Installing a Fly Killer - What is the best position?
Posted by Chris Voyce on
One of the most common questions we get asked is "Where is the best place to install my fly killer?"
Positioning a fly killer is not an exact science as every situation and application is different. However there are some basic principles which should be followed in order to get the best performance from your fly killer.
Firstly, the type of fly killer has a major bearing on placement. Is it an electric fly killer (zapper) or a glue board fly killer? Electric fly killers should not be positioned above or near food preparation areas as they pose a contamination risk due to dead flies or fly body parts falling into food. You should only use glue board units in food preparation or production areas.
Identify where the major natural light source is coming from i.e windows, doorways, skylights, etc. Wherever possible, fly killers should be positioned at 90 degrees to the major natural light source. Consideration should also be given to the proximity of the fly killer and the natural light source or fly entry point. Too much competing natural UV light will reduce the efficiency of the fly killer and you also do not want to attract more flies inside either.
Fly killers should be positioned between potential entry points (windows, doorways, etc) so as to intercept flying insects before they get to sensitive or undesirable areas.
Height also plays a big part in ideal positioning. Do not install fly killers either too high or too low in the area to be protected. The optimum height is around 2 metres for most species of flying insect. Another reason to not install too high is for ease of future maintenance and servicing such as changing glue boards and lamps or cleaning the catch tray. The last thing you want to be doing is hiring a scissor lift every month to service the fly killer! Or even worse, never servicing it.
It is also a good idea to keep fly killer away from sources of heat and cold such as heaters and air conditioning units as these will impact the performance of the unit in a negative way.
Finally make sure you install an appropriate number of units to correctly protect the area in line with the suggested area coverage of the unit. Don't expect one small unit to be powerful enough to cover a large area. A better approach would be to choose a larger, centrally positioned unit or install multiple smaller units in different locations.
The Flymap below shows an example of positioning in a typical food service premises.
