I live in a old trailer that doesn't have heat. We have space heaters but can only run one at time or it throws the breaker. It's only really cold about 2 months out of the year here but is there anything else I can do to help warm the place up? Thanks for any help.
We live in Florida too...the rooms with the most windows are our coldest. Cover them well. We only use the heat at night and then I keep the house closed up for the rest of the day and it stays cozy.
You could cover the crawl space if it's open. I've seen bales of stray lined up along the edges to keep out drafts. Also put plastic over the windows. Obviously close doors to rooms not being used.
Caulk around windows. Place plastic on your windows to keep drafts out and place a fleece blanket (or material), over that(or any warm blanket or material). Kerosene heaters are an option.
We too live in a 16 x 80 mobile home near the NC mountains.
I boil water in the kitchen. The steam helps to heat the center of the house and I have steam vaporizer's running in each end in the bedrooms.
Our electric bill is no more then $18 a week ($72 a month) and the whole house is electric PLUS we have an outside yard light & a shed with our freezer in it. Good luck!
If you have a oven you can turn your oven on and open the door if you only want to heat certain rooms close off rooms you don't want to heat, if you have a hall you can put a blanket up over the entrance to keep heat from going there.
Watch out for steam in the rooms. This will create mold. Definitely seal and cover the windows. If there is a crawl space, have someone check the belly board. This is the central support under your floors that holds what is left of your insulation. If the spaces are open, most likely critters have eaten away at some of it.
Yes, check the wiring. If it's old, you are not safe. Electric blankets help at night, and cost pennies per night to run. If you are heating with space heaters, make sure they are blower and not radiant. That kind are fire hazards, and inefficient.
I kept a 3 room quanset house in Fairbanks, AK warm all winter with just two heaters. They were the kind that warm and recycle oil, that are tip proof (turn off when tipped), and are very efficient. Good luck!
The photo I enclosed is for a Honeywell, and is only 49.00 on line, but there are other brands you can get at walmart for about 39.00
In addition to putting plastic up over your windows, go to your local thrift store or church sale and see if you can find heavy insulated drapes for your big windows and sliding glass doors if you have them. It definitely helps keep the warmth inside. Also, make sure you're blocking the drafts from your doors. Good luck!
Window plastic will help, but try covering the entire window frame; that's usually where the air leaks are.
Your oven is probably propane, so it won't blow the circuits. Baking or stovetop cooking will warm up the house, too, and is an energy-efficient way to heat the house because you're killing two birds with one stone.
Put up skirting around the base of your trailer, all the way around it, not leaving any spaces, cracks, etc. This made all the difference in the world on our modular home, after moving in, in October, several years ago. Our electric bill was much lower after we did this.
We lived in a trailor here in Ohio for several years and one of the best ways and cheapest ways we found to heat up a room and still do, after we had made sure to have either plastic or heavy curtains/even blankets as curtains on our windows. Was to use 3 or 4 wick candles from Wal Mart or where ever you can find them at the cheapest price. PLEASE make sure to only use this idea if you are going to be home. In a small room we would use 1 candle but in a larger room we would use 2-3 candles.
Two trailers near us burned to the ground this year right before Christmas. One fire was due to a kerosene heater and the other to faulty electrical wiring. Please have your wiring checked before you do anything! Also, heat rises. Our friends had the roof of their trailer insulated and shingled and they said it helped tremendously with the heating bill.
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How do I keep a trailer warm without money or propane? I have no electric heaters as they cost too much.
You can insulate the trailer as best you can. You can also wear a hat and warm slippers. You also should dress in layers.
One of the ingredients of a winter emergency kit for the car is a candle: if waiting for roadside assistance and out of gas, one little candel will warm the interior of the car to help prevent frostbite. What does that tell us? If all the leaks are sealed and no warm air can escape, no cold air can enter, a small source of heat can provide a good degree of warmth.
Layers of sweaters would help of course, and blankets while sleeping, but why not look into other options? A small wood buring stove (bearing in mind you'll want to open a window when using it) might be a good choice: anyone in your area with even a small construction job would have leftover wood scraps.
Heaters start at 10.00 at Bimart and Walmart. You can heat an entire trailer if it's small with a radiant heater. It's the kind that looks like old radiators but use circulated oil that is very cost efficient. I have found them for as little at 6.99 at thrift stores. They are safe too as they stop working if tipped over.
You can also go to the local energy assistance agency and apply. It might take a while but in the meantime, try asking a thrift store to donate a heater. And yes, dress in layers and keep your head covered. Try an electric blanket at night too.
I do not know where you live but hopefully, winter will soon be over so maybe your need will be short term.
Hopefully you have some type of transportation or a friend to help you gather what you need.
You can go to your local Salvation Army office as they do help if there is a heater available at any of their locations. They will also provide blankets. If you Google your question with your zip code you may find several places that will help people in need.
If you attend church then that is a very good place to seek help. Seek help at any nearby church as they are usually pretty generous with help of this kind.
You can also place a free ad in your local Freecycle and Craigslist asking for help.
I have even heard of people taping/putting cardboard on their walls if insulation is a problem.
I hope you will find the help you need and that warm weather will soon be in your area.
I recently bought a mobile home and the weather here has been in the negatives. My furnace has been running around the clock and I have 3 space heaters. The temperature is 43°! I noticed the other day that you can see the daylight in some places where the walls meet the floor. Also, the free-range felines have been seen in my floor vents just meowing and staring up at us.
Can anyone give me any ideas on a "cheaper" fix than buying a new home? I am a single mother of 2. I have been putting aluminum tape on the obvious hole in my ducts, idk if that will even help. (The kitten in the photo is one of a few that we had to take our vents off to get him out and is now a part of the family.) Thanks in advance!
Stuff blankets in the open spaces until you can get proper insulation
If you're near a dollar store that still has them (never hurts to ask) you can buy some pool tubes (plastic foam floats in shape of long tubes) to stuff into the cracks. They can be cut open on one side and then will fit snuggly in the crack...hard to explain. Cute tuxedo kitty!!!
