Co$t$ of farming in Alaska and transition to full-time farming (Fairbanks: house, price)

[Metlakatla]

LOL. Remote IT work.

[Arktikos]

Originally Posted by joe1024

..I just looked up the avg temperatures of Haines, and it truly is quite hot. Looks like AC at home would have to run May through October, just like in NewJersey. .

You're looking at the wrong place, or possibly their record all time highs. Unless you find 50's to 70's hot. The interior, where it gets quite cold in the winter, is actually much warmer than Haines in the summer. But please, don't let me dissuade you from heading further north. By all means, go for it.

[AKStafford]

Originally Posted by joe1024

And January is averaging between 20-30F. That's not even remotely starting to feel cold.

Lived in Haines for a winter when I was a kid. I remember not being able to get out the front door one day because it had frozen shut. And the winds come screaming down the Chilkat Valley... Trust me. It gets cold.

[Metlakatla]

No one has AC in Haines. It doesn't get that hot in the summer.

[joe1024]

Originally Posted by Haolejohn

Remote IT work doesn't really work out here. The internet is to spotty. My previous employer tried remote It work and there were times it just didn't work.

I'm not expecting it to work in remote areas in the woods. But is it too much to ask for a reliable (even if slow) connection near bigger towns/cities ?

Generally, I'd choose something where I wouldn't have to be 100% of the time connected (via RemoteDesktop/VNC/whatever) and only had to upload my work few times a day, and just work offline (save for meetings).


Does the above still sound unreasonable ?

[joe1024]

Originally Posted by Blind Cleric

You're looking at the wrong place, or possibly their record all time highs. Unless you find 50's to 70's hot. The interior, where it gets quite cold in the winter, is actually much warmer than Haines in the summer. But please, don't let me dissuade you from heading further north. By all means, go for it.

I'm not looking at record highs/lows. Just the avg low/high on weather.com. (the monthly averages chart). Every place on planet gets occasional heatwave. I know you can have 85+ F in AK in summer in plenty places. I read about that plenty times. It's still better than 100'F heatwave I had in Chicago few times.

But 70's is definitely uncomfortably hot. And if I was to make a big change like that, then the last mistake I'd want to do is go to a place where I need AC running 4 months in a year.

Example - right now, today, where I am, it's 67'F outside. My ACs were pulled 2 weeks ago, windows are wide open, and I'm cursing like a sailor right now...

Another example - there's a park where I take regular walks for 90-120 minutes. For me, it was really comfortable, when it was 48'F couple days ago. People there were wearing parkas, scarfs, wool hats, 2-3 layers of clothing, some had gloves.

I'm just alright in shorts and T-shirt. For two hours. In 48'F. Everybody stares, obviously. It's uncomfortable. I don't belong in this climate.

[Arktikos]

Originally Posted by joe1024

..But 70's is definitely uncomfortably hot. And if I was to make a big change like that, then the last mistake I'd want to do is go to a place where I need AC running 4 months in a year.

Example - right now, today, where I am, it's 67'F outside. My ACs were pulled 2 weeks ago, windows are wide open, and I'm cursing like a sailor right now...

Alright then. First, Haines doesn't see a lot of 70's days, as the average high in the warmest month is 65, and when they get them they're mostly in the low 70's. 80's may never occur in any given summer.
So, comparing it to a New Jersey summer- "just like"- isn't remotely accurate.

But, if you really need cooler summer weather, the north to northwest coast of Alaska would be the ticket. Some place such as Cape Lisburne, where the average summer high is in the 40's CAPE LISBURNE, ALASKA - Climate Summary

Problem is, you can't grow a bloody thing in weather that cool. Somethings got to give.

[AKStafford]

Originally Posted by joe1024

I'm not expecting it to work in remote areas in the woods. But is it too much to ask for a reliable (even if slow) connection near bigger towns/cities ?

Generally, I'd choose something where I wouldn't have to be 100% of the time connected (via RemoteDesktop/VNC/whatever) and only had to upload my work few times a day, and just work offline (save for meetings).


Does the above still sound unreasonable ?

You are basically going to have to pick a spot, see if you get the internet you need and if not; look for another spot. I live here in the MatSu Valley, with almost 100,000 people. We have two internet providers, MTA & GCI. But there are pockets only served by one. And you don't have to get very far out from the population center to run into slower service. MTA has been working hard to expand their network, but they serve an area the size of West Virginia with most homes being very spread out.
There is a couple of satellite options, but I've never used them or talked to anyone who has. I'm pretty sure they've got slower speeds.

[Haolejohn]

Originally Posted by joe1024

I'm not expecting it to work in remote areas in the woods. But is it too much to ask for a reliable (even if slow) connection near bigger towns/cities ?

Generally, I'd choose something where I wouldn't have to be 100% of the time connected (via RemoteDesktop/VNC/whatever) and only had to upload my work few times a day, and just work offline (save for meetings).


Does the above still sound unreasonable ?

I'll just say that once you leave the comfort of a town your internet speeds drop drastically. I'd never recommend someone depending on internet connection for income to live in rural Alaska. There is no such thing as unlimited data. Something as simple as the wind blowing can impact your connection. Downloading and uploading is horrendous and you may spend your whole months data plan on one meeting.

You need to come up and visit the areas you are interested in and check out the data speeds. It's sad. Very sad.

[Music_Man]

ACS in Anchorage has no data cap! But they consider 10mb to be high-speed They finally offered me an upgrade to 10mb from 1mb this month, they finally installed the equipment in the central office that serves me. So now I can watch HD netflix movies. Still cant get anything but off the air TV., GCI wont lay cable and to many trees for satellite. So much for living in the largest city in Alaska.

"U.S. regulators on Thursday raised the standard for high-speed Internet, voting that only connections with download speeds of 25 megabits per second or faster will qualify as broadband. The Federal Communications Commission's previous definition of broadband was a download speed of at least 4 Mbps. The change, opposed by Internet service providers and Republican FCC commissioners, means nearly a fifth of Americans and more than half of those living in rural areas now lack access to high-speed Internet."
Quote from http://www.nbcnews.com/tech/internet...speeds-n296276