Most Helpful Customer Reviews
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Looks good, gets some insects, July 7, 2012
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This review is from: INADAYS InaTrap Electronic Insect Killer - Purple
First of all: DISCLOSUREI am reviewing this product because the makers of INADAYS InaTrap sent me a free unit. They did not ask for a 'good review' and I did not promise or imply that a good review was forthcoming.
FEATURES AND OPERATION
According to the manual, the trap's UV light attracts little insects such as mosquitoes. Also according to the manual there is a 'photocatalyst coating' on the top of the light which produces a small amount of CO2 (carbon dioxide). The light and the CO2 should attract mosquitoes and other small insects. The CO2 should be spread trough the airflow that the built-in fan generates.
The insects that approach the light are sucked by the fan into a small cage at the bottom of the trap and they usually stay there until they die. Based on my observations some gnats appear to be killed by the UV light outright because I found many dead gnats around the trap rather than inside the cage.
This model needs to be plugged into a power outlet to work (no battery) and the touch switch at the top controls its operation: 'off' when the switch is not backlit, continuous operation when the backlit is yellow/orange and 12 hours on/12 hours off when the backlit is green.
The trap's cage can be easily removed to dispose of trapped insects (warning: not all are dead) and to clean it. There are no maintenance instructions but this one was easy to figure out. Not so sure how to replace the UV lamp which, according to the manual, should be replaced every 2 years. Hopefully the lamp's own installation instructions should discuss that when such a replacement becomes available (see below).
According to the manual, you can make the trap more attractive to mosquitoes if you place a bottle cap with a little wine in it to produce more CO2 and another one with a small amount of body lotion to simulate the scent of human fat.
PRESENTATION
InaTrap's design is just lovely and its best feature. I never imagined that an insect trap could look this good. In fact, mosquitoes or not, the InaTrap can easily double as an outdoor nightlight (on patio, lanai) or even indoor if you don't mind the fan's low hum.
The manual provides some useful information but it would benefit from a better English translation.
EFFECTIVENESS
The InaTrap clearly catches some insects. Our vacation site appears to be mosquito-free but three is a fair amount of gnats flying around and the trap is full of them after a day of operation. As I mentioned above, there are quite a few around the trap, probably killed by the light. I am not sure if adding wine an lotion increases its effectiveness significantly but we found dead and trapped insects with and without them, possible more of them when the wine was added.
Repeating myself, the caught insects are not killed outright. They end up into the cage and if they are not small enough to escape through the mesh wire window, they stay in the cage until they die because the one-way airflow should make it near-impossible for them to escape the way they got in. When you take out the cage for cleaning you are likely to find a few live insects at the bottom, some dead bodes at the bottom and some dead ones trapped in the wire mesh while trying to escape. I suspect that the really small gnats manage to get out but that would be impossible for a mosquito.,
I was unable to test the trap indoors because we didn't have any insects there but as far as outdoor performance is concerned I can testify that the trap does catch some insects and that it does not catch them all. As the manual explains, it's hard to make anything that's more attractive to a mosquito or a gnat than an actual human body. For as long as the trap is placed some place away from where the people are it should at least attract some of the mosquitoes its way but it's not going to divert them all for sure - that would be an unrealistic expectation.
ISSUES
Warranty: The manual states 'please contact your local distributor for warranty information. I emailed the vendor and was told that there is a 2-year warranty on the product but I don't know what the warranty terms are so be careful.
UV Lamp: As far as I know there is no source for a replacement in the US. The vendor email stated that "our inaTrap replacement lamps are currently out of stock on Amazon. Nevertheless, we have already ordered more from the factory. Once they have arrived, we will post them on Amazon right away." If you are okay with a 2 -3 years life for the product if replacement lamps don't become available in the US this should not be a concern. The manual states that the lamp should continue to make light after 2 years only it won't be as attractive to insects as a new one.
MY EVALUATION
On the positive side, this is a very good looking lamp/trap that should blend into just about any indoor or outdoor/patio environment for as long as a power outlet is available. It also gets some of the insects that fly around at night. The gnats that fly around my head while I'm writing this review seem to indicate that the InaTrap is not as effective during the day. The documentation could be better but setup and maintenance are easy to begin with so this is not a biggie.
The concerns I already listed: warranty and replacements lamps. See above for the details.
These being said, I am pleased with the product. It's not going to get everything but it will clearly get some of the insects flying around and that's good enough for me. I did not have to pay for my unit but the price does seem to be a little on the high-end and, if fairness, the product does look 'high-end'. Can't grant the product 5 stars for the reasons noted above but 3.5 stars rounded up to 4 should be fair.
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>> Brush your teeth, it's the law! <<
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Mushroom of Doom, July 17, 2012
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Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: INADAYS InaTrap Electronic Insect Killer - Blue
I had been looking for a convenient and compact indoor flying insect trap to replace a larger unit I have that lures bugs using black light and drowns them by blowing them into a drawer filled with soapy water.The large unit works, but the fan is noisy and the chores of adding water and cleaning out the drawer are a hassle.
I saw this InaTrap in a gadget blog and was intrigued. The trap features a handsome mushroom-like design with a compact footprint, and I like the dual lure of the light plus the CO2 scent. I also appreciate not having to deal with a drawer of soapy water!
At any rate, I can report that after two weeks of use, the machine seems to be doing its job effectively. I live in New York City, where flying insects are not a major nuisance, but we have had our share of mosquitoes this year, as well as some no see ums that bit me pretty good a few weeks back, along with the usual house and fruit flies and moths.
Well, I haven't seen any of these critters flying around my apartment since I started using the trap, and when I emptied the trap compartment today, I was surprised to see that the machine had even caught some moths, which I would have thought were too large to get sucked in by the silent fan here.
Buyers should be aware, however, that the instructions advise NOT using the machine in your bedroom while you sleep. They say that the human body gives off ten times the amount of CO2 that this machine does, meaning that the machine can't compete with your body when it comes to attracting biting insects. Instead the instructions suggest running the unit in a different room while you're sleeping and running it in your bedroom for a few hours before you go to sleep.
Unfortunately, I live in a small studio apartment, so I keep this machine running across the room from me when I sleep -- I have no other option. I should also mention that I use an ultrasonic Sunbeam mosquito repeller, which sits on my nightstand. This sounds like a male mosquito to females -- the ones that bite -- and it makes the females stay away.
So I bought this InaTrap to deal with no see ums, fruit flies, and other flying pests as well as mosquitoes, and it seems to be attracting them despite my presence in the same room.
I should note that the machine gives off a fair amount of light, so folks who like to sleep in a dark room will have another reason not to sleep with the trap in their bedroom. This particular model offers a twelve-hour timer mode that will shut the unit off automatically at night to accommodate light-sensitive sleepers. I'm not bothered by the light, however, so I use the always-on setting to keep the machine running 24/7.
Apparently the coating that produces the CO2 when the light shines on it will last indefinitely, provided you don't remove it with a strong cleaning agent. Inadays says that the bulb will lose its ability to attract insects within two years of continuous use, and I trust that the manufacturer will make replacement bulbs readily available at a reasonable price.
So if you're looking for an attractive, effective, and convenient method to control flying insects indoors without noxious chemicals, you might want to give this little "Mushroom of Doom" a try.
