Relocating to Alaska - hoping for the Mat-Su Burrough (Anchorage: housing, rent)

[HighlandLady]

Thank you! We are elated, housing costs such as they are, one nearly has to be pre-qualified anymore. I do love Wyoming, as I've stated...but it is being inundated and it isn't as it once was - even in the 90's.

Keep yon fingers crossed for me the home we are wanting is still on the market when I fly up in April!

[Barkingowl]

Fingers will be crossed. I hope, one day, that I can leave this festering sewer of NC.

[HighlandLady]

I've never been to NC, but I hope for yon own sake that you can! If you don't mind me asking - where did you drive when you were in Wyoming?

[Barkingowl]

Originally Posted by HighlandLady

I've never been to NC, but I hope for yon own sake that you can! If you don't mind me asking - where did you drive when you were in Wyoming?

A friend & I drove to California. We took I-80 across & stopped briefly in Cheyenne. My friend spent a couple hours getting a hat fitted. The valleys & mesas were beautiful, even when it rained. God's country for sure. My brother in law & his family lived in Gillette in the mid-90s. They had to move to Ohio when the company that he worked for went bankrupt.

[HighlandLady]

Originally Posted by Barkingowl

A friend & I drove to California. We took I-80 across & stopped briefly in Cheyenne. My friend spent a couple hours getting a hat fitted. The valleys & mesas were beautiful, even when it rained. God's country for sure. My brother in law & his family lived in Gillette in the mid-90s. They had to move to Ohio when the company that he worked for went bankrupt.

I lived in Cheyenne for a year and didn't care for it much...but the drive along I-80 is a nice one. Gillette has become ridiculous with the methane boom. I used to live in Newcastle and it was a lovely place, rural and so close to the Black Hills...but it is becoming trouble with meth traffic.

[HighlandLady]

A fair warning...I am a raging insomniac I have perhaps a daft question: in perusing several homes for sale listings, they list the heat source as 'radiant'. The home I am hoping for has this...but when I look at the photos, there are no baseboards about. Am I correct in assuming that 'radiant' means in-floor heat?

A side note for anyone up at this hour - though it is but midnight in Alaska....the Aurorae are dancing mightily there! Sadly, not here...and even if they were making a wee appearance, we are under clouds with flakes

[Barkingowl]

EERE Consumer's Guide: Radiant Heating

[HighlandLady]

Thank you for the link...that is what I was thinking, but I had seen some listed as in-floor heating and others radiant and I wasn't certain if they were virtually the same. I hope you are having a lovely day of it....the sun has finally appeared here!

[Marty Van Diest]

Radiant heating usually means in-floor heat. HOWEVER, occasionally someone will label a heating system radiant when they actually are talking about a free standing heater. A toyostove for example.

In Willow, toyo stoves and monitor stoves are a very popular heating system. They do not have natural gas in Willow so most people use fuel oil. Monitors and Toyos are about the most efficient ways to heat with fuel oil.

In-floor heat would not be as common in Willow, but it's still possible that it could have in-floor heat. You should enquire directly to find out whether it is in-floor heat or a toyo stove.

[HighlandLady]

Thank you for that, Marty...I still was a little uncertain about it as I saw a couple of free-standing devices in some of the images, including one in the fireplace...ehm. Evidently, I need to view this home physically. I know that it varies, but on average - what are we looking at for heating costs with this sort of heating system?