... between rock & hard place ...

Pouncer · #41 02/06/11, 10:32 AM

I have a couple suggestions that I didn't catch already offered in this thread.

First, have you had the furnace checked? That is, when was the last time it was serviced? How frequently do you change the filters? If it seems to run a lot, start there. Money well spent, honest.

Secondly, which area of the home is warmest? Usually there is one room that stays comfortable.....you can "move" heat by placing a tiny fan on the floor, and drawing out the colder air on the floor of the coldest room, towards the furnace. Sounds silly, right? But it works. By removing the colder air at the floor, it sets up a small air current, bringing in the heat up near the ceiling. (I use this myself, and successfully heat over 1500 sq ft with wood stove alone-lots of glass, but a well insulated 5 star energy rated home) My home has a large main area, and bedrooms on either side....Using those small personal fans (six inch?) makes about a five degree difference.

When was the last time the hot water heater was serviced? Yes, they too, need maintenance, you may need another (oh dang, brain fart-element?) or it may need to be drained and cleaned.

Another thing to do is to buy some spray urethane foam. You'll have to wait until its much warmer for it to "fluff up" like it needs to, but you can go around and plug all the holes underneath. You can also just buy bales of fiberglass insulation as you can afford them. Tape them into place on the skirting, and cover with plastic sheeting for vapor barrier.

And something else that has been done by old timers up here-urethane the roof and seal it. Expensive, but the pay back is immediate. About four inches would give you around a R25 addition to the roof itself.

Don't forget plastic over the windows, too.

FunnyRiverFarm · #42 02/06/11, 10:56 AM

We have a free standing wood stove that we paid about $300 for used. We also paid for the chimney parts/installation which I think was another $300 or so. We don't have to buy wood at this point but we did buy some last year and it took about $100 worth of wood (2 face cords)/month to heat our home. Our home is 2,100 square feet with a full basement (so 4,200 sq ft total). Before we were using a propane boiler system which is fairly efficient but we were still paying probably $250/month on fuel. I would say that putting in the wood stove was the best $600 we ever spent...if you can get the money together for the initial purchase and installation it will pay itself off in a matter of months.

Ravenlost · #43 02/06/11, 02:52 PM

I used steel wool to stuff into the holes around pipes. It will keep the heat in and keep mice out!

deb · #44 02/06/11, 05:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by motdaugrnds

We live in a single-wide trailer on 6 acres with a water well. The furnace is oil run by electricity and the trailer is run by electricity as is the water from the well. We are "dependant" on electricity!

It would be helpful if you included your general location.

deb
in wi

Belfrybat · #45 02/06/11, 05:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by deb

It would be helpful if you included your general location.

deb
in wi

In one post she said she was in Southern VA.

motdaugrnds · #46 02/06/11, 09:20 PM

Belfrybat, thanks again for that link and information about solar windows. David and I will look into it. If we can get buy without running the oil furnace much of the time, that would save us a lot. If I understand you correctly, these "solar" units are simply windows (storm screens?) I would put up in place of the windows we have. If this is truly the heat source, I am wondering what we would do on cloudy days or at night without use of our present oil furnace.

Pouncer, yes we have the furnace checked each fall. It runs like a dream. The cost is more in the "oil" we have to buy for it to use than in the electricity it uses to run. Thanks for the infor about urethane foam to plug holes. I will look into that.

FunnyRiverFarm, I appreciate your sharing with me what you did. It helps much to hear what works for others.

Ravenlost, I never thought of stuffing the holes around the pipes with steel wool. They are so cheap and I would love to keep the mice out too.

am1too · #47 02/06/11, 10:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by motdaugrnds

We live in a single-wide trailer on 6 acres with a water well. The furnace is oil run by electricity and the trailer is run by electricity as is the water from the well. We are "dependant" on electricity!

This has come to be a rather frightening situation that we would like to rectify as money is, indeed, an issue. Yes, we know of generators (need gas that is skyrocketing in price), solar panels (sound expensive & complicated for our situation) & even windmills (very unclear as to using this). David has even experimented with magnets in an attempt to get us off the electric grid. We have considered a wood stove; however, our wood supply is extremely limited, which means it would wind up being an additional expense just to buy the wood.

I am hoping someone in here can think "outside" the box enough to help us find an alternative way of heating the house and running appliances (refrig, freezer, air & maybe furnace).

There is plenty of wood around me to cut. Even if I cut everything on my place there are lots of people who want their trees cut. I could cut 75 -100 ricks off my place.

Ravenlost · #48 02/06/11, 11:30 PM

It works! Mice will not chew through steel wool.

Wolf mom · #49 02/07/11, 12:08 AM

Here's a good site for mobile home repair:

http://mobilehomerepair.com

They have a good forum that might be of help also that goes into other things like remodeling, insulating - not just repair. . One of the things they go into is how to seal/insulate under your trailer.

It sure gave me ideas, maybe you as well.

The site below gives a detailed explanation of how to make & install inside storm windows.

http://www.angelfire.com/planet/everest323k/storm.html

motdaugrnds · #50 02/07/11, 12:32 AM

Wolf mom, thanks for the links. Will take a look at those.

