What Does Energy Efficiency Look Like in a New Manufactured Home?

Whether you’re a first-time home buyer or a homeowner looking for upgrades, you probably/may have questions about managing your finances. You can cut back on your utility bills by investing in energy-efficient features. Many manufactured home retailers offer packages that include energy-efficient features that can help you save money on your utility bills, and Vanderbilt offers a Home Upgrade Loan* to help you make your current manufactured home more efficient. But energy efficiency isn’t just about saving money, using less energy can also help reduce your carbon footprint while delivering you savings each month.

Benefits of Energy-Efficient Features and Upgrades

Compared to many older mobile and manufactured homes, a modern manufactured home can come with many more energy-efficient features. Vanderbilt can finance one of these new homes through our retail partners. These features can help you use less energy to run appliances as well as heat and cool your home. By choosing a home with energy-efficient features, you can potentially save money on your utility bill and reduce your energy consumption.

When looking at the benefits and features of a new manufactured home, keep in mind the average household energy consumption breakdown shown below:

By purchasing a modern manufactured home with energy-efficient features or upgrading your current manufactured home, you could benefit from some of the following:

• Lower Energy Cost — Less energy needed for heating and cooling, which can lower utility costs.
• Improved Comfort — Energy-efficient heating and cooling units can cut down on excessive temperatures to ensure a more comfortable environment.
• A Label Backed by the Government — If you choose an ENERGY STAR® certified home, know that they are verified by independent Home Energy Raters.

Ways Vanderbilt’s Home Upgrade Loan Can Help

With the addition of energy-efficient features, you may be able to decrease your energy consumption and increase your comfort. The Home Upgrade Loan can help finance repairs or energy-efficient upgrades like:

• Insulation — Adding upgraded insulation to your walls, roof and floor can help create an even temperature throughout the house as well as decrease your energy usage, which provides lower heating and cooling costs.
• Heating and Air — When updating heating air, consider adding a smart programmable thermostat. It will allow you to regulate your home’s temperature based on your schedule. You can set your schedule in the programmable thermostat so that it will adjust the temperature in the home depending on whether you are home or not.
• Duct Systems — With additional sealants injected around ducts and seams that prevent leaks, your HVAC system will be more efficient. This also keeps out excessive hot and cold air to ensure consistent temperatures between and across rooms, which will make your home more comfortable.
• High Performance Windows — Low emissive (Low-E) windows have a double-paned feature that regulate UV rays to reduce heat loss during the winter and keep heat out during the summer.
• And more!

These energy saving changes can really pay off. The U.S. Department of Energy estimates that by "combining proper equipment maintenance and upgrades with recommended insulation, air sealing, and thermostat settings, you can save about 30% on your energy bill while reducing environmental emissions.”

The manufactured home construction process typically allows homebuyers the flexibility to customize the design of their home and select energy-efficient features. Check out our tips for more ways to save and be more!