Purchased two of these after researching all kinds of mosquito control products and options. So my review is all about mosquito control - if that doesn't interest you, you may not find this information useful... First I'll include information about THIS product - skip to the end to read other options I considered and why this product was a winner. I know it's not directly a review of this product, but sometimes one item is the best because of limitations or shortcomings with other solutions. I felt it important to outline those as I spent a lot of time collecting and analyzing the data - maybe it will save someone else from spending their time on it. FIRST IMPRESSIONS Opening the box, the product was very simple and fully assembled - bulbs installed and all, which was great. You get exactly what you see in the pictures - the unit with a metal hanging loop up top, plus some documentation. Take time to read the instructions - what I've found from all my research is that catching or killing mosquitoes has a fair number of subtle tricks - so don't just run a cord, plug this thing in, and expect magic. Height above the ground, location relative to the common wind patters, locating it in front of or behind something that blocks the wind, visibility (the bugs gotta SEE the light to be attracted to it!) and more are all factors you should learn about. Some are in the manual, but lots more information is online. And PLEASE - do NOT hang this right next to where you want to sit and enjoy your outdoor space. This unit ATTRACTS pests - and kills them. But there is a small time gap between when the pests show up and when they die. If you put this unit too close to your enjoyment areas, you'll actually have MORE bugs. I am amazed by all the bad reviews I see about devices that attract pests because the owner had not thought about how something like this actually works, nor had they read or followed the instructions. You need this unit close enough to your enjoyment area to reduce the local population of pests, but far enough away so it is drawing bugs AWAY from you and not TOWARDS you. :) You'll need some way to hang this thing as it doesn't have any feet, the bait cup is on the bottom, and you'll just end up with a pile of bugs ruining your zapper if you don't hang it up lol! I just went down to my local home improvement store where they had several options - check out the garden section for hanging plants and those are good options. I found tall metal rods that stick in the ground like a stake and have a loop and hook at the top - great if you want the unit freestanding and want to move it around easily. I bought a simple 12-15 inch long hanging basket bracket - it screws to a fence or your house or anything else and works as you might imagine. No big deal there... Also - the bottom of the black outer cage is not flat on the bottom so it's not stable standing upright. I think they should have done a tiny bit better with that as the bait holders are what makes it unstable. A tiny adjustment to the mold for the plastic outer grid would fix that. But that's a VERY minor issue as it's only like that while you work with it. Do be careful though - if you drop it hard on the base you might break the small plastic tabs that hold the bait cups in - they are also the bulb retainers so they ARE important even if you don't use baits. And on the topic of lures,baits, and attractants - all names for the same things - this unit comes with one small octenol lure - I think just a 400mg time release one. Depending on where you live, you might need other baits if you are after mosquitoes specifically like I am. In Houston, we have a WIDE variety of species. So I ordered a combination of lures from an online company - you can't find the right baits on Amazon unfortunately. For all types of mosquitoes, you need THREE key lure ingredients: Octenol attracts the classic mosquitoes - ones that are active in the morning right at dawn and evening right at dusk. But for other types like Tiger Mosquitoes that bite during the brightest sun of the day (as well as night, evening, holidays, etc) you need a combination of lactic acid (which is found on human skin) and ammonium bicarbonate. Depending on your location, species of mosquitoes, and other factors, you will need to adjust your baits. Of course, you can test to see what kind of results you get with NO baits, too. That might be enough and if it is - you have a 100% maintenance free solution. Me - I HATE mosquitoes and they LOVE me, so total eradication, to whatever extent was possible, was my goal. This unit obviously needs to be plugged in. The instructions say to use a cord and connector made for this purpose, but I didn't see anything like that down at the depot of home improvement. I ended up buying a 50 ft. "landscaping" extension cord that was dark green in color and rated for outdoor use. Given the huge increase in holiday light displays, I would imagine anything fit for outdoor Christmas lights would work here. If you are paranoid and have the money, you can of course hire an electrician to wire you up something fancy. Last - before I went and bought my extension cords, mounting brackets, and got myself invested in a permanent install, I wanted to do a simple test. I put the octenol lure in place, rigged a hanging option by screwing a small piece of wood into a tree, and hung the unit about 2-3 feet above the ground - about where your legs would be exposed wearing shorts LOL!! Then I stuck a clean, white piece of material under the trap to make it easy to see any dead mosquitoes. I used a Styrofoam cooler lid, but whatever...just make sure it doesn't blow away - a brick solved that for me. At first I was sad - despite dozens of mosquitoes swarming around ME and ready to feast on my flesh, I heard not one zap of the power grid and no dead bugs. So I left it to run for a while. After about 90 minutes a heavy storm was rolling in so I figured my test was over as any "evidence" would get blown or washed away. And behold! There were about a dozen or so dead mosquitoes on the foam lid. SUCCESS! They appeared to be only one or two species - but once the additional baits are delivered and installed I expect improved results. I can't say longer term how well this unit will reduce the population of mosquitoes or even if it will be enough to be able to go outside and not get bitten. But it DOES kill mosquitoes in the Houston area and hopefully with additional attractants it will get those aggressive and horrible Tiger My next project - once I hang these up, get the additional baits, and see how those perform, is to consider adding CO2 to the mix. Carbon dioxide is probably THE BEST mosquito bait - which is why you see all those propane traps that make CO2 and heat by burning propane. My plan is different - I'm following the method used by health workers around the world to trap mosquitoes for health and medical research - dry ice. The plan is to buy a simple insulated container to hold the dry ice (a thick cooler so it will last a long time) and some simple plastic tubing. Punch a hole in the cooler down low, put in the dry ice, seal it up so the vapors get forced thru the tube. Put the end of the tube inside my bug zapper so the mosquitoes are drawn into the killing grid - DONE. I'll only go that far if the other options aren't fully successful. Overall - I like this product because it is simple, inexpensive, and durable. But by adding baits and other attractants, you can scale it up to suit your needs and still spend WAY less money than the fancier products with fans and nets and propane tanks. OTHER OPTIONS - and why I didn't choose them over this product... I was reluctant to spend hundreds of dollars on one of the mosquito-specific trap-style products like the Mosquito Magnet for a few reasons: 1) The huge number of reviews about the unit breaking down (strike 1), the huge number of reviews indicating service was diffi
