What is the best way to insulate at double wide trailer?

Question

We have a 3 bedroom 2 bath double wide. Air conditioner works (not that good) but in 98 degree weather it doesn't get to pleasant inside. Tried putting covers on all windows. Tried seperating rooms with covers so air wouldn't have to work so much. Don't have trees to provide shade from sunlight for the house at all. All the trees are outside our fence or FAR away from the house. It gets so bad we sometimes have to stay over at families house until the sun goes down. Any helpful advice. Can't afford to move out or buy new trailer so smart alecks please refrain from speaking......

Answer 1

You can add extra insulation in the walls also put a extra layer of sheetrock over the walls Good Luck

Answer 2

Have you tried awnings outside to shade the windows?

You also might have good results from using something reflective on the windows...shiny side out so the heat bounces back off the house.

You can put fans in front of the AC to blow the cool air around more. Fans in front of buckets of ice water may help too.

If you have ceiling fans there is a button to reverse the current. When it's hot you want the air to be sucked UP to the ceiling instead of blowing down on you.

Another fan trick (INSTEAD of AC) is setting up cross ventilation with 2 different open windows that are semi-across from each other, or at opposite ends of the house. In ONE window you blow the outside air IN, and in the other you blow the inside air OUT causing a breeze between the two fans. This is ideal in a trailer because they are long and narrow. You do need a clear path through, meaning doors stay open and a pretty straight shot from one window to the other. This would be great in combination with the rough totes full of ice water, so that the fan pulls the cool air through itself.

And last...see if you can scrape together enough money for a second AC unit. That is a very large area to cool with one windo unit. Make sure it's energy efficient so the electric bill doesn't get out of hand and invest in low energy light bulbs to help with that.

If nothing else works...a very low tech way to help people stay cooler...

Rub ice cubes on your pulse points (where you would put perfume). This is where lots of blood flows just under the skin. It cools down from the ice, then circulates through your body.

Drink more water.

Fill a spray bottle full of water and keep your hair wet.

Answer 3

We just put a fresh coat of what used to be kool seal on our mobile. Now it is called Henry's or something like that. It is $63 for a 5 gallon bucket at home depot and we used it on the roof. You can paint the roof and the outside panels. Cut the heat down by 20 degrees inside.

Edit: We also put window tint on the windows, fairly cheaply, and it reduced the heat coming in. I have a link that shows you specifically all of the energy uses within your home. It clearly states that window units are cheaper than central a/c. Here is the link... http://advisor.lbl.gov/apusage.html

We had a friend that bought a bunch of those old used white tarps and put them down over his roof. He hardly ever had to run the a/c because of it. It was reflecting about 50-75% of the heat coming in.

Hope this helps.