How to Add Heat to an Area Under a Pinned Mobile Home

Open the underpinning if you don't have an access door for the underside of the trailer. How you remove the underpinning will depend on the type of underpinning that you have on the mobile home; metal and vinyl underpinning can simply be pulled back, while heavier underpinning must be removed in panels by removing the screws holding it in place.

Wrap the heat tape around the length of the pipes. Heat tape is not an adhesive tape, but a long band made out of a flexible heating element and covered with insulated rubber. Be careful not to overlap the heat tape with itself as this may cause the tape to overheat and catch fire.

Tape down both ends of the heat tape with the electrical tape, wrapping the electrical tape around the pipes.

Cut a 2-inch-by-2-inch square into the underpinning of the mobile home using a grinder, tin snips or reciprocating saw, depending on your underpinning material.

Plug the heat tape into the extension cord and run the cord through the hole in the underpinning. Plug the extension cord into an outdoor electrical outlet.

Put the underpinning back in place if you removed it. Simply push vinyl or metal underpinning back into its original spot. If you removed a panel of heavier underpinning, put it back in place and screw it onto the mobile home.