Internet bat house shootout

Internet Bat House Shoot Out

See why our bat house mops the floor with others.
Searching the web for bat houses leaves even us bewildered. We decided to put together comparisons of some commercial bat houses available simply by doing a search for "bat house". Unfortunately many vendors do not mention many construction specifics, leaving us to make some educated guesses based on the product photos.

A green color code represents a desirable bat house feature. Orange suggests the feature is unclear from the vendor's description, or may pose a long term problem. Red is a fatal blow that directly impacts the potential success of your bat house. Please see our related page on why bat houses fail.

	BCM 3-Chamber Bat House	Colony Bat House by Schrodt Designs	Bat Condominium	Victorian Bat House	Backyard Bird 3 Chamber	Canadian Bat Nursery	Holley 3 Chamber Bat House
Photo
Size	18'' wide x 24'' high	7'' wide (guess) x 17'' high (stated)	9.5'' wide x 19'' high	15'' wide x 30'' high	16'' wide x 24'' high	18'' wide x 41'' high	10'' wide x 14.75'' high
Weight	17 lbs.	<10 lbs.?	10 lbs.	14 lbs.	14 lbs.	33 lbs.	5 lbs.
Exterior Material	1/2'' exterior yellow pine plywood + 1.75'' sides	Looks like cedar?	Looks like 0.75'' pine	Probably cedar	0.75'' Cedar planks on all sides	3/4'' birch plywood with "rubber membrane technology"	0.75'' Cedar
Glued Seams?	Yes, all seams	No	No	Unknown	Yes	Unknown	Partially
Fasteners	Screws	Probably brad nails	Probably brad nails	Unknown	Probably brad nails	Unknown	Unknown
Avg. Baffle Spacing	3 @ 3/4''	Unknown	4 @ Unknown	2 @ Unknown	3 @ Unknown	2 @ Unknown	2 @ 0.75'', 1 @ 1''
Landing plate size	Minimum 4''x18''	About 5''x2''	None	About 14''x4''	About 16'' x 4''	18'' x 6''	None
Roughened interior	Roughened at random intervals by hand	Unknown	Unknown	Unkown	Screened	Machine grooved at set intervals	None
Ease of mounting	Screws through mounting lip at top of box and also the landing plate. Bracket suggested for post mounting.	Might hang like a clock?	Hook on back, hangs like a clock.	Screws through mounting lip at top of box and also the landing plate.	Screws through mounting lip at top of box and also the landing plate.	Unknown	Needs bracket that is included
BCI Approved?	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No
Realistic capacity if successful	About 100 bats	No claim. About 20 bats if single chamber.	Claims "over 50 bats". Probably less than 100 bats	No claim. About 30 if this is a single chamber	About 100 or less despite claims of 300	About 75 or less despite claims of 300	No claim. Less than 50 bats
Finishing required	Paint according to geographic area. Affix included shingle to roof and screen to landing plate.	None intended	Paint according to geographic area, though there is no indication there is a manual explaining this.	None intended	Paint according to geographic area, though there is no indication there is a manual explaining this.	None	Paint according to geographic area.
Cost	$79.00 shipped anywhere within the continental USA. Kit version available for $59.00	$56.00 + shipping	$40.00 + shipping	$89.00 + shipping	$67.00 + shipping	Over $50.00 + shipping	About $20? + shipping
Pros	Proven design. Just add bats!	Fairly nice finish, reminiciant of wind chimes?	4 chambers, bigger is better except...	Doesn't look like a bat house. Has landing plate and a sturdy mounting method.	Based on a modern design	If "rubber membrane technology" means the whole thing is sprayed with truck bed liner, that's great! Nice landing plate.	Might be sealed?
Cons	May be hard to stock in the summer.	Small. Needs to be caulked and painted black for most of the country, defeating the purpose of the finish.	...the width is only 9'', so no advantage over a BCM design. Small hook attachment probably puts the bat house on the ground after time and a windstorm. No landing plate. Needs caulked.	Built "against the grain" meaning there are fewer natural bat footholds. A poor design where the maker attempts to simulate "bats behind shutters" without really understanding why	Screen fasteners will rust from bat urine and fall out. Roughen the interor, add a shingled roof, extra caulk, and a paint job.	"RMT" might be caulking. Louvers seem to imitate the "Victorian" model at left for no good reason.	Questionable interior roughening. No landing plate. Ad contradicts itself. Very small dimensions. Made with used wood. Comes with an unrelated ad for laser engraving on the front?