6 Tips for Playhouse Year-Round Comfort

Ventilating Playhouses

Just like thinking about playhouse heating in the winter, you also must think about how to ventilate your children’s playhouse in both the winter and summer. Depending on your needs, there are a variety of options for playhouse air circulation and venting. You will find however that, in general, ventilation is the name of the game.

Playhouse Placement–Critical Difference

Let’s start with the exterior of the playhouse; how can you stop your playhouse from heating up or getting musty in the first place? Having your playhouse in an area of your yard with ample shade can prevent your playhouse from becoming a greenhouse inside. The only downside to having your playhouse in a shaded area of your yard is that you could be missing out on sunlight to warm your playhouse during the colder months of the year. So, it depends on your local climate. If you live in a place that is overwhelmingly warm throughout the year, then permanent shade is a great option. However, if you have concerns about your playhouse being too cold in the wintertime, shade is not the best idea. For temporary shade during the summer months, you can hang shade sails above the playhouse to keep the sun away from the roof.

Playhouse Insulation & Paint Colors

Next on your checklist is insulation and paint. Just like a car, having a playhouse that is painted a lighter color will absorb less sunlight, transferring less heat to the inside of your playhouse. If your playhouse is a dark color and you decide to repaint to a lighter color, you might also consider adding an insulating paint additive. This additive will add an extra layer of protection to the outside of your playhouse, reflecting even more heat away from your playhouse and keeping the inside cool.

Playhouse Windows as Ventilation

After dealing with how the exterior of your playhouse can keep it cool, installing appropriate ventilation is the next step. The first, and perhaps most obvious method, is to install windows. If you intend to use your playhouse year-round or any activity that involves children playing in the playhouse for any period of time, you should definitely have windows in there. Windows will provide natural light and a pleasant outdoor view, and more importantly, a cross breeze.

If your playhouse doesn’t already have windows, install windows on opposing sides of your playhouse to create a cross breeze. Find out which direction winds tend to move through your yard, and install the windows on the appropriate sides of the playhouse. If bugs tend to be bad where you live, then don’t forget to install a screen on your windows!

One downside to windows, other than potentially letting in pests, is that if the sun beats down on them they can tend to contribute to the heat level in your playhouse. If your playhouse isn’t covered by any natural shade, you can fix this by installing an awning above the window. The awning will shade the window, preventing direct sunlight from creating an oven out of your playhouse.

Playhouse Vents Help Reduce Temperatures

Probably the next most obvious playhouse ventilating option is an actual gable vent. However vents as simple as they may seem, actually come in a variety of styles and options. Only you will know which kind of vents are best for your playhouse, but we will go over the pros and cons of all of the common options.

A low-profile way to ventilate your playhouse is louvered vents. They simply give the hot air in your playhouse a way to escape. Because of this, they work best when placed up high in the gable of your playhouse. That way, the air that is escaping through the vent is the hot air that has risen it’s way up into your playhouse’s ceiling.

Keeping these vents off the ground also decreases the chance that rodents and insects will make their way into the playhouse. If that is a concern, keep in mind that you can install a screen behind the louver vent. Since louver vents don’t actively pull air through their vents, they aren’t super effective at cooling a scorching playhouse. If your climate is fairly moderate and you only need a little help keeping your playhouse ventilated, then just a few louver vents could work for you. If you live in an area in which your playhouse is unbearably hot for most of the day, louver vents alone won’t do the trick. Combine them with another ventilation option in this list for the best results.

Playhouse Cupolas for Venting

A playhouse cupola is similar to a louver vent in function, but it is built into the playhouse structure. You can build whatever size cupola your playhouse may need for proper ventilation, which is a level of flexibility that you cannot quite get from traditional louver vents. A cupola also does not actively pull air through it, but its location on the roof of your playhouse allows it to effectively give a place for the hot air in your playhouse to escape. It also requires the most involved installation process of all the other ventilation options on this list, because it is built as a part of the playhouse itself.

Air Conditioners for Playhouses

And lastly, the most extreme option may be buying an air conditioning unit. If pure ventilation isn’t enough to cool your scorching playhouse to a tolerable level for kid use in the summer, then you have two last options: portable air conditioning units and window units. If your playhouse is very small and doesn’t have any windows, then a portable AC is the choice for you. These require power of course, but many operate off of battery power for maximum portability.

If you have windows in your playhouse, a window-mounted AC unit would be a more permanent alternative. Window-mounted units are relatively easy to install by yourself, just make sure you use caulking to fill any holes in the seal so that bugs and moisture don’t get into your playhouse.

With one of these options or a combination of a few, you are sure to have a summer-ready playhouse. Planning ahead allows your children’s playhouse to be a year-round haven to make memories in and have fun they will remember for a lifetime!

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