Woodstove in a doublewide

[Teri]

Last fall we moved from a log cabin to a doublewide on 20 acres. We had a woodstove in the cabin, a Lopi Endeavor, which we loved. Our heating costs were minimal. Last winter (in the doublewide) we heated with propane/electric. Our heating costs were through the roof! We really need to reduce all expenses now (due to reduced income) and really want/need to put a woodstove in the doublewide. I assume there are some here who have done this. What are the safety issues involved? What to watch out for? Can you recommend any brands? I'm thinking about a Lopi fireplace insert (we DO have a fireplace we could run the pipe up), but maybe there's something better out there for our situation. TIA.

[wwubben]

Check with your insurance company.Some do not allow owner installed wood stoves.

[Parrothead]

I don't even know if that is possible with the safety issues and zoning (if there is any). A doublewide would go up in a sec with a fire.

[whinnyninny]

Originally Posted by Parrothead

I don't even know if that is possible with the safety issues and zoning (if there is any). A doublewide would go up in a sec with a fire.

How would it be any different than any other house (pier & beam, that is)? I guess it depends on the doublewide, too... 1980's doublewides are not like 2000's doublewides... and depends on how it's built, most have those cheap flimsy wall panels, but mine has sheetrock & plastered walls... I guess there are just a lot of factors!

I wonder if insurance companies would allow professionally-installed woodstoves.

[Bonnie L]

We had a wood stove in our first mobile. It had to be vented thru the floor & have a certain amount of clearance from the walls. You'd have to check with your ins. company to find out what they would OK.

[Janis Sauncy]

Originally Posted by wwubben

Check with your insurance company.Some do not allow owner installed wood stoves.

As long as the stove is "mobile home approved," there shouldn't be a problem.....although I'm not sure if you can install it yourself or have to have a contractor do it.

There will be a UL sticker on the stove which will state it if it is and the poster who said they are vented through the floor is correct. Something about mobile homes being "too airtight" for normal installation (not mine!).

The laws may vary from state to state.

Janis

[Common Tator]

I found this site from pros who install them. http://www.woodstove.com/pages/mobile_home.html

[Wolf mom]

If you have insurance, and install a wood stove, without the ins. co. knowledge, the insurance can be cancelled if the company finds out!

There are wood stoves manufactured for doublewides. I think even HD carries them.

Because you (and I) in essence, live in a fiberboard box, make sure you install it to code. Take pictures while installing it so the insurance company knows it was installed correctly.

I have one & love it!

[mosepijo]

We had a wood stove in our double wide which was vented down thru the floor. Scared you to death every night. Because you can't turn down Mobile Home approved wood stoves, they burn hotter. So about midnight every night it was just cooking in the house and sounded like it was roaring. The next morning it was always out and cold in the house. So we got us an old princess Earth Stove (The smaller one which was NOT Mobile home approved) installed it ourselves and turned it down each night (had a thermostat ), pleasant temp all night, & coals in the morning. We switched insurances, had to take a picture of it. They never said anything so everyone was happy. If there is a fire, it seems like the Insurance company will come up with some excuse not to pay. There are many Mobile Home approved Woodstoves out there. A friend of ours just bought one for $2500. (they are expensive) and you must have a pro install it. Ins. com. will usually go with these. We have always done our own (by code ) and faked our way thru the Ins. Co. Don't really have a lot of value if it catches on fire anyway.

[Katey]

You could also spend your money on better insulation.

[HermitJohn]

Move out of log cabin into a mobile home? Only if cops tazered me, carried me out and burned down the log cabin. I've seen old chicken houses cobbled together out of rough lumber that I'd rather live in than a mobile home. But then I prefer living with natural materials if possible. Modern houses of any economic stature are manmade chemical soup.

[Harry Chickpea]

The insurance companies rip manufactured home owners off big time. That is a lot of the reason around here that you here about folks who lose their home in a tornado not having insurance. Seriously, the rates and restrictions on manufactured home are crazy. If you then actually READ the policy, the loopholes for the insurance not paying out are so large that you could drive the home through them. When I read through my policy prior the renewal date, and did the math, renewing made no sense.

