Mobile Home Insulation for the Arizona Heat
Mobile homes offer millions of Americans affordable housing options. However, they are infamous for their high utility costs and energy inefficiency, particularly when poorly insulated.
If you’ve lived in Arizona for a while, you know how extreme its temperatures can be, especially in the southern and northern regions. According to Weather Spark statistics, the Grand Canyon State usually heats to about 107°F in summer.
With such extreme temperatures, you’ll likely suffer hot attics, potential heat strokes, discomfort, and high utility costs. Fortunately, you can avoid all these with one easy fix — proper mobile home insulation.
In this article, Phoenix Mobile Home LLC takes you through the intricacies of upgrading mobile home insulation. We are your go-to mobile home experts in Arizona and its surrounding areas.
Upgrading Mobile Home Insulation
A recent study by BC Hydro shows mobile homes use up to 50% more energy per square foot than regular homes. Similar research by the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy shows manufactured homeowners spend 5% of their household incomes, about $1,500, on energy annually. Based on these staggering statistics, homeowners can lose more to utility costs than what they save by buying a mobile home.
Mobile Home Insulation vs. Energy Efficiency
A home’s capacity to conserve energy largely depends on how well it is insulated. It can help lower conductive heat flow, preventing heat from penetrating your residence in the summer and escaping in the winter. It can also help your HVAC system function better by reducing the dust brought in from the outside.
Simply put, proper mobile home insulation helps prevent extreme fluctuations in your home’s temperature. As a result, you’ll use less energy cooling or warming the house. According to the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), adequately insulated homes can save up to 20% on cooling and heating costs.
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Do You Need to Upgrade Your Mobile Home’s Insulation?
Most modern-day mobile homes come fitted with proper insulation. However, if the house is a few years old, its cooling and heating systems might require upgrading.
How do you know it’s time to upgrade your mobile home’s insulation? Below are a few telltale signs to look out for:
Condensation on the Windows
Do your windows fog up in the mornings or when it’s cold outside? If this is the case, your mobile home is not retaining heat. Condensation forms when the heated indoor air collides with the cool window panes. In extreme conditions, the condensed water can flow down your windows, stagnate, and build molds that cause damage to the window frames and respiratory problems.
Colder Rooms
If a single HVAC system serves the entire residence, all rooms should be within the same temperature range. If one room is warmer or cooler than the others, it may lose or gain heat through windows, doors, or poorly insulated walls, roofs, and floors. This can be resolved by improving the room’s insulation.
High Energy Bills
If your electricity bills soar beyond reasonable levels in winter and summer, you probably have a mobile home insulation problem. While recording a slight increase in energy costs during cold and hot months is expected, the variation should be reasonable in properly insulated mobile homes. And reasonably so — the insulation will retain heat, maintaining an almost constant home’s internal temperature.
Cold Walls
A mobile home’s inside walls aren’t in direct contact with the outside elements. As a result, they shouldn’t be too cold or too warm. If your walls are cold in specific places, they may have a ‘cold bridge’ that conducts cold from external elements.
Popular Mobile Home Insulation Upgrades in Arizona
If your home has the above signs of poor insulation, below are a few solutions you can implement:
Blow-in Insulation
This approach is ideal for spaces with current insulation that need improving. You can, for example, use it to upgrade your mobile home’s underbelly insulation. It involves spraying or blowing insulation materials (such as fiberglass, rock wool, or cellulose) into the space to be insulated. This process is DIY-friendly. All you need is a blowing machine and insulating supplies to get started.
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Spray Foam Insulation Under Mobile Homes
You can spray polyurethane foam or liquid latex sprays to fill gaps and crevices under your mobile home or within its walls. These sprays typically expand and harden to fill the cavities and eliminate heat flow. Use low-density open-cell spray foam for small cracks and dense closed-cell spray foam for bigger gaps. This technique is ideal for insulation under mobile homes, walls, and concrete roofs.
Batt Insulation
This mobile home insulation method involves mounting fiberglass, mineral wool, cellulose, plastic, or natural fiber blankets on the surfaces you want to insulate. It’s perfect for mobile home floor insulation. You can also use it to insulate unfinished walls and ceilings or upgrade an insulated mobile home skirting.
Foam Board Insulation
A foam or insulating board is a rigid foam panel you can mount over wall studs or roofs to reduce heat conduction. They are typically made from polystyrene or polyisoprene, making them ideal for mobile home exterior and interior insulation.
Skirting Insulation
Skirtings are significantly more important to mobile home temperatures than most homeowners realize. A well-insulated skirting will regulate airflow under your home in the summer, preventing mildew and mold growth. Similarly, skirtings can generate a layer of warm air beneath your home in the winter, protecting you from the cold outdoors.
Water Pipe Insulation
Your mobile home’s crawlspace water pipelines are susceptible to freezing in the winter months. Insufficient insulation in the underbelly could cause them to leak cold into the house. It is, therefore, essential to cover water pipes when replacing insulation under mobile homes.
Radiant Barrier Insulation
Radiant or reflective barriers work differently from other mobile home insulation solutions. Instead of preventing heat from flowing out of your house, they reflect heat away from your home. It uses substrate material like foam boards, kraft papers, or polyethylene coated with reflective objects like aluminum foil.
Attic Insulation
Hot air typically rises to a house’s upper floors. Without adequate mobile home insulation, heat will seep out, leaving the house colder. Insulate the attic and replace the ceiling panels to fix this problem.
Conclusion
Upgrading your mobile home’s insulation can greatly boost its market value. However, an upgrade might be unnecessary, especially if you’re looking to sell and are on a tight budget.
Phoenix Mobile Home LLC purchases Arizona mobile homes in whatever condition they are in. Insulated or not, we’ll help you get the best quote for your manufactured home.
Call us at (480) 462-6575 for a free valuation today.