mobile home electric furnace

[The Paw]

I have line on a partially renovated mobile home for $10k.

Only problem is that it has a gas furnace, and there is no natural gas where I want to use it.

Does anyone know a ballpark figure for installing an electrinc mobile home furnace (forced air)?

Thanks,

[hunter63]

There is a possibally of converting to propane. Check with local heating guys.
My daughter has one in La, ( electric) but it doesn't get too cold for long.
Can't imagine electric bill in Manitoba?

[ricky]

they ranged from 4000 to 7000 reason being is you need the air handeler inside and the out side heat pump to go with it. electrical hook ups and some other things will need re done go with a wood stove. i just had one installed a week ago. burns real well heats the house as warm as you want it and uses about 12 to 16 chunks of wood in 24 hours or to make it easier it takes about 2 18 inch logs about 18 inches across split several times to heat the house 24 hours a day. i went with a stove that has a convirter so there is little smoke cast iron with no blower.

[The Paw]

Thanks for the replies.

I will look into costs to convert to propane. We use serious BTU's up here, but Manitoba has a lot of hydroelectric power, so our rates are among the cheapest in North America. Costs for electric heat are comparable to natural gas.

Ricky, I am not sure I understand what you mean about the heat pump outside? I have seen some other mobile units where the whole electric furnace is contained in an interior closet 2' x 2' and about 4' high. True, I might have to upgrade the panel and run some heavy cable, so that will add to the cost.

I may eventually add a wood stove, but not as the main heat source. Firstly, the main air handling unit isn't in a place where you can put a stove, so tying into the ductwork would be a pain. Also, I wrecked my back heating our current house with wood for seven years (10 full cords a year). Cutting the wood isn't so bad, but stooping to get it off the ground just plays hell with my lower back. I guess I could do the Advil thing, but I can't see that as very realistic into my 60's...

Anyway, it's all food for thought.

[donsgal]

Originally Posted by The Paw

Thanks for the replies.

I will look into costs to convert to propane. We use serious BTU's up here, but Manitoba has a lot of hydroelectric power, so our rates are among the cheapest in North America. Costs for electric heat are comparable to natural gas.

Ricky, I am not sure I understand what you mean about the heat pump outside? I have seen some other mobile units where the whole electric furnace is contained in an interior closet 2' x 2' and about 4' high. True, I might have to upgrade the panel and run some heavy cable, so that will add to the cost.

I may eventually add a wood stove, but not as the main heat source. Firstly, the main air handling unit isn't in a place where you can put a stove, so tying into the ductwork would be a pain. Also, I wrecked my back heating our current house with wood for seven years (10 full cords a year). Cutting the wood isn't so bad, but stooping to get it off the ground just plays hell with my lower back. I guess I could do the Advil thing, but I can't see that as very realistic into my 60's...

Anyway, it's all food for thought.

If your hydro (as they say in Canada), is that inexpensive, why don't you just install electric baseboard heat? You can have the whole system hard-wired in for probably less than $1,000. What's nice about a system like that is that you can set the temp for each room individually. Rooms you don't use much you can keep cooler than others.

Ten cords eh? I'm sure glad I don't live in Manitoba.

Donsgal

[bare]

You are probably going to run into another problem in trying to convert to electric. Most mobiles that are set up for gas only have 100 amp electric panels, and you need a 200 amp panel by code in most areas for an electric furnace or even baseboard heat.

Converting your existing unit to propane will likely be your cheapest route.

[The Paw]

thanks for the replies Donsgal and Bare:

I just got back from seeing the unit up close. Not only is the furnace natural gas, so is the water heater. So that would be another conversion cost. My agent thought a new electric furnace would be about $1500 plus installation.

I think the material cost of putting in baseboard electric would probably have been about the same as an electric furnace in the end (although I could install the baseboards myself). In either case, Bare is right that the service is only 100 amps, so it would have been a new panel either way.

I ended up passing on the unit for other reasons, though.

The 10 cords of wood was to heat 2,000 square feet built in the 1920's. The insulation has been upgraded, but it still not an airtight "envelope".

Anyway, thanks again.

[Wolf mom]

I have forced air, using a heat pump - most do in AZ. It's really not too good in extremely cold climates.

I live in a doublewide & want to re-do my floors and was thinking of putting down that infared (sp?) floor heat under my new flooring. There's all types and it's suppose to be easy for a omeowner to do. That also can be regulated room to room.

Actually, I like my wood stove for this northern AZ climate

[bare]

Switching from natural gas to propane is plumb easy in most cases. The mobile you looked at if less than 25 years old or so is likely dual purpose and all it takes is switching out the orifices and pressure regulators. If you do the work yourself, it would probably be less than 10 bucks in parts for both appliances.