... between rock & hard place ...

I once lived in a single wide, too, but the furnace and cooking stove were propane powered. However, that could get quite expensive, so I had a small kerosene heater and my dad installed a door between the great room and the hall, so the heater was sufficient. I also collected rain water in 5 gallon containers for the times when the electric was out. A toilet can be flushed with water from the pond, if need be. Also, I already had plenty of camping equipment so I could go for quite a spell without elecricity. You just have to have alternative arrangements in place.

IMHO, an outdoor furnace would be oversized for your trailer, and you would have to have a heat exchanger in side so your forced air fan could distribute the heat. I think it ends up being quite an investment.

The barrel kit sounds good, but at that size may overwhelm the room it is in. Also, you have to consider how much the thermal mass weights, and whether your floor can carry that weight easily. The less mass the more benefit, the more mass the more strain on your floor.

It sounds like you could just install a regular woodstove with the appropriate certification in your living room. The heat will radiate towards each end, and bedrooms stay cooler. This woodstove can keep the middle toasty warm with not too much wood which will help keep your oil costs lower.

I live in a single wide, but my living room with the woodstove is at one end. We burn two armloads of wood and the living room is like a sauna for the whole evening. It doesn't really radiate down to the other end at all. Your situation is much better.

Going off-grid will cost a bundle. As others have mentioned, find a way to get auxilliary heat -- probably wood. The barrel heater is much too large for your space, plus it isn't rated for use in a mobile home. I have a prefab fireplace with a blower that isn't as efficient as I'd like, but it does heat the central part of the house (26X26'), even today with the temps around 18, it's all I'm running. I usually keep the thermostat at 60 during the day and 55 at night and with the thermostat 12' from the fireplace it rarely kicks on. I am burning primarily pallets during the day when I can tend the fire and 4 large logs get me through the night. If I could I'd get the same type of wood heater I had in my last house that was rated to be as close as 12" from a wall so it didn't take up too much space.

Don't know what area of the country you are in and whether heating or cooling is the most important, but there are ways to minimize your dependence on both electric and oil. For passive heating, look at the solar heating panel. Mother Earth News had an article and directions for one in a recent issue that looked efficient. Or go with the old classic "Mother's Heat Grabber" (from the 80's I believe). For cooling, minimize the amount of sun that hits the house via vines, trees, and other plantings. I had a pergola built down the south end of my doublewide and am growing vines on it. That way I get plenty of sunshine in the winter when I need it for heat, but very little in the summer. If you windows aren't doublepaned, buy the inner "storm" windows made especially for mobile homes. I installed them and they cut my heat and A/C usage by 1/3rd.

I'm in an all electric huge doublewide and with using every trick I can my electric bill usually ranges from $35.00 to $80.00 a month. One time this last summer it got to $120.00 during a brutal heat wave.

A few hundred million people are dependent on electricity, if there were a way to “un-hook”, I think they would have. An alternative to oil for heat is wood. But because that takes work to produce and work to regulate, split, carry, stack, most people don’t adopt this cost saving way to heat your house. You could burn pieces of old tires, they are free, but I think the neighbors would complain.
A gas powered generator will cost more in fuel that the equivalent amount of electricity from the grid.
I’m afraid to guess what David was doing with those magnets. I hope he hadn’t spent much money on magnets following the urban myth of setting magnets on the electric meter.
Most, if not all, wind generators are costly and produce fairly small amounts of electricity that must be stored in batteries, more expense.
There is a way to use a hand pump on your well with a submersible pump, but it is costly. I doubt the electricity to run your water pump is costly.
Electric stove, clothes dryer, water heater is more costly to operate than propane in many areas, but replacing them would be an expense you couldn’t justify.
So, there are no cheap fixes for heating a trailer and making electricity.
As others have suggested, if you can’t cut the cost of heat and electricity, cut your usage. You didn’t mention the area of the country you live and that sort of limits more specific suggestions. More insulation is more cost effective in MN than it is in MO.

Jan, collecting rain water for times our electricity is out and we cannot get water from the well is good. We fill all our 2-liter bottles with water and store them for just such an occasion. (We do have 10 gal containers holding water to use for flushing toilets whenever the need arises.)

The Paw, I was wondering about that too. We simply don't have the kind of money I think it might cost to set up an outdoor furnace (with heat ducks, fan, etc.). As for the "barrel kit", I don't think it would be wise to set that up "inside" on the floor of our trailer. It would need to be set up outside and vented to the inside...hopefully without causing fires. Yes, we have given consideration to installing a small woodstove in our living room. I'm not sure who to talk with about getting certification for this. We have been wondering what kind of flooring we would need to set "under" it and what kind of material to put "behind" it (next to the wall). In bad times, we would only want to make sure our water pipes didn't freeze. We could make do without cooking if need be as I'm prepared for that.

