Outside lighting and insects

[MostH8d]

What kind of outside lighting does everyone use? When I moved into my house all of the outside lighting was LED. Looked great, but I live in the middle of nowhere and there is a lot of insects and spiders. The LED light attracted the bugs which then attracted huge spiders. I read that yellow lights don't attract them and switched some out. While it is a HUGE improvement at keeping the bugs away, they **** as far as usable light. I tried CFL and LED bulbs that were yellow and they **** at lighting up anything. What's everyone else use?

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[MushCreek]

We're out in the woods, and it got so bad that I don't regularly use the front door light, but only if I'm expecting someone. We have a light over the garage door, and that provides enough light. I don't mind the bugs/spiders/toads as long as they're not right at my front door.

 

[barnjunkie]

When the wifey and I built our house, the bugs were everywhere, they would enter the house when you opened the door and some were in the house due to it being built during the summer months. After a couple of years, the frogs moved in and settled, and the problem got a little better.
The biggest help for us was to move the light sources away from the house. I went with a power co light and a pole lamp. You can also get flood lamps, but its another thing to hit with the lawn mower.

 

[cybrdyke]

You wont get rid of bugs by changing light sources or colors. There have been hundreds of studies done on the bug-light relationship. Bottom line is that there is no concensus on a solution. Some studies say one thing, some say the opposite.
There are millions of kinds of bugs. Some go to lights because they're attracted to the UV that it emits (think: bugzappers). Some go because of the color of the light. Some because of the heat that they generate. Some go just to eat the other bugs that go to the light. So there's no single solution. But there are some things that MIGHT help mitigate it some. The UV thing is big for bugs. Most LED sources deliver very little UV light, and the further away from the cool tones you get, the less the bugs will respond. LED also gives off much less heat than other sources, but it's still warmer than no light at all, so on a cool night it's still a source of warmth for some bugs. So, if you need to have a light, then your best bet is a warm-toned LED, 3000k or lower. But you'll still get bugs. The previously mentioned solution is also a good one. Put the light away from where you will be. A flood light or a high-mount area light is a great solution.
Good luck,
CD

 

[HunterDan]

We're in the middle of the woods, and I had the same problem. First with the front porch light, lots of bugs, spiders, moths, etc. I'm a lineman for our local utility, we renewed a pole and I brought the old one home and set out between the barn and the house, ran power to it and put up a dusk to dawn high pressure sodium light. Haveing all the light was nice, but the side of the house that the light hit, was COVERED in spiders and spider ****. They got in behind the siding, and would come out every night when the light came on and the bugs came out.

Tired of that, I bought 2 rabb motion flood lights and got the brightest led bulbs I could find. They put out the same or better amount of light the HPS light did, but they only stay on for about 5-8 minutes when motion is detected. No longer have bugs on the house, and the wife is happy with the light when she's outside

 

[roc_on_the_rocks]

You wont get rid of bugs by changing light sources or colors. There have been hundreds of studies done on the bug-light relationship. Bottom line is that there is no concensus on a solution. Some studies say one thing, some say the opposite.
There are millions of kinds of bugs. Some go to lights because they're attracted to the UV that it emits (think: bugzappers). Some go because of the color of the light. Some because of the heat that they generate. Some go just to eat the other bugs that go to the light. So there's no single solution. But there are some things that MIGHT help mitigate it some. The UV thing is big for bugs. Most LED sources deliver very little UV light, and the further away from the cool tones you get, the less the bugs will respond. LED also gives off much less heat than other sources, but it's still warmer than no light at all, so on a cool night it's still a source of warmth for some bugs. So, if you need to have a light, then your best bet is a warm-toned LED, 3000k or lower. But you'll still get bugs. The previously mentioned solution is also a good one. Put the light away from where you will be. A flood light or a high-mount area light is a great solution.
Good luck,
CD

Very helpful info, thank you cybrdyke.