I got the one from QVC and it didn't work. Not at all, the mice ignored it. I read after there is no conclusive proof that any of these units work as the manufacturers claim. But my parents have one and swear by it. All I can say is buyer beware and have a backup plan.

read my post on the thread "Help, mouse in the house". I tell of my experience with Ridex. My post is toward the end of the thread. Judith

saw those little Sunbeam plug-in units next to the indoor ant bait things... bought one, no more kitchen counter ants in one area - bought two more as they seemed such a deal at about the same price as the ant hotels - now there's three in the kitchen and not an ant to be seen in several months.
Took me probably three months to become accustomed to the capacitor discharge 'clicks'. Was a little annoying at first.

Label says chases away spiders too ... yet I still get spiders.

I bought the ones at Home Depot for the cottage. One has a night light the other not. I have seen a few lady bugs and spiders, but they just sit there not moving or are dead. I am liking them. Plan on buying some for the house here.
Kathy G in MI

I hear they only work 'line-of-sight'. I have mine installed "on" the wall that the mice were "in". Haven't had a single critter in the walls since.

HOWEVER, they don't work worth a darn on bugs. I still have periodic problems with ladybugs, wasps and ants.

They never did work and never will work. That's why testimonials are often times worthless. I bet they keep pink elephants away also.

I've seen ants crawl over, under, and on the repellers.

I live in a really old house that has lots of ways for critters to get in the walls (life on the farm). My dad bought some of the electronic\ultrasonic units. He swears by them. I couldn't tell they did a dang thing. In fact, we used an outdoor electrical cord and ran it to the birdfeeder to see if we could chase the squirrels away from the bird food. My Havahart trap was more successful. The squirrels didn't even know the ultrasonic unit existed.

I'm with Dr J.
I asked a pest management expert who teaches at our extension office (with emphasis on environmentally-friendly pest control methods).
He said the only thing these contraptions keep down is your bank balance.

Not sure what pests you have but I've had luck with leaving cucumber skins (which just shrivel up and dry - no rotting) in ant-traffic areas. (Unless it was pure coincidence that they all went away at that time).
I've also heard that ants hate cinnamon but you'd have to powder that around entrance areas.

C.

Your house must smell like a salad!
DrJ

Heh heh, well actually I can't recall any smell in relation to the cucumbers, but then I didn't pile them on very thickly :)
Just a few around the doors to the porch. Sure wouldn't want them in the middle of the living room.

Haven't tried the cinnamon, myself, but I would imagine the smell is rather pleasant :)
Certainly better than Raid...

Don_na_na, Electronic things do nothing.

What kind of pest are you trying to get rid of. With that knowledge we can all try to help you.

There's a critter in the attic! Either a mouse or rat, not sure which -- I found a cardboard box with a corner that had been nibbled. THEN - a few days ago, I saw him on my screened-in patio. Haven't seen in him in the house yet (knock on wood!), but I went to HD and spent about 60 bucks on the electronic pest repellers (Black & Decker). One of them (the big one) cost $30. It makes a really irritating noise but I put it in the attic so I can only hear it in the garage (where the attic entry is). The 3 smaller ones I've put in various locations throughout the house, but, my question is the same as Don_na_na -- If they don't work through the furniture, how can it cover 2000 sq ft? Most of my electrical outlets are hidden behind furniture and my attic is full of boxes and stuff! There are so many reports on these devices, both postive and negative, who do you believe? I read one report by an alleged 'test lab' that said there's no way these work; the noise when first turned on may startle them a bit but they get used to the noise and it doesn't bother them anymore. I really don't want to go the D-Con route and risk having dead critters in the wall - or deal with removing them once their dead! YUK!!!! I wonder what the professional exterminators use? Does the peppermint oil thing work for mice and rats? So many questions!!

My experience has been both interesting and intriguing. I put one in our bathroom to get rid of spiders. But the spiders seemed perfectly content and not bothered. I called the manufacturer to tell them their product didn't work. I was told to "give it time" because the device works by interrupting their feeding cycle (I thought it just repelled them). Sure enough a week later, dead spiders. I also have dry-wood termites in that same bathroom. (The pest control professionals have not been able to eliminate them.) In my climate, dry-wood termites only swarm in the spring, but soon, we started seeing swarms in the bathroom in August, September and October. About every 7 - 10 days, we'd find a dozen or more dead termites (with wings still intact) on the bathroom floor. When I called my pest control company, they laughed at me - since termites don't swarm in the late summer/early fall here, but they sent a technician out and he confirmed - termites. I haven't seen any since October, and am now waiting to see if they will reappear in the April to June swarming season.