Belfrybat, thank you for that information about the barrel heater's being too large for our situation and not rated for use in a mobile home. Can you tell me the name of that heater you had in your last house, i.e. the one that was rated to be as close as 12 inches from a wall? I would like to check into that. We have given some thought to "one" solar panel that would just run the water pump, water heater, range & refrig. We were both rather overwhelmed by the complications of setting it up. (We were thinking, if we had that for electricity and a small woodburner for heat, it might be all we would need.) For cooling, we use our portable floor fans & stay in the middle of the trailer. Our windows are part of the original construction (1972); so I know they're not doublepaned. I will check into those "storm" windows made especially for mobile homes. (I am thinking we have 2 of those at one end of the trailer connected to a round-type picture window. They are so heavy, we never fiddle with them.) You are obviously doing many things right to have monthly electric bills that low in a huge doublewide. Congratulations.

Haypoint, David was using magnets in an attempt to create a windmill.

We live in the southern part of Virginia. We rarely get snow, getting ice storms instead that can knock down trees and lines. Each year the winter here seems to be getting colder; each summer hotter.

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I was trying to keep things cheap. I put a Ben Franklin type stove in my mobile home in growing zone 3. I will tell you how I did it but I am not guaranteeing you will have a safe installation or that you insurance agent will approve.

I put the stove about 1 foot from an outside wall, about in the middle of the home lengthwise. I took up the carpet where the hearth is. I glued some 4 inch diameter pieces of broken patio brick to the floor, leaving lots of space arround each and spaces at the edge for air circulation. Then glued a sheet and a half of 3'X5' Durarock cementboard on top of the Patio brick so the hearth is 4 1/2' X 5'. Coat the seam with thin-set mortar and tile with ceramic tile.

Cut a 6 inch diameter hole in the wall about in the center of where the stove's firebox will be. Buy a 6 inch vent with louvers fixed open and add a piece of screen to keep out the bugs. Cut the cylinderical part of the vent off so it is only long enough to fit through the wall. Put the vent into the wall from the outside. Screw and caulk it to the wall. Get some ceramic fence post insulators about 1 1/2 inches long. Cover the wall, except 2 inches top and bottom, with Durarock 5 feet wide. Use the fence-post insulators to space the durarock off the wall, leaving a 1 1/2 inch space behind the cement board. Just screw through the durarock and the fence post insulator and into the wall. Seal the joints with thin-set and tile.

The stove should have legs to raise it off the floor at least 6 inches. There are leg sets for the barrel stoves (use a 30 gallon if a 55 is too big) or you may find a wood stove cheap at a local auction.

Place the stove centered on the hearth, no closer than a foot from the wall. Farther is better. Run the stove pipe through the roof in an approved manner. I have a metal box about a foot square that keeps the flamable wood from getting too hot and use triple wall pipe from the roof up. A stove pipe that goes straight up will draw better than one that makes several bends and goes out the wall.

I put a scrap piece of Durarock, about 16 inches square, on the wall's ceramic tile, behind the firebox, and spaced it off the tile with fencepost insulators. Similarily a piece of Durarock sitting on the hearth tile on top of pieces of patio block at each corner directly under the firebox.

The scrap pieces add an extra layer of air where the floor and wall may get hottest. The spaces allow air circulation. Warm air will rise and cooler air will be drawn in thus cooling the floor and wall. Additionaly, the gasses going up the chiminy will pull fresh air into the house from the outside. Most of that air will come in the 6 inch vent and cool the wall and warm up itself in the process.

I have inadvertantly set a roaring fire in the stove (stove pipe thermometer at 600 degrees plus) so I had to open the door to the house. When this happened you could place your hand on the tile under the scrap pieces of Durarock on the hearth and wall and the tile was just warm to the touch. The metal box in the roof is normally cool but gets hotter when I set a roaring fire by mistake. So far not hot enough to start a fire. I can hold my hand on it but it's uncomfortable. You don't have to set a very big fire in your climate.

The whole thing should be under $200. Remember, If you are caught or killed, the secretary will dissavow any knowledge of your actions.

A single wide trailer will have a down draft heater. This means that you can put a Radiator (Condenser coil on top of the heater) When you need heat the system will turn on the heat system fan and a circulating pump at the outdoor furnace. Around us 1400 foot homes are having $300.00 plus heat bills we have $100.00 for heat and electricity)
By having an over sized unit you will have enough to run pex lines in you early beds and gain a month on the growing season.

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You insurance agent can usually tell you what standards they expect.

