Don't Waste Money on Ultrasonic Pest Repellers, Grumpy Gardener Says

For most people, the sight of mice, ants, roaches, spiders, centipedes, bedbugs, and other vermin scurrying happily through the house is a major turn-off. We'd do just about anything to send these invaders packing. We've even read stories about people setting off so many bug bombs inside homes that the fumes ignite and cause an explosion. (Lesson learned: Keep bug bombs far away from pilot lights and leave home before fogging your house). In the parlance, that's what's known as throwing the baby out with the bathwater.

Not surprisingly, homeowners are looking for easy solutions that don't contain toxins or explosive content. I tried an ultrasonic pest repeller to get rid of unwanted guests, and here are the results.

Pest Control Methods

Blowing up your house, obviously, is not an option. What else can you do? Well, if you visit a local home center or hardware store, you'll find no shortage of sprays, insect traps, poisons, sticky paper, glue boards, and other vermin-dispatch devices. You can employ professional exterminators to periodically inspect and treat the house. These methods are proven to work. What does not work, though, is a futuristic-looking device that sounds so cool and high-tech you've probably bought one already—an ultrasonic pest repeller.

How Ultrasonic Pest Repellers Are Designed To Work

Available in numerous shapes, sizes, colors, and prices, ultrasonic pest repellers are designed to plug into an electrical outlet in any room you're having a problem. They "repel" vermin by emitting high-frequency sound waves too high for humans to hear that supposedly make pests confused, irritated, convulsive, and prone to fleeing because the disruption prevents them from gathering food, building nests, breeding, or communicating. Companies may claim their devices chase away cockroaches, birds, bats, rodents, fleas, and even spiders.

High-Frequency Problems

Although ants, spiders, bedbugs, and such can sense vibrations, they don't have ears. Plus, high-frequency sound waves travel short distances and are quickly absorbed by just about anything—carpets, curtains, towels, recliners, pillows, boxes, and piles of dirty clothes. Stick a piece of cardboard between the repeller and the target and the target won't notice a thing. Ultrasonic turns ultra-useless.

In addition, studies (namely, one published by the University of Arizona) have also found that creatures that do react to ultrasonic pest repellers seem to get over it quickly or acclimate to it and resume life as usual when they realize it isn't harmful. In other studies, vermin didn't appear to react at all.

On the flip side, people and pets do. According to the National Institutes of Health, people who are exposed to ultrasonic pest repellers over time can suffer from headaches and migraines, sleep disturbances, ringing in the ears (tinnitus), dizziness, and fainting. Plus ultrasonic sounds can distress pets including dogs, cats, rabbits, guinea pigs, and hamsters, causing confusion, nervousness, and vocalizing like whining or barking. All the more reason not to use these devices! Not to mention anecdotal reports that the devices can interfere with telephone calls, burglar systems, and hearing aids.

First-Hand Experience

Full disclosure—I once bought a pair of these things to drive squirrels out of my attic. They had set up shop in a corner, so I pointed the repellers directly at the area about 6 feet away and cut on the juice. Absolutely no effect. Either they detected the sound and didn't care or they didn't hear it at all. I finally had to go retro and trap the varmints which worked.

Don't Believe Everything You Read

You'll often find posts on social media rating the top 10 ultrasonic pest repellers or turn to Amazon to look at the star ratings and read reviews. The devices with the most stars and ratings win. Because we all know every single positive review on Amazon is legitimate (wink, wink).

In your dire need, you may look past the dubious claims. Faithful readers, don't be taken in like I was. There are lots of effective ways to eliminate disgusting bugs. Your foot. A fly swatter. Boric acid. Ant trap. Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Ultrasonic pest repeller? Nah.

And the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has said the same: During the 1980s, they charged manufacturers with false advertising because the devices were determined to not effectively repel or eliminate pests and required them to refund customers.