Need heat suggestions for a manufactured home.

[Chris83]

I made the mistake of buying a brand new double wide manufactured home in 2007 but that's another story.

It's all electric with a heat pump being the only source of heat/ac it does have a little fire place for wood burning but i don't think it's really meant to be a heat source, i do use use it but i'm scared to build up to much of a fire in it.

It has cut outs so you can convert it to a gas fire place but even then i'm not sure if it's meant to be a heat source or just for looks. The heat pump can not keep it very warm inside without needed to use the auxiliary heat which cost a ton to use. I end up with $300+ electric bills in the cold months.

I've been saving to replace the heat pump/air handler because there is a leak in the coil. But i feel like i should decide on what i want to do before buying a new one.

I have thought about many things like a outdoor wood burning furnace, i figure if i did anything much inside the insurance company might have issues with it and it's hard to find someone that will insure a manufactured home at a decent rate.

I have land where i can cut wood so i could get wood for free expect the time involved.

Any suggestions?

 

[bholler]

There are many stoves approved for use in manufactured homes

 

[cjgoode]

They sell wood stoves approved specifically for mobile homes. We have a gas fireplace with those ventless logs, flue is open a little so we actually are venting it. New ones not the old styrofoam type stuff, they are like fake cement logs. It puts off more heat then I would have guessed, we were using it as a main heat source in our house, same issue heat pumps having issues. But it could not keep up in the real cold and I was not comfortable running it all day. So I put in a wood stove 20 feet from it I can run 24x7 if needed, plus I really wanted a wood stove again. But many people use their VENTED gas fireplace as a primary heat source. We have several carbon monoxide alarms because of the gas logs and they do put off soot. You cannot see it but after a lot of burning you can see it on the windows if you are looking for it, even the gas company that installed the new ones said yeah they do but its minimal and takes a long time to build up on the windows.

Edited and added the VENTED gas fireplaces, thanks bholler for catching that.

 

[bholler]

They sell wood stoves approved specifically for mobile homes. We have a gas fireplace with those ventless logs, flue is open a little so we actually are venting it. New ones not the old styrofoam type stuff, they are like fake cement logs. It puts off more heat then I would have guessed, we were using it as a main heat source in our house, same issue heat pumps having issues. But it could not keep up in the real cold and I was not comfortable running it all day. So I put in a wood stove 20 feet from it I can run 24x7 if needed, plus I really wanted a wood stove again. But many people use their gas fireplace as a primary heat source. We have several carbon monoxide alarms because of the gas logs and they do put off soot. You cannot see it but after a lot of burning you can see it on the windows if you are looking for it, even the gas company that installed the new ones said yeah they do but its minimal and takes a long time to build up on the windows.

You should never use a ventless unit as a main source of heat. Especially not gas logs in a zero clearnce unit. It goes againts the instuctions of the gas logs and the fireplace. And it can lead to terrible if not dangerous interior air quality. They are not ventless they are room vented.

 

[cjgoode]

You should never use a ventless unit as a main source of heat. Especially not gas logs in a zero clearnce unit. It goes againts the instuctions of the gas logs and the fireplace. And it can lead to terrible if not dangerous interior air quality. They are not ventless they are room vented.

YES correction many people use their VENTED gas fireplaces for primary heat (left that word out), because these new ones can put off enough heat your primary heat never turns on. Ours is actually vented with a flue, and still need carbon monoxide detectors, and even though you can see the heat streaming out the chimney good updraft still had soot you could detect on the windows easily so everything else also had it on it, meaning its also in the air you breathe plus who knows what else. Cannot see it coming off the fire, but its there. Like I said even with ours vented I was not comfortable running it all day even though we were told we could because its in a fireplace with a flue, but I know many who do. My wife wanted to do the ventless zero clearance units down here in Fl for those extremely rare cold days, like now for for ambiance then a heat source, sit around the fire like we did up north. I said not a chance, we will drive to the cabin and sit around the fire.

 

[Seasoned Oak]

A real Mfg home approved wood stove would be a nice addition but check with your insurance ,some companies will cancel you or add big surcharges for a wood stove. Sometime its not worth the extra cost. Depending on the area and Ins company.

 

[Tar12]

I have Erie Insurance for my double wide and they did not hesitate to insure me....they charge me a whopping extra $50 per year. I went with a BK inside stove because of serious duct issues here...prior to that I ran a Woodmaster outdoor boiler for 24 years and loved that the mess was kept outside...you can easily hook up a boiler to your system and your insurance will readily accept this....I filled the boiler once a day regardless of outdoor temps...the down side to boiler is the wood consumption is far greater but there is the piece of mind of no fire inside your home and no mess and they will burn less than ideal wood and there is no cold and hot spots in your home....for your situation I would go boiler all the way.

 

[Seasoned Oak]

I guess either way your going outside ,either to bring in the wood or to feed an outside stove. Most cases iv seen, the inside stoves uses a lot less wood.