Wendy houses are used as storage units, entertainment centers, and playhouses for kids all around the world. They’re basically miniature versions of houses that you could turn into anything from a man cave to a child’s playhouse. But during the summer, when they’re used the most, most Wendy houses tend to heat up a lot.
Here are 6 ways to keep a Wendy house cool.
- Add a layer of clay to the roof.
- Tile the roof.
- Paint the house a light color.
- Add an insulator like polystyrene under the roof and between walls.
- Place a fan in the house.
- Build the house in a cool location.
In this article, we will be covering all these subjects in detail. By the end, you will have a good insight into what you can do to keep a Wendy house cool during the summer.
Building a naturally cool wendy house.
The first and perhaps the most interesting of all the ways you can make sure a Wendy house stays cool is to build one that naturally stays cool. There are plenty of ways you can achieve this, but before we get to any of that, let us look briefly into what makes a Wendy house hot during the summer.
On any typical Wendy house, as with any house with a slanted roof, most of the sunlight falls upon the roof and depending on what material is used to build it, a roof can hold on to the heat it absorbs. This heat eventually radiates to the vicinity, making the whole area and particularly the interior of the house feel much hotter than the outside.
The first natural solution to this problem is to add a layer of clay on top of the roof of the Wendy house. Clay acts as a great insulator, preventing heat from transferring to the interiors of the structure.
Even better than this, you could add a layer of marble chips and natural stones. Both of these are great at reflecting sunlight back, which is why very little heat gets to pass through them and into the house.
And finally, if you’re feeling a bit adventurous, you could even consider doing some gardening at the top of the Wendy house. You don’t have to go all out. Just a simple layer of sand and some plants and grass grown on top of it should do the trick. Add a layer of sand on the roof and plant some flowers and grass in it. Not only will the plants prevent the heat from transferring through the roof, but they will also keep the general vicinity cooler, owing to the properties of evaporation and transpiration.
Of course, it goes without saying that a garden on top of a Wendy house will just add to its show. And if you’re building the Wendy house for your kids, they are absolutely going to love it. If you’re lucky, you could even trick them into doing a little bit of gardening every now and then.
But of course, not all solutions have to be natural. There are plenty of quick and easy artificial fixes to the problem of a Wendy house getting hot in the summer.
Using the right colors, insulation, and tiles.
If building a natural Wendy house isn’t for you, there are a couple of things you could do instead. Firstly, make sure you’re using light colors on the exterior of the Wendy house. Light colors absorb less heat, as we all know. If you don’t like the palest of colors, you should at least try to avoid dark colors.
Another thing you could do is place sheets of good insulating material like polystyrene underneath your roof and in between the walls. Just in case you were wondering, polystyrene is the material you typically find in the walls and doors of your refrigerator.
To summarize, polystyrene is a great insulator that works both in the warm seasons and the cold seasons. The insulating material will keep the heat from entering the house during the summer and likewise also keep the heat from leaving the structure during winter.
Also, it is probably worth mentioning that if your Wendy house doesn’t have a tiled roof yet, getting it tiled could be a great way to cool it down. Wendy houses (or any building for that matter) take in most of the heat from their roofs. This is because the roof of any building gets the most direct sunlight when the sun is at its hottest (during the afternoon). So getting some light-colored tiles for your Wendy house could be a great start to “cool things down.”
These options could be a bit more expensive than the next option in terms of the initial outlay, but in the long run, they will make up for all you could save in electricity bills.
Using fans or air circulators.
If you don’t have the resources or time to implement any of the steps previously mentioned, there’s always a simpler solution. You can install an air circulator or fan inside the Wendy house.
One thing you need to know about fans and air circulators is that they won’t actually make the room (and in this case, the Wendy house) any cooler. If anything, they are going to add to the overall heat in the space (heat generated from their motors)!
Regardless of this, installing a fan or an air circulator can help one stay cool inside the Wendy house. Fans and air circulators move the air in the room (in the case of fans, directly in front of them and in the case of air circulators, all around the room) to create a sort of an artificial breeze. This breeze will evaporate the sweat on your skin to produce a cooling effect.
So, if you’ve got an electrical terminal hooked up to your Wendy house (or if not, you could hook up an extension cord), a fan or an air circulator could be a great way to keep cool inside. Just one last thing: since these devices will only work when they interact with the sweat in your body, it would be pointless to leave them on when there’s no one in the Wendy house.
Choosing the right location.
This is a bit of a no brainer, but it might be worth pointing out that you should always be mindful of the location you’re installing the Wendy house in. If you’ve got a tree in your backyard, it is always a good idea to put the Wendy house underneath it, since trees act as natural coolers.
Also, if it’s possible, choose a location that has plenty of airflow in it. This can serve as a natural fan when you’re in the Wendy house. All you’ll have to do is keep the windows open.
Final thoughts
Wendy houses are perfect for storage, relaxation, or as a child’s playhouse. But during the hotter seasons, they tend to heat up a lot. This happens because of their compact size and their placement in the outdoors. There are a few things you can do to avoid this.
You could try and build a naturally cool Wendy house, using the right design and materials. Alternatively, you could use insulating materials to keep the heat from entering the structure. You could also simply install a fan or an air circulator. And finally, choosing the right location could also make a big difference.
Steve Rajeckas is an HVAC hobbyist with an avid interest in learning innovative ways to keep rooms, buildings, and everything else at the optimal temperature. When he’s not working on new posts for Temperature Master, he can be found reading books or exploring the outdoors.