Hoont Household Pest Repeller Keeps Pests Out of Your Home (and Protects Them)
It doesn’t matter if you live in a village, city or suburb, most likely you have had to deal with pests of all stripes in your living space. I have tried almost every pest control trick in the book, and so far the simplest and easiest mouse repellent has been this electromagnetic and ultrasonic plug-in device.
This is the first in a new series called Lifehacker Reviews Anything. We asked you what you wanted us to consider and you came back with tons of ideas, including a product I already tried myself: the Hoont Indoor Pest Repeller .
Pigeons nest in my gutters, squirrels scavenge for my siding, and ants invade my kitchen every year. However, for me, no pest was as cunning, persistent and disgusting as mice. The exterminators set traps and sealed holes around my house with steel wool. I tried humane traps that allowed mice to be trapped and released elsewhere, sprayed peppermint oil (a putative natural mice repellent ) around my kitchen, and even desperately resorted to creating “washcloths” around my house with coyote urine and trotting lynx. urine (my dog wasn’t a big fan of this. Great way to start a pissing contest, by the way). Somehow, the mice dodged all these tricks – they even lifted chunks of peanut butter and cheese from the traps – and continued to nibble on our pantries.
Three months ago I decided to try the Hoont Indoor Pest Repeller, and since then we have had no problem with mice – no longer need to clean up droppings, remove dead mice, or hide all food in mice-proof glass containers. … It was a huge relief.
I wish I had waited so long, but I have had bad experience with a similar product in the past. In my old apartment many years ago, I tried one of these devices and it was almost funny to see mice actually wander around the device. But since all other options didn’t work, I decided to try again.
I chose the Hoont repeller because of its combination of low price ($ 30), good reviews (4.2 stars on Amazon) and performance. Unlike similar devices (including the bestselling repeller Rid Tech , suggested by commentator Lifehacker ), Hoont uses both ultrasonic sound to repel pests and electromagnetic technology, which sends electronic pulse signals through wall-embedded wiring, presumably disrupting existing nests and stopping pests. from going through walls. It also has flashing lights to let you know it’s working and the ability to change the frequency of the waves so that pests don’t get used to high-frequency sounds. This is probably its most important feature, as one of the biggest criticisms of these devices is that they only work for a short time (a few days) before the pests get used to the noise. The multiple frequencies make this a more permanent, ruthless and invisible barrier between my family and these pests.
I installed three of these devices in the places where we saw most mice: in the kitchen, in the dining room and in the basement. The repeller is effective up to 5,000 square feet, according to the manufacturer, but ultrasonic sound does not penetrate hard surfaces such as furniture, cabinets, and ceilings, so you’ll need one for each room.
There are no details in the instructions that came with the device, but basically you just have to plug the device in and wait for it to work, which can take up to a week. (The instructions warn you that you may notice a lot of pest activity at first as they become anxious and try to get out of your house. For us, the mice disappeared about four days after the Hoont Pest Repellers were plugged in.)
So, we have been living without mice for three months! However, a couple of weeks ago, I got scared that the repeller had stopped working. We found horrible mouse droppings in our kitchen again. There was a big storm that week and we were building our house, so I think that maybe these two factors led to the introduction of new mice (or lonely mice). However, my faith in the device was revived: one day after that, since then we have not had any signs of mice. I think new mice (or mice) came in, got irritated by the ultrasonic waves and left immediately. This is how, in my opinion, a repellent should work: not only drive out existing pests, but also prevent new ones from settling.
Hoont Pest Repeller should also work against rats, ants, cockroaches, fleas, bats, and other pests. Luckily I didn’t have to test them, although it doesn’t seem to work against fruit flies as these buggers still occasionally show up uninvited into my house. I still prefer fruit fly mice, which are easy to get rid of .
While the Hoont Pest Repeller is a success story for me, I must warn you that your experience may be different. Research and other people’s personal experiences with electronic pest control devices have yielded mixed results, and none of these devices can claim to be 100% effective (although Hoont has a satisfaction guarantee). In particular, when it comes to repelling insects such as mosquitoes , studies of electronic repellents show that they don’t work (perhaps because there are over a million species of insects, and some of them can respond to ultrasound, but others don’t. attention, Sonic Technology points out ).
It doesn’t help that the limited range of these devices and their inability to get around corners or furniture is limiting. Today’s homeowner offers this test to see if you have a good spot for one of the following:
To check the location of your device, place a lamp near your device, turn off all other lights, and pay attention to the beams and shadows from the lamp. Repulsive sound waves will only be active where light reaches.
Most of the negative reviews on Amazon for this are related to insects, although some reviewers claim it helped fix their bug issues. At $ 30 a room, it’s really worth a try if you’re tired of dealing with pests (especially mice) and just want to get them out of your home in the cleanest and most humane way possible. At the very least, it is much nicer to use than coyote urine.