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The Best Bed Bug Detector Lights

  • By Yordan Z
  • Last updated on
Bed bugs are an annoying menace and finding new ways to detect them and deal with them is always beneficial. But, do UV LED flashlights work for this purpose? While they are typically designed for other things such finding bodily fluids, pet urine, scorpions in your yard’s grass and others they can also often work for finding bed bugs. But, since most UV LED flashlights are receiving mixed reviews in this article we decided to go over which are the best bed bug detector lights currently on the marker as well as what their benefits are, and when should you consider buying them.

Bed bugs are an annoying menace and finding new ways to detect them and deal with them is always beneficial. But, do UV LED flashlights work for this purpose? While they are typically designed for other things such finding bodily fluids, pet urine, scorpions in your yard’s grass and others they can also often work for finding bed bugs. But, since most UV LED flashlights are receiving mixed reviews in this article we decided to go over which are the best bed bug detector lights currently on the marker as well as what their benefits are, and when should you consider buying them.

BEST BED BUG DETECTING KIT
bed bug detector light

TaoTronics FL002

Very powerful detecting light that comes together with UV sunglasses – makes a good bed bug detection kit.

BED BUG AND PET STAIN LIGHT

BRIONAC UV Flashlight

A good choice when need to look for bed bug evidence and can use without specially designed sunglasses.

BEST FOR TRAVELING
uv light bed bugs

INFRAY SD-002UV

This small-sized portable UV light detector is easy to take with you when traveling.

1

TaoTronics FL002

BEST BED BUG DETECTING KIT
bed bug detector light

What we like:

What we don't like:

  • The wristband and the battery circuit of this bed bug flashlight aren’t always connected well enough

TaoTronics FL002 Review

The TaoTronics FL002 bed bug detector flashlight easily finds all kinds of stains you might have lying around, be they from food, urine, or other fluids. As a black light, it’s also capable of easily detecting all manners of insect pests that may be troubling your household – bed bugs in the bedroom, fleas in the carpet, scorpions in the yard, and so on. The flashlight also comes with protective UV sunglasses for those that are worried about the UV light but need to use the flashlight extensively.

What’s more, the flashlight also has the durability and quality of design to endure prolonged and extensive use. The 51 LED lights have a lifespan of up to 15 years and the flashlight itself is sturdy and durable enough to even survive unfortunate drops and falls. It’s practical in its use too as its small pocket design makes it easy to carry around.

2

BRIONAC UV Flashlight

BED BUG AND PET STAIN LIGHT

What we like:

What we don't like:

  • You need 6AA batteries, which are not included.

BRIONAC UV Flashlight Review

This BRIONAC UV  128 LED flashlight offers exactly what you’d expect from it – a bright and wide UV light to help you out around the house. Things such as looking for bed bugs under UV light, searching for scorpions in the yard, inspecting for pet urine stains on the floor, or making sure that the stack of currency or documents you were given are legitimate, and so on. The flashlight’s lightweight design also makes it easy and comfortable to carry around.

On the negative side, according to a lot of UV light for bed bugs reviews out there, the 128 LEDs on this item aren’t as durable as other LED flashlights despite the advertised long lifespan. This, plus the considerable size may turn off some customers but for those that purchase it, the BRIONAC UV LED light will do quite a lot of work.

3

INFRAY SD-002UV

BEST FOR TRAVELING
uv light bed bugs

What we like:

What we don't like:

  • As a small UV light meant for traveling, the Infray Black Light isn’t as powerful as other black light flashlights
  • The small and portable design of this item gives it a narrow light range

INFRAY SD-002UV Review

The Infray SD-002UV black light pen utilizes an adjustable focus system. This allows it to cover larger or narrower areas despite its small size. Still, its main purpose is to serve as a traveling companion so don’t expect it to be as useful in truly large and wide areas as other UV devices. This UV LED pen excels in that it’s a great portable item you can use to check hotel rooms, buses, and cars in a more practical way. With a high-quality and trusty companion such as this one, you’ll be able to go anywhere and rest assured about your surroundings.

Other products to consider

Vansky Black Light

This Vansky 12 LED Black Light offers a comfortable portable design, making it easy to take on the road. It is, however, smaller and weaker than other similar products so if you’re looking for something to use at home, we’d recommend the products in our Top 3.

Keenstone 2 in 1 UV Flashlight

A combination of a UV flashlight and a regular tactical flashlight, this Keenstone 2 in 1 UV Flashlight is both versatile and sturdy, thanks to its aviation-grade aluminium frame. It is intended for travelling, however, and there are more effective and practical choices for residential or commercial use.

A quick breakdown of bed bug detector lights

UV LED flashlights aren’t a complex product group to examine. Almost regardless of their individual specifics, they all use LEDs to emit ultraviolet light which helps with detecting a lot of things that we typically can’t notice on regular sunlight. The intended purpose of most UV LED flashlights is to help detect pet urine or other bodily fluid stains so that’s often how they are marketed. A lot of customers also use them to find scorpions in their yards’ grass as the UV light makes these bugs glow quite visibly.

