While you often hear about ants causing problems in the kitchen or dining room, you don’t always hear people complaining about insects in their electrical outlets. In reality, your electrical outlets might be a major source of insect infestations. If you have sealed all of the other cracks in your home, the only way they can get inside is through your outlets.
Once ants and other insects get inside, they can easily find food. While ants will eventually go back to their anthills, other insects will stay inside and start to multiply. Unfortunately, insect infestations won’t go away until they have been properly treated. The easiest way to treat an infestation is by preventing insects from getting into your home in the first place.
What Kind of Bugs Can Get Into Your Electrical Outlets?
Many different types of insects can access your home through the electrical outlets. Bed bugs, wasps, ants, and termites are just a few of the infestations you may encounter. These insects love being in the dark and out of sight, so they are naturally drawn to electrical outlets.
In addition to not wanting the annoyance of bugs, there’s another important reason to keep these insects out of your electrical outlet. Once they’re in an outlet, they can corrode the circuit boards and electrical contacts. In fact, insects can even cause your electrical system to short-circuit.
Each insect type may be attracted to your outlets for a different reason.
Ants
Ants will crawl into outlets in search of food. They may also be interested in finding a new nesting spot. Often, they will go from the outlet to your kitchen to find food sources.
Spiders
Unlike ants, spiders aren’t looking for sugar in your kitchen. However, they are still entering your outlet for food. Spiders know that smaller bugs tend to live in or near outlets, so they’ll disrupt your home’s electrical connections as they look for a tasty snack.
Cockroaches
Unfortunately, cockroaches are incredibly versatile insects. They can squeeze through incredibly small gaps to get into new homes. These nocturnal creatures will often reside in electrical outlets because they are a warm, cozy hiding spot.
Termites
Termites can cause a significant amount of damage to your electrical system. They love cellulose materials, so they will start chowing down on your home’s structure once they get inside. Unfortunately, these pests can quickly cause long-term damage to the structural integrity of your home.
How To Get Rid of Insects in Your Electrical Outlets
Luckily, you don’t have to put up with an insect infestation forever. To tackle this issue, you can take a few simple safety precautions. First, you should never spray pesticides directly into an electricity outlet. In addition to potentially damaging the electrical system, this can also cause physical harm to the sprayer.
Your best option is to reach out to a pest control specialist. At Mister Sparky, we can also recommend your best course of action for eliminating pest problems and repairing your electrical system. Most likely, you’ll need to have a pest control company spray your home for insects.
After the insects have been killed, you can call one of our electricians for a professional inspection. We will make sure your outlets, switches, and wiring haven’t been impacted by the infestation. If you notice burning smells, you should call us for emergency assistance instead of waiting for an appointment. Burning smells mean something is short-circuiting, and you don’t want your electrical system to catch fire.
Preventing Future Infestations
Once you’ve successfully dealt with your current insect infestation, the next step is preventing future issues. With caulk, you can seal gaps in your walls, windows, and doors. You can go to your hardware store to buy draft-eliminating switch plate gaskets. After these have been installed, they can keep insects out.
Alternatively, you can use spray foam to seal a switch or outlet. To do this, you must shut off the power supply to the circuit box so that you don’t get electrocuted. Then, take the switch plate off. Spray the foam insulation into the cracks between the wall and the junction box. Because the foam will quickly expand and take up more room, you should start out using as little foam as possible.
Why Are Insects Attracted to Electrical Outlets?
While each insect species is different, bugs tend to infest electrical outlets for a few common reasons.
Food
One of the major reasons why any insect goes into an electrical outlet is food. Ants and cockroaches primarily use outlets to access your kitchen. Meanwhile, termites use electrical outlets to gnaw on cellulose materials, like your home’s frame. Finally, spiders use electrical outlets to find other bugs to eat.
Warmth
Even when your electrical outlets are working perfectly, they can still be a bit warmer than the rest of your home. During cool weather, insects enjoy living in this warm, inviting space.
Moisture
Electrical outlets can have a higher humidity than the rest of your home. This is especially true if any of your pipes have a leak. Because insects need water to survive, they are drawn to any location that has moisture.
Shelter
Whether insects want to escape predators or winter weather, outlets provide them with extra protection. Once they realize how secure the outlet is, some insects will even build nests in this space.
Solve Your Electrical Issue
If you’re struggling with insects in your electrical outlets, you’re not alone. Unfortunately, this is a fairly common issue among homeowners. Once you have successfully treated the infestation, electricians at Mister Sparky can inspect your home for electrical damage. Afterward, we can recommend the best course of action to prevent insect infestations in the future.