How to Achieve Energy Efficiency in Your Manufactured Home

If you’re like the rest of the homeowners out there, you don’t want to pay more in energy bills than you have to. There’s nothing that will ruin a day like opening a power bill and seeing that it’s 2-3 times what you thought it would be. If your manufactured home isn’t energy efficient, a couple of cold days in the winter or a couple of hot days in the summer will crank up your home’s power usage. And even if you don’t have any high power bills because of extreme temperature, it would be nice to shave 5-10% off your monthly bill to have some extra cash for more fun purchases. You have manufactured home insurance to worry about, after all!

If you want to make your manufactured home more energy-efficient, you’re in the right place! Check out some of our tips below to help you make your home more efficient and put more money in your pocket. Many of these upgrades will help make your home more resilient in the face of natural disasters or accidents. These can have the added benefit of lowering your manufactured home insurance.

Upgrade Windows and Doors

The first step to boosting the energy efficiency of your manufactured home is to check your windows and doors. These are the largest openings in your home and, as a result, are the most likely to leak cold/warm air outside and make your HVAC work harder than it needs to. Once per year, walk around to each door and window and ensure there are no visible gaps to the outside. On a cold day, run your hand along the edge of each door and window to feel if there is any draft and cold air is getting in. If you see any gaps or feel any breeze, you need to get that fixed.

The simplest solution is to add storm doors and windows to your home. This adds another layer of glass between your door/window and the outside air and can keep the outside air from getting in. Some homes can take storm doors/windows, but some cannot. If storm doors and windows are not an option, you need to consider replacing the doors and windows that are allowing air in. If you replace them, make sure you purchase an Energy Star-rated replacement. These windows and doors are rated to improve your manufactured home’s energy efficiency and are high-quality products that will work for years to come.

Upgrade Insulation

If fixing the windows and doors in your manufactured home didn’t do the trick, the next step is looking at the insulation. Manufactured homes come with insulation from the factory, but it degrades and deteriorates over time and will eventually need to be replaced. Because of the laws of thermodynamics, we know that hot air rises and cool air falls. We can use this principle to see where your insulation needs work. If your manufactured home is expensive to cool in the summer, we know that the cool air is escaping (falling), so you need to check the insulation under the home. If the home is difficult to heat in the winter, hot air may be escaping (rising), so you need to check the insulation above the ceiling.