# wood furnace in double wide mobile home?



## sd3fan (Mar 10, 2014)

I have a double wide mobile home with an inclosed porch/mudroom.  I was wanting to know if a wood furnace could be put on the porch and hooked up to the existing vents under the home and if so how to go about it?


----------



## newyorker (Mar 10, 2014)

Sounds illegal most arnt mobile home approved but I'm not a pro others will chime in


----------



## GENECOP (Mar 10, 2014)

Definitely possible, forgetting about the legal issues, it could be done, small wood stove with heating coil would be the way to go...IMO. The wood stove would warm the mud room, the coil would heat the living space...


----------



## flyingcow (Mar 10, 2014)

Whatever you do, make sure each room, especially bedrooms, have a functioning window to crawl out of in a hurry. When a mobile home catches fire, it's a heck of a chimney. Stuck windows are not uncommon because of shifting of the home. 

Going to a solid metal or big stone hearth on the floor around any wood burning device.

Getting a wood furnace to balance and perform as good as the existing one, might be a challenge., Forced air can be a bit tricky to do right.


----------



## brenndatomu (Mar 10, 2014)

sd3fan said:


> a wood furnace could be put on the porch and hooked up to the existing vents under the home


That would make it a downdraft wood furnace, NO manufacturer will let you do this, so that means it would not meet code anywhere, or be insurable. Could it be done...sure...should it be...nope!


----------



## NE WOOD BURNER (Mar 10, 2014)

I do not think the mobile home was designed for a wood burning forced hot air. The main trunk line needs more clearance than is provided in the HVAC system installed in that style home. I have been curious about this scenario since most FHA furnaces in mobile or manufactured homes utilize Kerosene which is very expensive. so my curiosity was based on what alternative heating systems could be used to help offset these tremendous costs. In a park a central community system would be very cost effective. A grant could be written to accommodate this I'm sure. Individual unit could possibly use an indoor unit placed in a shed utilizing a heat exchanger in the existing FHA system. The exhaust venting of a wood fuel source I'm not sure is allowed  or wise in the manufactured home.
Maybe others here have run into this scenario or would be willing to think this one through for a safe alternative central heating system.    pellets come to mind as the source fuel could be controlled with no moisture variable. I know the venting requirements maybe easier to design safely for a manufactured home.

just a reminder! codes are written for life and safety. they are written usually after a death or several deaths have occurred.


----------



## JustWood (Mar 11, 2014)

It can be done and it works well.
Just out of high school I bought a cheap mobile home and built an entryway/mudroom on.
Installed an Englander FA furnace. Overkilled a cement board heat shield and clearances. Ran 8"  flex duct under the home through some really heavy PVC sewer pipe I picked up cheap at an auction. It wasn't efficient but it got the job done for the income I had at the time.
It was perfectly safe. At the time there was no such thing as code here. My HO insurance did get cancelled a few years after when the agent came by and took pics of the entryway with a chimney sticking out.
It can be done safe in an attached entryway. In no way would I consider putting one INSIDE a mobile home.I think most of the horror in wood stoves in a mobile home is the fact that the older ones were totally wrapped in metal/aluminum and the crank out windows that you couldn't easily open and crawl out.  Todays mobile homes (post1990) are made to high standards as far as structure.
Can it be done safe and made to work ? Yes.
Will it meet code? More than likely not .
Will your HO insurance be cancelled? 99% probability it will be . They look for excuses.


----------