Belfrybat · #51 02/07/11, 08:29 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by motdaugrnds

Belfrybat, thanks again for that link and information about solar windows. David and I will look into it. If we can get buy without running the oil furnace much of the time, that would save us a lot. If I understand you correctly, these "solar" units are simply windows (storm screens?) I would put up in place of the windows we have. If this is truly the heat source, I am wondering what we would do on cloudy days or at night without use of our present oil furnace.

Pouncer, yes we have the furnace checked each fall. It runs like a dream. The cost is more in the "oil" we have to buy for it to use than in the electricity it uses to run. Thanks for the infor about urethane foam to plug holes. I will look into that.

FunnyRiverFarm, I appreciate your sharing with me what you did. It helps much to hear what works for others.

Ravenlost, I never thought of stuffing the holes around the pipes with steel wool. They are so cheap and I would love to keep the mice out too.

I'll PM you about the storm windows and/or window solar collectors.

motdaugrnds · #52 02/07/11, 09:41 AM

Thanks Belfrybat, I would appreciate help in better understanding what you have told me about those solar windows.

fantasymaker · #53 02/07/11, 01:01 PM

A old fashioned windmill water pump would be just the thing, have it supply TWO cisterns one at ground level and one up the windmill tower the higher one can supply the house and pressure.

edcopp · #54 02/07/11, 01:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by motdaugrnds

We live in a single-wide trailer on 6 acres with a water well. The furnace is oil run by electricity and the trailer is run by electricity as is the water from the well. We are "dependant" on electricity!

This has come to be a rather frightening situation that we would like to rectify as money is, indeed, an issue. Yes, we know of generators (need gas that is skyrocketing in price), solar panels (sound expensive & complicated for our situation) & even windmills (very unclear as to using this). David has even experimented with magnets in an attempt to get us off the electric grid. We have considered a wood stove; however, our wood supply is extremely limited, which means it would wind up being an additional expense just to buy the wood.

I am hoping someone in here can think "outside" the box enough to help us find an alternative way of heating the house and running appliances (refrig, freezer, air & maybe furnace).

Where are you?

Belfrybat · #55 02/07/11, 03:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by edcopp

Where are you?

Southern Virginia according to what she has posted.

BruceC · #56 02/08/11, 09:16 AM

Trailer walls are too thin to heat cheap in cold climate. Period.
I got a wacky ideal that is certainly “outside the box…

I’ve seen people wrap their houses in plastic. I’ve seen people stack straw against the house for insulation… cover your trailer with straw bales and wrap in plastic. Never seen it done but they make straw houses and the main benefit is massive insulation. I’m thinking a double row of bales up to the windows, frame out the doors and windows with wood and continue to the top. Even cover the roof. Then order a piece of that thick rubber to cover the whole thing. Hold it down with metal banding secured to ground stakes. Not sure how long it would last but I bet your heat cost would go down a lot using your existing furnace. I think it would be cool in summer too.

fantasymaker · #57 02/08/11, 09:59 AM

NO NO NO! DONT DO THAT! Every year someone does that and suffacates! Just leave the plastic off.

#58 02/08/11, 10:20 AM

I scored 22 sheets of 2" X 4' X 8' styrafoam on Craigs List last fall. I put them arround the outside bottom of my mobile home so they go 4' up from the ground. I screwed through plywood slats about 2" wide, through the top of styrafoam, and into the home where there are studs in the wall.

I don't know exactly how well this works. I was only up at the cabin between Christmas and New Years when it was really cold. It did seem to help.

motdaugrnds · #59 02/08/11, 10:12 PM

I checked the "blog" about how to install a wood burner into a small trailer. It was quite informative and very clear. I am thinking something similar may be what we will wind up doing; but need to clear it with HUD as well as our county's building inspection department.

I, also, checked into the link about solar windows and discovered they are $350 + $45 shipping "each" and need to have a southern exposure. This means it would be going into "one" window (my bedroom at the end of the trailer), which I really prefer to keep cooler than the rest of the house.

I, also, checked into the link about the small wood burner and it is mostly for looks. Yes it is small and would probably heat the middle part of our trailer; but I could not cook on it. (I really want one I can cook on just in case the electricity goes out.)

Belfrybat · #60 02/09/11, 07:51 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by motdaugrnds

I, also, checked into the link about solar windows and discovered they are $350 + $45 shipping "each" and need to have a southern exposure. This means it would be going into "one" window (my bedroom at the end of the trailer), which I really prefer to keep cooler than the rest of the house.

I failed to catch the fact you don't have a southern exposure. I paid $125.00 each for the ones I have including shipping, but as I mentioned in my PM to you, the best way is to make your own. I put one in my only East facing window in the morning and then move it to a south facing around 1pm. By keeping the bedroom door open, the heat spreads throughout that part of the house.

I also failed to read you wanted a wood stove that also cooks. You can find them but they might take up more space than you want. I use a portable butane stove for outages. Others use an alcohol stove that is apparently very cheap to make and effecient. Just search the forums and you'll find the directions.