New manufactured homes may get more efficient thanks to housing law

A new federal housing law gives the Trump administration one year to set updated energy-efficiency standards for manufactured homes, which make up about one in 10 new houses in the country and are especially common across the South. These homes are exempt from state and local energy codes, and older models often have thin insulation, drafty windows and doors, and outdated heating and cooling systems. Winter heating bills of $300 to $400 a month are common in older units, a real burden given that manufactured-home residents earn a median income of about $40,000, less than half that of people in site-built houses.

The law also renews a federal grant program to help families replace older manufactured homes, including some built before the government had any efficiency rules at all, and it drops the old requirement that these homes be built on a permanent steel chassis for transport, even though most never move after being set up. Advocates say a well-built replacement home could cut energy use inside by about half compared with the oldest units.

A similar efficiency upgrade proposed in 2022 estimated it would add roughly $4,222 to the cost of a double-wide home and $660 to a single-wide, costs homeowners would recover in energy savings within one to five years. Those standards were paused by the Trump administration last year and never took effect. Whether the new rules due within a year match or exceed that level of savings is still to be decided.