# electronicn pest repellants

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/electronicn-pest-repellants/212388>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [November 10, 2003, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/electronicn-pest-repellants/212388 "2003-11-10T14:04:27Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![mconradi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ac8455/32.png) [@mconradi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mconradi)\
**Post date:** [November 10, 2003, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/electronicn-pest-repellants/212388/1 "2003-11-10T14:04:27Z")

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At work today I noticed a “plug in pest free” device, its LED cheerfully lit, besides the water cooler. On a bit of investigation I found this claim on the product’s website ([http://tinyurl.com/udnn](http://tinyurl.com/udnn)) :

It alters the existing electro magnetic field in your electrical wiring, reaching deep into the walls, ceilings, cupboards and crevices affecting the sensitive metabolism of pests, making your home a ‘no go’ zone.

Is my water cooler (and the office as a whole) better off as a result of using this device or might (as I suspect) the money have been better spent on the Christmas party (which always attracts a large number of pests)?

Thanks

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**Author:** ![milk\_milk\_lemonade](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecccb3/32.png) [@milk\_milk\_lemonade](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/milk_milk_lemonade)\
**Post date:** [November 10, 2003, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/electronicn-pest-repellants/212388/2 "2003-11-10T14:47:48Z")

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I tried one when I had an infestation of book lice in my house, no good at all.

Gave it to my mum who has a lot of carpet beetles in her house, no good at all!

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**Author:** ![keno](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f9ae1b/32.png) [@keno](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/keno)\
**Post date:** [November 10, 2003, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/electronicn-pest-repellants/212388/3 "2003-11-10T16:49:48Z")

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The Federal Trade Commission (United States of America) has pretty much concluded they don’t work. Here’s the latest of many consent decrees in which manufacturers have agreed to stop making claims about the effectiveness of these electronic devices.

> **[Marketer of Pest Control Devices Required to Provide Support for Claims](https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/press-releases/2003/07/marketer-pest-control-devices-required-provide-support-claims)**
>
> Global Instruments, based in Trenton, Missouri, and its president, Charles Patterson, have agreed to settle Federal Trade Commission charges that they made unsubstantiated claims about the effectiveness of Global’s electromagnetic (EM) and ultrasonic...

(It’s also my personal experience is that they don’t work).