Question this time about high utilities

[Breck09]

I noticed someone named Middymom asked a question about extremely high utilities bills. I too had a house before getting a mobile home and the cost was about half what I pay now. I have an 15 x 76 and my bills are around 300-400 per month when I had my house my bill was about 140-180 per month. My home is less than 10 years old. Does anyone know why such huge increase?

[Yanita]

Hi,

Typically it is because our homes (MH) have thinner walls with less insulation. Sometimes straight from the factory the insulation was not installed very well. Not long enough, not going from stud to stud etc...

Also the doors and windows are a major factor if your home has the standard MH stuff.

Metal roofs and metal siding retain alot of heat, not enough ventilation are reasons to have higher utilities.

Have you checked your duct work to make sure it is in good repair? No kinks, holes or laying on the ground. Have you changed your filters in the past 30 days or sooner? Has you AC/Furnace been serviced properly every year?

There are many things that can come into play with utility bills.

To me it is hard to say what is high and what is not, of course your home, area and electric rates come into play as well.

If I compared and have my electric to my neighbors I win every time. We both have the same size home, although there's is about 15 years newer.

We both have new windows, doors etc...BUT, the had a heat pump/AC unit installed by someone who did not know what they were doing in regards to a MH set up. I had my gas pack installed by knowledgeable people. Under my home is also secure with belly wrap and there's is not. There average monthly summer bill, $400 and sometimes almost $600.00. They also run a pool pump like mine.

They do not have an attic fan any longer and we have the whirly bird type and another that is thermostatically controlled to expel the hot air from the attic.

We also have a very large water garden with pumps and a garage that always has a welder etc going on weekends...my highest bill I can remember is $208.

Yanita

[Harry]

Hi

Our bills avg around $150.

We are 100% electric.

Thermostat is 70 in the winter and 80 in the summer. We use ceiling fans.

Life is good.

Harry

[Dean3]

breck09,,when did You change homes? Utilities have been on a steep rise for a while now,for Me KWHs and propane BTUs are about double what they were 6 years ago.

My elec co-op has a website where I can research My old bills,costs have gone up even tho usage is steady or even down. I bet dollars to donuts that is part of Your problem too,Yanita pretty much pegged it all I'll guess.

Dean

[flcruising]

You don't show what part of the country you're in btw.

Our utilities average the same as Harry's ($150). All electric, no heat pump either.

Yanita covered all the typical areas to look at for energy efficiency. The main goal is to minimize the home's air leaks. Caulk and gaskets can certainly help. That's mainly why windows/doors are addressed. Otherwise, the biggest energy hogs of any home is the a/c and electric water heater. Therefore, anything you do to ease the load on those items, will give you a net savings on your energy bills.