High heat bills
Posted: Sat Mar 26, 2011 10:32 pm
Hello. I just discovered this forum and wanted to know if the problem I'm experiencing is typical or not.
Five years ago I purchased a 1973 Fleetwood mobile home (single-wide - approx. 860 sq. ft.). I don't know the model or anything. The furnace (propane-fueled, forced air through ducts) looked like it was probably original to the home, although the roof was put on about 18 years ago (a regular, house-like roof, not a mobile roof).
I've always been extremely cold in the winter, and this is my 6th winter in this mobile home (I live in northeastern PA). As I don't make a lot of money, I keep the thermostat between 57-59 degreees most of the heating season (except when it's going to be in the single digits for an extended period of time, then I reluctantly pop it all the way up to 60 degrees).
The air flow at the front of the house (the furthest from the furnace) has always been the weakest, and the second winter I was here a friend from church (who used to work on mobile homes in a former job), checked my ducts and said they were collapsed (dented in) in several places. He stuck boards (2 X 4's) in them to pry them open, then left them in there to act as a support to keep them from re-collapsing. The air is still fairly week all the way at the front, but that's not the problem about which I'm writing.
Between Dec. 22 and Jan. 26 (35 days), I used 130 gallons of propane ($430 - and the price continues to rise with each and every delivery). All but 2 of my windows are covered with heavy plastic, and I have a thick blanket tacked over the interior of my back door.
I don't know what the insulation situation is beneath the mobile, as I've only been under there once (I have health issues which prohibit me from being able to go under, much less stay in that position), but I know the bathroom floor (as well as the floor of the adjacent room) are rotted. (Something the previous owner never told me. Apparently there had been a leak around the toilet, and most of the floor within 8 feet in all directions is weak.) As I said, my income is very low, and I cannot afford to replace the floor. From my one venture beneath the trailer (5 years ago) I know that the insulation around the toilet was pulled down in places (probably where the original leak had been), but I have no idea what the insulation situation is throughout the remainder of the underbelly.
The end of February the furnace conked out again, and it was replaced with a Miller CMF2. I assumed that the new furnace would be much more efficient than the old "relic" which came with the home. However, it doesn't even seem to be maintaining the same warmth as the previous furnace, even though it's set at the same temp. Worse, it still seems to be using extraordinary amounts of fuel. BTW, there are no discernible leaks in the furnace area.
I cannot understand how my heating bills can be so high, particularly as others in my family are paying less than half of what I'm paying each month to cover more than three times the square footage (with even higher ceilings), at much higher temps (65-75 degrees). It makes absolutely no sense. Granted, they live in houses, and not mobile homes, but even so, how can the difference be that much?
I am completely baffled as I'm paying a fortune to freeze.
If anyone told me the story I'm relating here, I'd honestly think they were crazy or a liar -- yet this is the absolute truth. $430 a month to maintain 57 degrees over 860 sq. feet. It boggles the mind. I am at a loss how to deal with this. How is it possible to be using so much fuel to freeze? I feel like I'm lost in a backwards, upside, bizarro world.
Is this typical, or am I just in horrible situation from which there is no realistic escape?
Thank you. Would appreciate any comments or advice.
Five years ago I purchased a 1973 Fleetwood mobile home (single-wide - approx. 860 sq. ft.). I don't know the model or anything. The furnace (propane-fueled, forced air through ducts) looked like it was probably original to the home, although the roof was put on about 18 years ago (a regular, house-like roof, not a mobile roof).
I've always been extremely cold in the winter, and this is my 6th winter in this mobile home (I live in northeastern PA). As I don't make a lot of money, I keep the thermostat between 57-59 degreees most of the heating season (except when it's going to be in the single digits for an extended period of time, then I reluctantly pop it all the way up to 60 degrees).
The air flow at the front of the house (the furthest from the furnace) has always been the weakest, and the second winter I was here a friend from church (who used to work on mobile homes in a former job), checked my ducts and said they were collapsed (dented in) in several places. He stuck boards (2 X 4's) in them to pry them open, then left them in there to act as a support to keep them from re-collapsing. The air is still fairly week all the way at the front, but that's not the problem about which I'm writing.
Between Dec. 22 and Jan. 26 (35 days), I used 130 gallons of propane ($430 - and the price continues to rise with each and every delivery). All but 2 of my windows are covered with heavy plastic, and I have a thick blanket tacked over the interior of my back door.
I don't know what the insulation situation is beneath the mobile, as I've only been under there once (I have health issues which prohibit me from being able to go under, much less stay in that position), but I know the bathroom floor (as well as the floor of the adjacent room) are rotted. (Something the previous owner never told me. Apparently there had been a leak around the toilet, and most of the floor within 8 feet in all directions is weak.) As I said, my income is very low, and I cannot afford to replace the floor. From my one venture beneath the trailer (5 years ago) I know that the insulation around the toilet was pulled down in places (probably where the original leak had been), but I have no idea what the insulation situation is throughout the remainder of the underbelly.
The end of February the furnace conked out again, and it was replaced with a Miller CMF2. I assumed that the new furnace would be much more efficient than the old "relic" which came with the home. However, it doesn't even seem to be maintaining the same warmth as the previous furnace, even though it's set at the same temp. Worse, it still seems to be using extraordinary amounts of fuel. BTW, there are no discernible leaks in the furnace area.
I cannot understand how my heating bills can be so high, particularly as others in my family are paying less than half of what I'm paying each month to cover more than three times the square footage (with even higher ceilings), at much higher temps (65-75 degrees). It makes absolutely no sense. Granted, they live in houses, and not mobile homes, but even so, how can the difference be that much?
I am completely baffled as I'm paying a fortune to freeze.
If anyone told me the story I'm relating here, I'd honestly think they were crazy or a liar -- yet this is the absolute truth. $430 a month to maintain 57 degrees over 860 sq. feet. It boggles the mind. I am at a loss how to deal with this. How is it possible to be using so much fuel to freeze? I feel like I'm lost in a backwards, upside, bizarro world.
Is this typical, or am I just in horrible situation from which there is no realistic escape?
Thank you. Would appreciate any comments or advice.