. Then again LED lights were hailed as the end all to be all solution for everything, and they've fallen far short

But what do I know.

 

[Ad Astra]

Make sure they are not swarming termites... We go dark here every May-June - except for a whopper of a bug light. Love to fry the termite swarmers ...

AA

 

[njpaddy]

Any shade of light that would actually be useful to you will attract bugs. They make Yellow-tinted lamps that they claim don’t attract insects, but they still do (first hand experience.)

I agree. Tried all sorts of bulbs and all fell short. Even yellow attracts bugs. Maybe not as many bugs as a regular or LED bulb, but the yellow light is a whole lot dimmer. It still brought mosquitoes into the house if the door was opened and encouraged spiders to build webs overnight, so you'd walk into them leaving in the morning. I almost bought a motion LED at Costco this week, figuring it would go on only if someone was in the driveway, but my wife was with me and said she'd rather keep the fixtures we have now and not use the light unless we really need to turn it on.

 

[Tannhauser]

IIRC, the idea behind the dim yellow bug lights is that's the light you use for yourself, and you have a much brighter light set 10-15 away to attract the bugs. Never tested it myself, though.