The multiple drivers of thermal disparities in US manufactured housing

Abstract

Extreme heat kills more Americans than any other weather hazard. Residents of manufactured housing – in both urban and rural settings – are more likely than those in other housing types to need medical attention due to heat exposure at home. This study thus examines the drivers of residential thermal disparities for manufactured housing residents across the US. We use data from the 2020 Residential Energy Consumption Survey and 2021 American Housing Survey to more holistically assess thermal disparities for manufactured housing residents than previous studies. We do this by examining four potential drivers of thermal disparities: air conditioning (AC) access, AC functional use, cooling costs and underlying physical housing deficiencies that hinder cooling. Through a combination of descriptive statistics and multivariate regression modelling, we identify a connected but ranging set of drivers. First, manufactured housing residents have less central AC access and a much higher likelihood of AC equipment breakdowns. Around 10% of manufactured housing AC units break down in a given year, more than twice the frequency in other housing types. Second, while results are mixed regarding differences in cooling costs per square foot, households in manufactured housing experience the highest cooling costs as a share of their annual income of all major housing types. Lastly, manufactured housing has a greater combination of inadequate insulation and other physical deficiencies than other housing types. We discuss the implications of these concerning findings for policy and future research.