The commercially manufactured stoves usually have a certification mark on them. Here in Canada, it is "CSA approved", down there i think it might be "UL" for Underwriters Laboratory. If a stove is UL certified and installed according to specifications, insurance companies will generally allow it. Be warned though, that you need one that is specially rated for mobile home use, and that usually requires a fresh air intake from the outside.

Any commercial stove will give the required clearances in the manual.

Here is a link that shows a diagram:

http://www.mygreathome.com/fix-it_guide/woodstove.htm

We have just moved into a single wide that needed alot of renovation. Dh has replaced the floors with 3/4" plywood. We just moved the woodstove over from the rv we were living in and he put it in the kitchen/living area in the middle of the room. The kitchen/livng area is in the middle with the master bedroom, bath and laundry room on one end and the other two bedrooms and bath on the other end. He ran the pipes about 7" from the ceiling (just did that last night so let's see if that's low enough). Since one of the windows was out in the kitchen he ran the pipe out that window. He cut a hole in plywood that was the dimension of the pipe, placed the wood in the window and uses an insulated pipe to go through the hole to connect the stove pipe to. The insulated pipe was $40 but it was needed. Last night our area had a hard freeze but we were comfortable. We've never bought wood. Our family cemetary had a clean up day and they cut alot of bushes and trees from around graves that were 100yrs old and we used that wood plus got alot from the county when they cut trees close to power lines. We also have a place in town that makes library shelves and they sit all the scrap wood out for the taking. We have out woodstove (it's a Vogelzang Boxwood) sitting on a piece of aluminum that's sold for that purpose. When we are using it I do all my cooking on it so that saves propane but haven't figured out a way to bake on top of it. We tried using the old gas heaters but they used way too much propane. We do need to re-insulate under the house and some of the outside walls. One thing we're going to do is replace the tin siding with hardiplank. It's about $28 a sheet but we can do it a little at a time. That will go a long way toward keeping the place insulated.

I don't know what you might be able to build for yourself or have help to build, but have you seen this?

http://flashweb.com/blog/2010/12/tin...ree-years.html

Walter and Holly have built a wonderful space that is amazingly energy efficient.

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Nimrod, you gave such nicely detailed information. I do appreciate that very much. I think I will google "durarock" as that sounds like something quite useful in our situation.

Just sawing, I'm not sure of what you are saying. Our heating system is an oil furnace with a chimney straight up through the roof. We don't have an "outdoor furnace".

The Paw, thanks for the additional info and the link. I will take a look at that diagram.

Gina kay, I do appreciate hearing how your DH handled your heating situation. Knowing how others living under similar situations as myself helps a great deal. I will google "vogelzang boxwood" and learn more about it. I never heard of "hardiplank". Is it something new for mobil homes? (The person who sold us this mobil home had taken off all the siding, placed a layer of black paper, i.e. the kind you put under rolled roofing, then replaced the siding. He stated this made the insulation was much better.)

jlrbhjmnc, thanks for the link. I will check it out.

You are all so kind to help as you have. Thank you.

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That's a crazy amount to be spending on heating oil for a trailer! How hot are you keeping it? Sounds like lack of insulation is your big problem.

DH suggested enclosing your trailer in a portable garage like this:

http://www.sheltersofamerica.com/products3.php?id=23

The air space between the trailer and the garage will act as an insulator (ideally you'll want 2 - 3 feet of air space). The downsize is it will be like living in a cave unless you cut some opening and cover them with heavy, clear plastic!

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We looked into this but the initial cost was prohibitive. The payback was so much longer than using our electric heat pump and propane furnace.

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Durarock is a brand name for cement board. It is frequently used for backing of ceramic tile. Someone also makes cement board they have put styrafoam beads in. It works fine for backing tile for a bathroom but not so good if the cement board is going to get hot. Styrafoam melts. Be sure to get the cement board without the styrafoam.

There are insulated melal sheets made specifically to go under a wood stove. I think they cost more than what I did but you go with it if you want.

If you have a loan on the mobile home you have to have it insured. If you have to have insuirance you will have to check with your local issuer of building permits and your insurance agent. They will tell you what you can do. Worst case senario that lets you put in a wood stove is that the stove has to be approved for use in a mobile home and professionally installed. If you don't have to insure it you can do what I suggested.

Cindy, it is a terrible amount; and the oil is going even higher. We have to keep the trailer at least 68 degrees because of our health. We wear sweaters all the time during the winter. I took a look at that site. Our trailer is stationary on cinder blocks. I don't think I could enjoy living here if it were surrounded like that.

Thank you Nimrod for the additional information about the cement board. If we decide to put in one of the small wood stoves, that might work well. No, we owe nothing on nothing. We do, however, have home insurance; so I will be consulting with our carrier prior to finalizing any decisions we make.