Not all are manufactured homes are "fiberboard boxes." Ours is sheet rock walls and ceiling, fiberglass wall insulation, and fireproof hardyboard exterior siding sitting on concrete block skirting. The only flammable part of the walls are the 2 x 6s.

Even with this, some insurance companies won't accept ANY wood burning fireplace or appliance, and those that do give the OK have a limited list of "approved" stoves. About the only way to burn wood and not run into insurance issues is to have an outside boiler.

[edcopp]

It's your double wide. Buy a stove that you like and put it in, then it will be your double wide and your stove.

Tell everybody else to take a hike, actually tell them nothing.

If there is an insurance company involved, and they should find out and object (if, if, if, ) then cancel the insurance and use the money to buy firewood

Now if they should object to that show them this post and tell them you read it on the internet to do this. Make me the bad guy, I don't care.

We don't know where you are so we don't really know how to address your other concerns. Zoning suggestions might be a bit different within the city limits of Atlanta, as compared to Mutt Junction Maine, suburbs. Heating needs will also vary from place to place. South Alabama, and South Alberta are not the same.

[Bonnie L]

Originally Posted by edcopp

It's your double wide. Buy a stove that you like and put it in, then it will be your double wide and your stove.

Unless they have a mortgage. Then it belongs to the bank until they make the last payment.

[Common Tator]

Originally Posted by Bonnie L

Unless they have a mortgage. Then it belongs to the bank until they make the last payment.

Correct, and the bank reqires that they keep insurance on it. If the insurance gets cancelled, they are in hot water.

[Beeman]

You said you have a fireplace already in the double wide, am I correct? That fireplace is a zero clearance fireplace with an insulated chimney. You could easily remove the fireplace and install a hearth protecting the floor and walls and use the existing chimney. I have a double wide and here's what I did. Since the existing FP had a gas line and gas logs I've left it as is for now. I went into the living room which is centrally located and built a hearth and wall protection in the corner of the room. The hearth is 2x6's to raise the stove up and the walls I studded with metal studs. I covered all of it with cement board and then we rocked over all of it. I went under the house and installed a support beam and a basement jack under the heart just for peace of mind as the weighy is pimarily on a steel support beam of the home. Then I installed a Supervent chimney kit from Lowes which is an insulated chimney kit mad for cathedral ceilings which supports it from the roof. Use approved clearances and everything is fine. The walls don't get very warm and the hearth itself stays cool, mostly for protection from sparks. Our stove is a Vermont Castings Defiant Encore.
I have no mortgage but I do have insurance. They've come out and taken pictures of the home but never asked any questions.

[emmas_acres]

The chimney in a mobile is not rated high enough for a stove. Unless you run a liner up it. Here against code. Lopi makes a stove for mobiles, called the Answer. It is pricey but if we ever pull out our zero clearance wood eating non heat throwing fireplace, thats what we will go with.
Rory

[PyroDon]

Ours is sheet rocked and has the fireplace .
we cut our heating in half last winter simply by keeping a fire going with the glass doors on the fireplace open . we also used three screens in front of it and burnt up two grates

[Teri]

Good info, thanks all. We do have a mortgage on the place, so insurance isn't optional. I'll call them on Monday and ask. I would have never left the log cabin, but the doublewide came with 20 acres and the cabin had only 1 1/2 acres (we tried for years to buy the land around it, but the owner wouldn't budge).
Thanks for all your help. I'll share this with dh tonight. Feel like we need to get moving on it.

[whinnyninny]

Originally Posted by Harry Chickpea

Not all are manufactured homes are "fiberboard boxes." Ours is sheet rock walls and ceiling, fiberglass wall insulation, and fireproof hardyboard exterior siding sitting on concrete block skirting. The only flammable part of the walls are the 2 x 6s.

Thank you. That sounds just like my home (except the concrete block skirting- we'd meant to do that, even had a concrete perimeter poured around the base of the home, but never got around to it, so it's just vinyl skirting). I am trying to sell my manufactured home and I'm having a hard time finding anybody who wants to overcome the stigma about the "crappy old cardboard boxes" of the 70's and 80's...