Solar energy is an exceptionally effective way to heat a manufactured home (or to heat water) throughout the year. Obviously, before you transform your manufactured home into a solar powered haven, make sure you understand several things.

The most significant thing to understand about a solar energy system is it consists of three components: heat collection, heat storage and heat distribution. Any solar system lacking the capacity for storage can only produce heat during the daytime.

Should you have a passive solar system, the building is the foundation of the three components. If your system is active, the components become a natural part of that solar powered system when it is put in.

Sadly when it comes to manufactured homes there are two drawbacks with solar power: the lack of thermal mass for nighttime storage prevents the uses of a passive system and the space or structural strength may not be good enough for the unit installation of an active solar system.

While the majority of solar measures are pricey and take quite some time to pay for themselves, if you are able to accommodate passive measure with new construction, the price will be equivalent to conventional construction.

Solar water heating is also a very cost-effective measure, second only to assuring the utilization of passive solar features at the time of the manufactured home’s construction. Obviously, you need hot water all year long irregardless of your area’s climate.

Just make sure to weatherize your home if you are considering using solar heat. You can do this by buying heavily insulated windows and by adding weather-stripping to the windows or doors.

Warming up a manufactured home using day time solar power sources is a goal that is not only easily possible but also appropriate. The best supply of daytime solar energy is the use of windows. It isn’t difficult to get this accomplished when you catch the sun via south-facing windows each day.

In turn, you can close the curtains through the night to retain the heat captured. In order to capture the sun’s energy you can mount a thermosiphon air panel on the south wall or take advantage of a roof-mount collector.

If you utilize the latter it will be vital to install ductwork from the collector straight to and from the room that is directly below the air collector. Before you install a roof-mount solar collector it is vital to make sure your manufactured home can endure the additional weight and wind loads.