Save energy in your mobile home by following these simple tips
Mobile Home Roof & Ceiling
Starting from the top down there are many changes you can make to your mobile home to save energy and cut the cost of fuel and electricity bills. Some changes are easy and inexpensive, some may take a little work, but the costs savings and benefit of increased mobile home energy efficiency are worth it! Here are our top 10 tips for making your manufactured or mobile home more energy efficient.
1. Save energy by changing your Mobile Home Roof Covering
Did you know that a cool roof coating can lower mobile home temperature, reflect up to 85% of the sunlight, reduce smog and save your electric bill by cutting down unnecessary AC Costs? Installing a White Roof or Cool Roof Coating on your mobile home reflects the heat from the sun back out helping to cool your home. Read more about Cool Roof Coatings – we also found a cool infographic to illustrate white roofs at a glance from the White Roof Project
2. Add Mobile Home Roof Insulation
It takes a little more work, but you can save up to 15% of heating and insulation costs simply by insulating your mobile home or manufactured home roof cavity. Installing a sloped roof allows extra room for insulation in the ceiling of your home. See our Guide to Mobile Home Roof Insulation There are many more tips available in our Book Your Mobile Home: Energy and Repair Guide for Manufactured Housing, 5th Edition
Energy Efficiency inside your Mobile Home
The interior of your mobile home or manufactured housing can be a cause of much wasted energy. From doors, windows , walls and lighting, to the kitchen, bathroom, furnace and appliances – there are a lot of ways to lower energy bills and save money inside your mobile home.
3. Save Energy in the Kitchen
Did you know that you can speed up cooking and save energy by using lids on pots and pans? Pressure cookers can reduce cooking time even further. Other ways to reduce energy in the kitchen include; defrosting in the fridge in advance instead of using a microwave, not using your full oven for small meals, choosing Energy Star® appliances and not overfilling your refrigerator. For more tips on creating an energy efficient kitchen – read our articles Save Energy in the Kitchen and Best Baking Methods for Energy Efficiency
4. Replace Light Bulbs with Energy Efficient Lighting
All homes can benefit from energy efficient lighting. With most homes using 10%-12% of the entire home energy on lighting, making savings could lower mobile home energy bills. Simple ways to improve the energy output of your lighting include: changing light bulbs to compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFL’s) – CFL’s use up to a quarter of the energy of a regular light bulb. Switch lighting off when it is not needed; clean lighting fixtures to maximize lighting output. See our article Energy Efficient Lighting for more tips.
5. Service your Mobile Home Furnace
Unlike site built homes, mobile home furnaces draw air directly into the furnace through removable grilles. Cleaning or replacing the furnace filter inside can drastically reduce energy costs and make the furnace more efficient. It is also a good idea to inspect the squirrel cage blower at the top of your mobile home furnace for any dust, or grease. See our Guide to Servicing your Mobile Home Furnace
6. Make your Mobile Home Windows more Energy Efficient
Simple plastic window coverings can help reduce energy costs and cut out drafts. The disposable plastic covering can be removed for the summer. Storm windows – extra glass panes fitted to the interior of mobile home windows can also be installed for permanent energy saving. Internal storm windows are also more protected from the elements. Make sure the frame is tightly sealed. Additional insulation can be achieved with foam tape. Read more in our article: Storm Windows for energy savings
7. Mobile Home Cooling (inside & out!)
Air conditioners not only cool the air, they take out moisture to make the air more comfortable. You can lower AC running costs by lowering the moisture in your mobile home so that your AC unit can run more efficiently. Moisture comes from two main sources: the ground, and air leakage from Air Conditioning units. Another way to reduce air conditioning costs is to prevent the heat before it gets to your home using a cool roof solution (see point 1), and employing effective use of shade trees, Trellises and Window Films. For more information read our article on Mobile Home Cooling
Mobile Home Flooring and Crawl Space Savings
8. Add Insulation under the Floor
Mobile homes often already have insulation, but they tend to be part filled which means there is always room for more! It is a good idea to hire an insulation professional and ask for Blown Fiberglass to reduce the potential corrosion of any metal parts from cellulose insulation. See more Mobile Home Winter Tips
9. Check your Crawlspace & Ducts
The Crawl space underneath your manufactured home is often neglected, but there are energy savings to be had beneath the floor. Adding skirting around the mobile home can prevent excess heat from escaping but make sure you can still access the crawl space. Check the area underneath the furnace for loose ducts or joints and use metal Duct Tape if possible as traditional gray fabric tape can come loose. See our article on Crawl Space Inspection
10. Check for Water Leakage and Seepage
Leaks in your mobile home’s roofs and walls allow for water to seep in and cause mold, mildew, and rot. By sealing your roof, installing gutters, and taking steps to seal around leaky seams and around water and drain pipes, you can make your home last longer and save lots of money on costly repairs. Read more on Water Leakage and Seepage There are so many things you can do to save energy in your mobile or manufactured home and we have plenty of additional tips in our best selling book ‘Your Mobile Home‘ Keep checking back for more articles on Mobile Home Energy – if you want to know as it happens – Follow us on Twitter or Like our Facebook Page
There are small gaps between my ceiling and wall, and air can travel through them. Does it make sense to seal around the edge of the ceiling and wall to reduce the loss of heat into the ceiling? I have a 1978 model with a rounded metal roof and with the record snowfall we had this winter in the area I live in , experienced ice dams and drainage issues. Adding insulation to the ceiling is an option, but I can’t find an installer around here to do it, and so maybe keeping the heat from escaping into the ceiling might help?
Yes, good idea because those air leaks are probably related to the ice damming and it could cause damage to the lumber in those peripheral areas. Maybe you have our book already — Your Mobile Home. If so, you could show the contractor the section on insulating roofs. Insulating a mobile home roof isn’t difficult. Maybe they would be willing to learn.
I have full sun on the West side of my home. I close my blind and drapes during the day. The heat is so overhelming, at times I find it very difficult to stay inside. I use a swamp cooler which is on my roof. Very new the store employee says it is adaquate for a 17oo ft. home. I belive not. The home is not quite cool enough for me. I believe I need more insulation in the home . It is a manfacutred home 15 yrs old. What can I do to kee cool.
Full sun from the West is one of the largest drivers of solar heat gain. Does your roof have a reflective white coating? Do you have any shading on the West side? See numbers 1 and 7 above. How about West-facing windows? Do they have awnings?
Your swamp cooler may be the right size for your home, but if the afternoon/evening sun is beating on the West side of the house, that’s just more heat that the cooler needs to remove. So the cooler may be undersized for that extra heat gain.
Our book “Your Mobile Home” has a lot of good information that may help you make some improvements. https://srmi.biz/product/bookstore/mobile-home/
Awesome tips….We are having the hardest time keeping our mobile home cool this summer. Seems like our AC unit runs all the time. We have a little shade on the back side , but not enough to block the majority of the sun’s rays. It really seems like our outside AC unit just doesn’t have the same uummph as it used to. It is about 10-14yrs old. Thanks for your tips, I’m going to have someone check under the house for any added ways to seal up the house.
Jodie