Solar deck lights are a nice addition to any deck. Not only do they add light, but they can also add a touch of personality to your outdoor space. However, one question that often comes up is whether or not solar deck lights attract bugs.
Answer to The Question Do Solar Deck Lights Attract Bugs:
Solar deck lights do not usually attract bugs. They cover a more narrow spectrum of light, usually only visible light, and do not produce enough heat to make them attractive.
In this article, we take a deeper look at why solar deck lights do not attract bugs and a few other reasons you should use them. If solar deck lights are not an option for you, you can look for other lights known to be less attractive. Learning why lights attract bugs can help you come up with a plan to ward them off.
Solar Deck Lights Do Not Attract Bugs
Solar deck lights do not attract bugs because they do not feature the characteristics of natural lights that do attract bugs. While these are common with other types of lights, solar deck lights do not cover the appropriate ranges of light or heat up enough.
You might have noticed that bugs are not attracted to the sun, and they instead seek out light sources at night. It is not clear why this is, but most theorize that bugs and insects are looking for specific ranges or they seek warmth rather than the light.
Modern light sources utilize a much more narrow spectrum of light, and they give off a lot less heat. You will not notice them attracting bugs often, but they may create a comfortable space for other critters at night.
Other Benefits of Solar Deck Lights
Even if warding off bugs is your main concern, there are other benefits of solar deck lights.
They usually do not require an intricate installation process, and you do not need to connect them to your home’s electric system.
This also means you can use them wherever you want in your yard; you don’t need to worry about plugging into an outlet or running an extension cord.
It might be small, but solar deck lights have a friendlier carbon footprint because they rely on renewable energy.
All these benefits weigh on top of their lower likelihood to attract bugs.
Other Lights that Do Not Attract Bugs
If solar deck lights are not possible, or you need additional lighting, look for yellow or orange light. These colors have longer wavelengths that are less likely to attract bugs.
You should also consider lights that create the least amount of heat. Compact fluorescent lights (CFL) are the most energy efficient and produce the least heat, but other options include yellow sodium vapor bulbs and halogen bulbs.
You can use LEDs outside for brighter light, but these are less likely to come in yellow varieties.
Reasons Lights Attract Bugs
As previously stated, bugs are not attracted to the light but rather its range and warmth. This is because they use light sources to:
- Navigate
- Find flowers to harvest nectar from
- Escape from predators
- Hunt for food or mates
This means you may still attract some bugs with your solar deck lights, but those incidents should be few and far between.
Navigation
Bugs do not seem to be affected by the sun, but the moon guides many of their movements. This is similar to human navigation using the stars at night.
This also explains why bugs may be confused when they fly too close to a light and they start to circle. They never reach the moon, so reaching a bright light source is often disorienting. The bugs don’t know what to do next.
Food from Flowers
Bugs that feed off nectar from flowers look for the UV light that these flowers reflect. Solar deck lights usually only deal with visible light, but other lights that emit UV light can attract bugs for this reason.
Most lights only emit a small amount, unnoticeable to human eyes, but bugs will focus on this when there are not any other sources of UV light at night.
Escaping from Predators
If a bug is trying to escape from a predator, they know that seeing or sensing light means there are no enemies or objects blocking that path. The bug rushes right through that area to escape.
In a twisted way, this is how bug zappers are able to take care of your bug problem. The bug mistakenly assumes that the light indicates the way is clear and flies to their death instead.
If they try to fly into your solar deck lights, the bugs will usually bounce off and continue about their night. They shouldn’t try to hang around.
Hunting
Bugs also know that smaller bugs and insects are attracted to these light sources, and they may decide to stop in to see if there is something to eat or to find a mate.
If you notice bugs around your deck lights for this reason, they’ll probably fly off when they realize there’s no one else around.
Why it is Important to Keep Bugs at Bay
Bugs are a nuisance. They make high pitch noises as they fly past and cause other minor annoyances.
It gets even worse when you deal with biting insects, such as mosquitos. These bugs bite, causing immediate irritation and the potential for itchy welts.
Bugs get caught in your light fixtures, creating an eyesore that requires you to take the lights apart so you can clean them out.
They also leave waste over the surrounding areas, and it can be difficult to clean this gooey mess off the outside of fixtures, walls, and other surfaces.
Using solar deck lights prevents the number of bugs you attract, keeping the environment annoyance free and saving you time spent cleaning up after them.
Final Thoughts
Solar deck lights are not known to attract bugs, but that does not mean you won’t have an errant insect invade your outdoor space. Your other options to avoid attracting bugs include yellow or orange lights and those that don’t produce much heat.
Understand that bugs may still fly to the light when trying to navigate, but they should not stick around. You can use fans or insect repellent scents to ward them off. Planting greenery like lemongrass will also help, but starting with solar deck lights is the best way to prevent attraction.
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