Where should I put my new bat house?

Bats like a warm place to live, so if you live in a cool climate, you should orient the bat house to get maximum solar exposure and perhaps paint it black (as long as you use non-toxic, latex paint). Using black roof shingles works well, too. The bat house should be out of the wind. The best place is on the side of a building, 10 to 15 feet above the ground. Most North American bats need to live near water, preferably within a few hundred yards of a stream, marsh, or lake. Did you know that one small brown bat can eat as many as 600 mosquitoes in one hour?