Those things do exactly what the manufactures designed them to do, they get $20 to $30 out of your wallet, any other function is purely co-incidental.

I just squirt them with 409 cleaner. Kind of a safe bug spray that cleans their scent trails too apparently.

Okay, I can now confidently say these things do not kill termites. Based upon the size of the spring swarm in my bathroom, I think they actually provide mating music!

Probably made by the same folks selling power factor adjusters for residential use.

I have probably 12 of these units. My house sits right up against the woods and we have a huge problem with spiders, ants, lizards, moths, etc. We haven't see any rodents but we are seeing everything else you can imagine so I personally don't feel they work as well as advertised.

Well, folks I don't know what to say except that since I put two in our six room cape style home and one in our garage I've only seen two spiders in four years. Or any other crawling critter for that matter. Couldn't say if it works for mice as we've never had a mouse problem. We have one in our bathroom, one in our basement and one in our garage. Say what you will - spiders and crawly things just don't come around. Outside they can have all the room they want in my garden but, in my house, they aren't welcome.

Sorry, a true believer here. I live next to an open field and am inundated with meeces when the weather turns cold. None for the last three years since we've had the plug in thingies.

Not a mouse in the house when we started using them at the cabin and none when our neighbors used them. I'm not a fan of spidies but I'd rather pick up their bodies than have them web down before my bright little eyes while I'm reading a book. No spiders either.

Maybe I'm lucky but the plug ins worked for me in three homes....well, four, counting my parents, who introduced us to them.

I live in an area with lots of field mice, spiders, roaches, and water bugs. The black and decker ones are a dream...for about 3 months. Replace them quarterly and yes you have to keep them uncovered.

"Replace them quarterly and yes you have to keep them uncovered."

How does a solid state sound generator wear out?

I can only relate what I saw just this morning.

I have an old carriage house in my backyard that had become a boarding house for raccoons, possums and woodchucks. It had gotten so bad that I didn't go in my backyard at all last year.

I bought one of these items and placed it near the entrance of my carriage house. In the wee hours this morning, I kept hearing a commotion in my yard. I look out and at first, I didn't see anything but as I looked closer, I could see a raccoon trying to get into the carriage house but every time it started to approach, the sensor would kick on and it obviously was bothered by it. Then I saw what the commotion was. A second raccoon had somehow made it in closer and was trying to get to the other raccoon but would trip the sensor whenever it moved. Finally, it made a mad dash for the first raccoon and they both stood and watched the unit for a couple of minutes before moving on to the neighbor's yard.

The one I bought is called Yard Guard and can run on AC or batteries. I am ordering three more today!

I purchased mine at Home Depot. I had field mice in the house. I plugged several (4) throughout the house and haven't seen any since. Kids have left food on the counters numerous times and I have not ants, mice, nor spiders. I have had the occasional wasp (who ends up dead once they get in the house). My only concern is wondering how long they are useful, if they have a "life expectancy" before they don't work anymore. I've had these for four years and they have not failed me...knock on wood!!!! I would like to know if anyone knows if there is a way to determine how long they work for. I don't want to wait to see rodents to know it's not working any more!!! I would appreciate any honest input.

Since they are ultrasonic, if you can't hear them when new you won't know when the piezoelectric element fails. I don't know of any research on how long they last in normal use.

In my case I use Pest Venator electronic bug repellents and they are work well. I set only 2 of them in my house and after 1 week I don't see any rat here. I think the working are around 500 inches. Maybe you try to use Bell and Howell repeller?

Thanks! I have mouse and voles damage my roses during the winter months, will give this a try.

Electronic mouse traps are more effective than a mouse repellent. An electric trap emits 7000 volt shock and kills rat instantly. Also the battery is reusable. One set of battery is capable of killing more than 30 mice. Now it is winter season. So it is essential to stop their population around your property. You can also check the reviews. I think Electric rodent traps are better than using a rat repellents.