Should you get a bat house? This guide helps you answer that honestly for your own property rather than talking you into one. We work through the five things that decide whether a habitat ever gets occupied, which are water within range, sun exposure, mounting options, bats already in your area and your climate, plus how long occupancy really takes and the upkeep you are signing up for.
Plenty of yards are a great fit. Some are not, whether that is too much shade, no water for miles or nowhere to mount a pole, and if that is yours it is better to know now than after a season of staring at an empty box.
Here at Big Bat Box we would rather you make the right call than make a sale. Bats are effective night-time insect control and a well-placed habitat can noticeably cut the bug pressure around a yard, but only when the property gives them what they need.
So work through the checks below before you buy anything.
What is a Bat House?
First and foremost, we need to discuss what a bat house is. You won't need one unless you know what they are. Basically, a bat house is a wooden box specifically designed to attract bats. These boxes are hung from posts in specific areas that bats find attractive.
If installed properly, a bat house will attract a colony of bats. That colony works through a large volume of insects and mosquitoes every night, which is why most people think of a bat habitat as a form of natural pest control.
Want the full picture of what a habitat does for a property? See the 7 benefits of bat houses, which covers pest control, pollination, guano and conservation value in one place.
Is Your Property a Good Candidate?
Five things decide this. Tick four or five and a bat habitat is worth installing. Tick two or fewer and your money is better spent elsewhere.
- Water within range. A creek, stream, pond, river, lake or marsh within roughly a quarter mile. Nursing females will not settle far from water, and no water nearby is the most common reason a box stays empty.
- Sun exposure. The habitat needs six or more hours of direct sun a day, which usually means a south or south-east facing mount with no overhanging branches. A heavily shaded yard is a hard no.
- Somewhere to mount it. A pole or a building wall, 15 to 20 feet up, with a clear drop below the entrance. Tree mounts rarely work because they are shaded and easy for predators to reach. No pole site and no suitable wall is a problem to solve before you order, not after.
- Bats already in the area. Stand outside at dusk on a warm evening and watch. If you see bats hunting over your yard or your street, you are offering housing to a population that already exists. If nobody locally has seen a bat in years, your odds drop sharply.
- Your climate. Cold-winter regions need a darker exterior and tight sealing to hold heat. Hot southern yards need a lighter finish and strong ventilation. Both work, but the model has to match the climate.
How Long Occupancy Actually Takes
This is where most expectations go wrong. Some habitats are occupied within weeks. Many take a full season, and waiting two summers before a colony settles in is entirely normal. Bats are wild animals scouting for a roost they trust, and they inspect a site before they commit to it. If your box is still empty after two seasons, the usual fix is relocation: different height, different sun exposure, different corner of the property.
The Upkeep You Are Signing Up For
It is light, but it is not zero. Once a year, in late autumn or winter when the habitat is empty, check the mounting hardware, clear out wasp nests, and look over the caulking and finish. Repaint or re-seal every few years depending on your weather. Budget an hour a year and you are covered.
When a Bat House Is Not Right for You
If your yard is heavily shaded, there is no water within range, you have nowhere to mount at height and you have never seen a bat locally, a habitat on your property is unlikely to be occupied. That is a perfectly reasonable conclusion to reach. Supporting a local bat conservation group, or planting night-flowering species that feed the insects bats hunt, does more good than an empty box on a pole.
What You Get If It Works
Mosquito and insect control tends to be the main reason people install bat houses. However, there are many other benefits. Bats support the ecosystem for a plethora of reasons, including:
Insect controlMosquito controlPlant pollinatorsGreat poopSeed distributorsBat conservation...And more!
Learn more about the benefits of bats and bat houses here.
Where to Put a Bat House in Your Yard
Now, before you go bat house crazy and start throwing these things up all around your property, you need to know a few things. Mainly, where you place your bat house is absolutely essential to how many bats you’ll attract.
Without proper installation, you’ll struggle to get even a single bachelor bat to live in your bat house. But if you put a bat house in the right place on your property, you could end up with more than 200 bats living in your bat home.
Here’s a few things to consider during the installation process:
Keep the house high up. Bats prefer to live about 15-20 feet off the ground. Never place the bat house near a tree. Trees and branches attract bat predators. So bats will not live near them. The closer to water your property is the better a chance you’ll attract female bats. The color of your bat house matters. Hues will vary depending on climate. Sunlight is vital. You’ll need 2-8 hours of direct sun on the bat house. This usually means facing the front of the house to the SE or SW. Testing matters. Make sure you can move the bat house around to different locations until bats show up. Bats are wild animals. So you may have to experiment a bit
Learn more about where to put a bat house in your yard by clicking here.
How to Attract More Bats
The key to bat house success is attracting bat. You could have the best looking house on the block, but if no bats are living in it, then it doesn’t truly matter. Your only focus should be getting more bats to live on your property!
So, how do you attract more bats? Well, that starts before you ever even consider buying a bat house. To begin, the most important factor that attracts bats is a natural water source. If you live within 1,500 feet of a creek, stream, pond, river, or lake - you’re in luck. Bats will love living at your home.
See, female bats refuse to live too far from water when nesting. And you need female bats to form a colony of bats and attract over 200 bats to your home. As such, you need some water around.
Without natural water, you’ll be forced to stick with bachelor bat houses. While these can be exceptionally effective, you won’t find as many bats around without water.
Now, attracting more and more bats to your home is a whole different article. In fact, we wrote one on that very topic that you can check out by clicking on the link.
Check it out by clicking here.
Where to Buy Bat Houses Online
Here at Big Bat Box, we may be a bit biased, but we’ve found that the best bat houses for sale online are available right here.
The Big Bat Box is designed to attract more bats than any other product on the market. We offer a customized design made with premium materials sure to last decades in the great outdoors. Just look at one of our customers had to say:
"Your bat house came highly recommended from my brother in law. We last counted 70 bats...talk about bug control. We went from constantly needing bug spray to needing absolutely nothing - ever. Thanks for making and selling these! - Dave, Colorado
Now, there are other places to buy bat houses online, too. We’re not going to lie to you. If you want to search through other options, then we cover that, too.
Click here to learn where to buy bat houses online.
So, Should You Get a Bat House?
If your property has water within range, real sun on the mount and somewhere to put a pole, then yes. Bats are remarkable animals that support the ecosystem, and they work through more mosquitoes and insects than you would expect on a summer night. If your yard misses most of those marks, there are better places to put the money, and we would rather tell you that than sell you a box that stays empty.
