How to heat home without electricity modular.

[AlphaTea]

You are way over thinking this.
I think it would be a good idea for you to go by a place that sells stoves and have a talk with with a person who is knowlegable in this area.
They usually have working floor models and can give you some good tips.

[ladyhk13]

Just my .02 cents worth... the kero heater is horrible on the lungs if you are trying to heat a house with it (especially with children) and will make your ceiling black over a short period of time - I've had to clean up the mess.
Next, when you decide to put a wood stove in your house you might want to consider putting it on an inside wall instead of an exterior because it will keep your house warmer (you will lose less heat). IMHO.

[AlphaTea]

Just my .02 cents worth... the kero heater is horrible on the lungs if you are trying to heat a house with it (especially with children) and will make your ceiling black over a short period of time - I've had to clean up the mess.
Next, when you decide to put a wood stove in your house you might want to consider putting it on an inside wall instead of an exterior because it will keep your house warmer (you will lose less heat). IMHO.

Much wisdom in this post.

Remember though, some times it is easier to run chimney through a wall than through the roof.

[ak474u]

Modular homes are built on I beams, and have light gauge struts projecting to the perimeter of the module. When I worked for a mfd. home company, we had to reinforce the frame for corner garden tubs, because it would literally stress the frame and make it sag. We had an upgrade for people who wanted a water bed in their room too. That being said, in lots of our houses, we had standard residential fire boxes for the fireplace. We didn't use stone for the hearth, we used 24" ceramic tile, and concrete backer board. I'd feel just fine with a wood stove in an interior corner (between the I beams) with a nice big square of tiled flooring around it. Definitely glue, and crew your underlayment so it doesn't flex with the movement of the house. I'd probably also treat the wall near it the same way, and tile it to provide fire resistance, and some focusing of the heat toward the space you're living in. My .02. Hope it's helpful.

Ooh, ooh, ooh, almost forgot... If its a double wide, and IIRC you said 20x72' so I think it is, unless the modular is on a stem wall foundation, don't put your hearth tile that I mentioned above over the "mating line" or the joint between the sides, that joint expands and contracts, and it'll jack your tile up.