Upgrade your manufactured home to a heat pump with rebate

Manufactured homes are an affordable way to home ownership for many people.

But while modern manufactured homes may include energy-efficient features, older models may not, adding to your monthly costs to heat and cool your home.

South Alabama Electric Cooperative offers rebates to upgrade manufactured homes to energy-efficient heat pumps. SAEC members may qualify for rebates up to $400 per ton to convert their manufactured home to a heat pump system.

Older manufactured homes were often equipped with electric furnaces. SAEC’s rebate is designed to help cover the higher upfront costs to purchase a heat pump, which can be up to four times more efficient to operate than an electric furnace. And despite the name, heat pumps are efficient at both heating and cooling. Heat pumps work by moving heat from your inside home to the outdoors when set to cool and do the opposite when heating. Since heat pumps don’t generate heat, they are more efficient to run, according to the U.S. Department of Energy.

Members can save hundreds of dollars a year by upgrading to a heat pump.

The rebate is made possible with financial support from PowerSouth Energy Cooperative, says Andy Kimbro, vice president of member services for SAEC. As SAEC’s wholesale energy provider, PowerSouth has to provide enough capacity to meet the power demand among its co-op members. Rebates that improve operational efficiency even at a household level create cost savings for PowerSouth, SAEC and members.

For more information on the manufactured home rebate, contact SAEC’s member services team at 800-556-2060.

Kimbro says whatever heating and cooling system you currently have, it’s important to keep it maintained. Heating and cooling systems can account for roughly 50% of your monthly power bill.

Kimbro recommends having your system serviced once a year and changing the filter monthly to ensure it runs as efficiently as possible.