Tips for How Best to Winterize Your Manufactured Home

With the holiday season nearly upon us, there’s no escaping the fact winter is coming on fast. That’s the reason now is the ideal time for owners of manufactured homes to begin winterizing their units, before the season’s cold temperatures and wet conditions settle in.

As you proceed, keep in mind winterizing’s three main goals – prevent cold air from coming into your unit, keep the warm air inside from escaping, and ensure that even the chilliest temperatures won’t freeze your plumbing and pipes. Here are some easy steps you can take to make sure you and your manufactured home get through the season in comfort.

Full Speed Reverse: Those ceiling fans you use to cool off in the summer can serve a different purpose in winter. Simply reverse the fans so the blades spin clockwise. This pulls up cold air, pushing all that naturally rising warm air around the room. The result will be a warmer room and lower energy costs.

Stand for Inspection: Hot water is never more welcome than in winter, so now is the time to have your water heater tank inspected. Tanks are generally built to last 10-15 years, after which deterioration can happen quite rapidly. You or a professional should inspect tanks for cracks and, if any are found, the tank should be replaced.

What a Drip: Everyone knows running water is much less likely to freeze than still water. Given that, if your manufactured home experiences freezing temperatures, consider letting the faucets drip a little. The dripping won’t run up the water bill significantly, and that little movement of fluid can prevent pipes from freezing or bursting.

Caulk Talk: Caulk is an essential and inexpensive tool if you’re looking to keep the heat in and the cold out. Simply apply caulk or weatherstrip seals to any gaps you discover in windows and doors. If caulking and/or weatherstripping doesn’t solve the problem, the window or door in question may need to be replaced.
 
No Shirking Skirting: Skirting helps manufactured homes retain heat and prevents snow from building up under the unit. After all, it’s a lot harder to warm a home that’s sitting on a pile of snow, so all exposed areas should be skirted. Metal, vinyl and specialty plastic skirts are common, but make sure you use a material that’s appropriate for your climate. For instance, vinyl skirting may not hold up as well in high winds and is susceptible to impact damage.

Circulation: To be clear, no one is saying you need to have all your closets and cabinets open at all times, turning the home into an obstacle course. But by exposing spaces that don’t have vents to circulate heat, you keep the walls and floors heated everywhere in your unit. This better protects pipes and enhances your home’s overall coziness.

At Harmony Communities, we feel strongly that each resident has a sense of home. That they come home from work and feel pride in their environment and in their place in the greater community. That families are comfortable raising children in our neighborhoods, and that couples and singles know that they belong to something bigger than their four walls. In other words, we seek to create harmony within each community, making our communities not just passable, but peaceful, safe, functional, and beautiful.