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Good points! And keep in mind adding anything energy saving like insulation, a better roof or energy efficient appliances can get you up to $1,500 in a tax credit on your taxes next year. We got almost the max credit for putting in new windows, a white metal roof and a ton of insulation this past year. Solar, wind turbines and stuff like that can get you another credit.

Motdaugrnds,

I really think a small woodstove would really help with your expenses. You can cook, heat water and heat your place with it. Pallet wood is great for burning if you can get it. If you have to use less desirable wood like pine you would have to clean the chimney more often as creosote builds up with that, but you can use it, Lord knows I have plenty of times. I agree with the other readers, let it be known you that you want burnable wood and keep your eyes open. Do you have anyone who could help you with something like this? Or drop off wood for you?

I am attaching a link to a blogsite where the couple put in a woodstove in their trailer, a very small one, they did build a small addition to house the woodstove in one end and added another at the other end I believe directly in the trailer. They discuss in detail with pictures how they attached the chimney etc.. They also go over the costs piece by piece. You will have to go through the posts from Nov 2010 through Jan/Feb 2011 to see all of their findings.

I have lived in cold areas and paid alot of money for heat, it is not fun.

http://www.waldeneffect.org/blog/Woo...a_mobile_home/

Good luck

Is your mobile home underpinned? How well insulated is the underside and what about windows? You can lose a lot of heat around windows and exterior doors. Plus, those older mobile homes have a lot of holes in them...where pipes, etc. come in. Are those plugged well?

I've lived in a 1968 mobile home, a 1974 mobile home and a 1988 mobile home. The little 1968 was the most effficient one, the '74 had major heat loss problems (that were solved with plugging holes, plastic over windows in winter and underpinning) and the '88 was easier to heat once it was underpinned.

All of these are things that should be checked and taken care of ASAP. Sounds like you may have a lot of leaks if you keep the temp on 68 and are still paying large heating bills.

I currently live in a 3000+ sq. ft. two story home. We have propane heat and never turn the thermostat above 67. It's been a cold winter for NW MS, but we use our wood fireplace daily and have so far used less than 300 gallons of gas since this Fall. If we get chilly, we bundle up. At night when we are in bed the thermostat is turned down to 62.

Other than the heat, everything is electric. I hang my clothes on the line and wash late at night when rates are lower. I never run the washing machine or dishwasher unless it is full. We keep all the lights off except the one in the room we're in and the TV is only on for an hour or less a night. If I have to turn the oven on I make sure I have several things to bake or cook while it's on. That way I don't have to use it often.

I also worry about water since our well pump is electric so, like you, I save milk jugs, etc. and keep a supply of water on hand. My mom bought two large plastic garbage cans and use them to catch rainwater.

If you do put in wood heat there's no reason to buy firewood. People post free wood on Craigslist all the time. When we were building our house, the builder told us if we ever needed wood to call as construction sites always have wood (from trees that have been cut down and from building scraps) that they are happy to give away.

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Used2bcool13, thank you for the information and the link. Am going right over to take a look.

Ravenlost, you are right on there! Yes our trailer is underpinned, if by underpinned you mean the "skirting". We used bus paneling for this on over half of it, regular trailer skirting for the rest. We made a door through the bus paneling that can be closed. Yes there are holes where the pipes run. I don't know how to plug those. It is especially drafty around the hot water heater at the end of the bathtub. How on earth would you plug something up like this? (What I've seen up under there looks like loose insulation held in place by something rather thin. If I were to cut it to even look at the trailer frame, there does not seem to be any way of repairing it.)

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Sorry to be so long in responding -- missed your reply. The heater I had was a Lehman's own branded heater but they don't make it any longer. It had a heatshield on three sides that allowed it to go within 12" of a combustible surface, and wow, did it put out the heat. Another option is to buy one like the Voltzgang Frontiersman, which I had in a 700 sq. ft. cabin, and put a heat shield on the wall behind it and one on the floor. That way it can go within 18" of the wall.

The solar panels I was talking about was not for running electricity but for heating. See this link: http://www.motherearthnews.com/Renew...ar-Heater.aspx
and this one: http://www.solarwindowheaters.com/shop/

I have two of the solar window heaters and they really work. Any window will transmit heat but putting these up helped distribute it better. I have one in an east facing window in the mornings and then switch it to south facing around noon along with the second one. Even on very cold days (20's) as long as the sun is shining I don't need to run the furnace.

Here is info on the interior storm windows. They are very easy to install.

Another real saver for me is I have the hot water heater on a timer to come on only one hour each morning. Don't know if that is possible for a gas heater. Another option is to turn a gas water heater to pilot and just turn it up for an hour or so once or twice a day (if it is easy to get to).

Best of luck in your endeavour to cut utility costs. Sounds like you are paying way too much for such a small living area.