Detecting counterfeit currency or documents is another good use for UV LED flashlights but so is detecting bed bugs. UV light works on bed bugs in the very same way that it does on scorpions. It’s also useful in detecting the miniature blood spots left after crushed bed bugs. Because bed bugs are so small, however, simply shining a light on your bed or couch is often not enough to notice them. Instead, try using something like a credit card to press against the fabric and make the little pests pop on the surface.

Bed bug light buying guide

The key thing to finding success when dealing with bed bugs is having the right tools at your disposal.

Expert advice

If the UV light you’re using is not up to par it can cause you to skip over a lot of bed bugs and be ineffective in dealing with them. That’s why it’s important to buy high-quality products as a cheap but poor UV light will be just a waste of money.

They things to look for in a UV LED light are:

  • The light is bright enough
  • The LEDs are of a high enough quality to last for years
  • The light’s width is adjustable
  • The design is comfortable enough to use both at home and on the road
  • The UV light will also be useful for other things you might need it for in the future such as locating urine stains, scorpions in your yard, and so on.

Finding a product that checks all these boxes can be time-consuming and require reading a lot of consumer reviews but it will be worth it. UV LED flashlights may not be the most expensive purchases but finding and using a good one can save you a lot of time and troubles in dealing with a bed bug infestation. If you are at a loss for where to start we recommend keeping these brands in mind at first: Moriplot, Vansky, Arf Pet, INFRAY and TaoTronics.

Bed bug UV light usage

UV LED bed bug detector lights are useful both to inspect whether there are bed bugs at all, as well as to locate individual bugs as you’re trying to get rid of them.

A common manual way to get rid of bed bugs is to find them all out individually using UV light and a pressing tool (such as a credit card) and then capturing them on a sticky surface (such as duct tape).

This can be a time-consuming method if you have too large of an infestation on your hands but even in those cases, a good UV LED light can be useful at pointing you in the right direction. The key thing to remember when dealing with bed bugs (or any other insect pest really) is that you need to be thorough and not leave any living pest behind. To that end, detection tools such as a good UV LED light can be priceless.

To conclude

As you can see, bed bug detector lights have their benefits as well as limitations. They certainly aren’t the end all be all of bed bug prevention but when used properly they can help you both detect and deal with these annoying pests. Of course not all bed bug detector lights are created equal and here are our Top 3 suggestion again:

  • The TaoTronics FL002 sports 51 LED black lights and comes with UV sunglasses. It also includes batteries and is a very effective and long-lasting method of detecting bed bugs, scorpions, pet urine or other bodily fluids. It’s more on the expensive side of the market but if you need a good UV LED flashlight this is one to consider.
  • The Arf Pet UV Light is another good option with its 100 LEDs and a widespread. It’s also not a cheap product but it’s very effective at inspecting large areas quickly and easily.
  • The INFRAY SD-002UV is our third suggestion because of its great design. A pocket option for those that travel frequently, the Infray offers an easy way to inspect your hotel rooms, cinema or bus seats, and other such locations where bed bugs typically dwell before they crawl onto our clothes or luggage.

2 Comments

Yolanda Wheaton

Reply

Karen, I am confused as to the relationship between bed bugs and fleas. I have cats, and during the winter I did not frontline them as I usually do every end of the month. My bad. They rarely go outside, maybe an hour or two a week. Recently they have. I live in central Texas 25 miles north of Austin, in Georgetown. We have had a ton of rain and now with the heat I have experiences chiggers in the flower beds around the house where I garden. They are vicious. But again , back to the fleas vs bed bugs. I have been eaten alive by something in my bed or closet, where my clothes are. I have bites on the backs of the my knees, on the folds, on my inner thighs and this time even under arms. The itch it horrendous. I just stripped the bed. Washed every stitch on the steam and sanitize setting. I sprayed the bed and surrounding with Orzo bed bug spray. (I had not seen your products) What is going on? This is the third time that this happens to me and it is dreadful. My husband sleeps in a separate bed, the cats sleep on mine.
Where is the problem, 1. Not font lining them during the winter. 2. Letting them go out to the yard even for a short time. Do you have any suggestions? I need to prevent this from happening again! I have bumps the size of a cherry! I have some in a cluster, others by them selves. Hard swollen bumps, itchy like hell and red. I have washed them with Nizoral and put Iodine wash on them and used an anti itch lotion. Not much relief I sadly have to say. Thank you very much for reading my long story. Your opinion will be much appreciated.

    Karen

    If it’s fleas you’re dealing with the problem might be that you haven’t gotten rid of the flea infestation fully since to do that you need to thoroughly treat your home, your backyard, and pets all at once. If it’s bed bugs that are bothering you then, again, you need to make sure that the infestation is fully gone for that not to happen to you again because bed bugs don’t just hide in your bed, they can be on any fabric in your home including curtains, the couch, etc. The first step for you would be to correctly identify the pest that’s bothering you. And then dealing with the pest accordingly. If you can’t do that on your own it might be time to call in a professional even if just for them to figure out what insect is causing your discomfort.

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