Outdoor and indoor LED lights are great. The bright color and light truly uplift the indoor ambiance. And when you install them outdoor, the increased brightness will illuminate a larger space while increasing the outdoor aesthetics. Also, it costs much less than regular fluorescent bulbs. However, there’s a problem with LED lights.
When you switch on the LED lights outdoors, hundreds of bugs or pests fly in and flock towards the light. But do LED strip lights attract bugs?
Usually, bugs are not attracted to LED lights with medium wavelengths. If the wavelength of the LED strip is more than 550nms, it will work as bug repellant in reality. On the contrary, shorter wavelengths of less than 550nms attract bugs intensely. These are usually UV lights.
Also, the attraction ability of the LED light strips for bugs depends on the wavelengths. So, let’s take this discussion deeper to understand the bug attracting and repelling capacity of the LED lights.
Do LED Strip Lights Attract Bugs?
Scientists have found that LED strip lights don’t attract bugs. In fact, they work as a repellant to bugs in indoor and outdoor conditions. Yes, it may be confusing since you may have seen bugs flying in flocks whenever you switch on the LED lights.
Nonetheless, if you see the LED strip light closely, you will find that it hasn’t attracted as many bugs as you generally perceive. Also, the bugs that come close to LED strip lights aren’t attracted to the LED wavelength but its heat.
LED lights often emit a medium wavelength of less than 550nms. Thus, they remain scarcely visible to bugs. But, this visibility is less than the visibility of the UV lights. In general, bugs are attracted to lights having shorter wavelengths. As the wavelength decreases, the light becomes more visible to bugs. As a result, bugs are easily attracted to these lights.
The bugs that you still see close to the LED strip lights come due to the heat emission of the bulbs. The good thing is that LED bulbs emit the least heat. So, fewer bugs will be attracted to LED lights.
LED lights are bug repellant:
As our above discussion shows, LED strip lights will work as bug repellants in real life. As they have a medium wavelength, they remain invisible mostly to bugs. Although bugs have visibility sense, they can’t see substances with shorter wavelengths.
As a result, the LED lights remain mildly invisible and will work as a bug repellant. So, you may mount them in outdoor conditions. You can use the bug repellant LED strip lights to enlighten the garden, lawn, and yards to protect the home from thieves. These days, there’re outdoor solar LED lights with sensors. They can sense the day and night time and will illuminate according to the natural light change.
Also, the modern-day outdoor solar LED lights emit the least heat. So, they remain even more repellant to bugs.
Read: Are LED Strip Lights Safe for Eyes?
UV Lights Will Attract Bugs:
Although LED strip lights don’t attract bugs, UV lights will. It happens because UV lights have shorter wavelengths of 100nms to 400nms. As they have a shorter wavelength than regular LED lights with a 550nm wavelength, UV lights are easily visible to bugs.
Many bugs navigate following the natural UV light emission from the sun and moon in nature. When they sense any UV light close to them, naturally, they will drown in the UV lights.
What about Other Lights for Attracting Bugs?
We have seen LED strip lights work as bug repellants with medium wavelength. On the contrary, UV lights with the shortest wavelengths will attract the bugs naturally. But what about yellow, blue, or incandescent light bulbs?
As the wavelength of the light increases, it becomes less visible to bugs. Thus, lights such as orange, yellow or blue are invisible to bugs. Yes, these lights have longer wavelengths. So, they are highly invisible to bugs.
Many manufacturers will use a yellow cover on the LED strip lights to work as a better bug repellant. Similarly, many lights will have a blue tint to repel bugs.
A Few Tips to Repel Bugs at Outdoor Location:
You may have arranged a weekend party on your lawn or patio area. The festive mode can quickly become audiences’ nightmare with the bug attacks. Thus, you may find the right way to repel bugs in outdoor places. Also, during summer days, the bug may easily infest the outdoor locations.
You can, however, keep these notorious and unhygienic bugs away from your home easily. For this, you may follow these steps.
- Always keep your indoor and outdoor locations neat and clean. When there’re no leftover foods, wastages, or spilled liquids, bugs won’t find a source of food. So, they will find another place for their food.
- You may plant rosemary and garlic plants in the garden or lawn to repel bugs. Many herbal plants are natural repellants to bugs. So, it includes lemongrass, chive, etc., plants. Also, flowers such as marigolds will repel bugs.
- You may also spray essential oil or hydrogen peroxide mixture to repel bugs naturally. The essential oil will also fill your outdoor with a soothing and pleasant fragrance.
Read:
- What LED Light Color is Best For Studying?
- How to Connect a LED Light to a Battery and Switch?
- How to Convert 4 ft. Fluorescent Light into LED?
Frequently Asked Questions
Do LED strips attract spiders?
No, LED strips aren’t directly responsible for attracting spiders. Just like bugs, spiders are easily attracted to shorter wavelengths. As LED lights have a medium wavelength, spiders aren’t attracted to these LED strip lights.
What color LED lights to attract bugs?
LED lights with shorter wavelengths will attract bugs. Thus, bluish and cooler white LED light strips will attract bugs more than those with a yellow or orangey tint.
Conclusion
Do LED strip lights attract bugs? The answer will depend on the wavelength of the LED lights. If they have a medium to long-wavelength for the light, they won’t attract bugs. In fact, with medium wavelength, these LED lights will repel bugs. On the contrary, UV lights with shorter wavelengths will surely attract more bugs. Thus, it would help if you never used the UV lights in your outdoor condition.
I’m James. The author of Electricalaffairs.com. It’s been my passion to deal with power tools and gears. This website is mainly to talk about electrical wirings, lighting, various power source tools and accessories. I want to explore tackles and help people to grow their basic knowledge about electrical things. I would also like to help people to pick the right power tool for their daily needs.
