Dry cabin living in AK at 54 (Fairbanks, Wainwright: 2014, rental, lofts)

[Restart04]

I have a few more questions for ya's. I am just curious is all....hope you don't mind me asking...

Why do you choose to live in dry cabin?

Were you raised in a dry cabin or did you learn along the way?

If you could have typical running water, electric, heat...would you choose that if you could?

If you had a choice between dry cabin on 2 acres (no water or electricity) or a cabin with electricity but no water on approx 1/2 acre...at very close to the same price which would you choose?

Duh! I must seem like a real pain in the arse (borrowing your slang riceme). You know how there are some people that get things really easy and some that take a bit more time understanding things.... Well I am the latter...thanks for understanding...

Thank You! to each one of you for responding to my post. Hope your weekend is going swell!






















My daughter looked at the property yesterday but they were unable to get indoors. The folks living in the house must have forgot to leave the door open. They are going back Monday to see the inside. The realtor said solar would be the only opportunity to eventually have electric in that location. Daughter said the land is almost 2 acres and pretty. Nice clearing around the house. Everyone is scratching their heads trying to figure out why they built so high up off the ground? Anyways,

[mizzile]

Oof. A dry cabin is one thing (and holds a certain appeal at times), but a dry cabin with no power for someone without experience with solar/hydro systems is a disaster waiting to happen.

I strongly advise you to not buy a dry cabin with no electricity without A) having lived in such a place at least once and B) seeing it yourself. And I'll add C) don't buy ANY place in Alaska without coming up here and seeing both the land and the state for yourself.

Just forget this cabin (believe me, you can find dry, powerless cabins any old time you want in Alaska). You can pass this one up without a second thought), come up here, rent a place, live for a year, and THEN decide.

That's really my best advice.

[riceme]

Originally Posted by mizzile

Oof. A dry cabin is one thing (and holds a certain appeal at times), but a dry cabin with no power for someone without experience with solar/hydro systems is a disaster waiting to happen.

I strongly advise you to not buy a dry cabin with no electricity without A) having lived in such a place at least once and B) seeing it yourself. And I'll add C) don't buy ANY place in Alaska without coming up here and seeing both the land and the state for yourself.

Just forget this cabin (believe me, you can find dry, powerless cabins any old time you want in Alaska). You can pass this one up without a second thought), come up here, rent a place, live for a year, and THEN decide.

That's really my best advice.

^one vote in favor of this.

As I mentioned earlier, living in a dry cabin with a wood stove is work.

Living off the grid is... something else entirely. You have never done either. Please don't jump in head first. I fear there may not be any water in the swimming pool.

[Frostnip]

I have done the rugged Alaska thing. Nowadays I live in a cute little house with electricity and full plumbing.

Originally Posted by Restart04

Why do you choose to live in dry cabin?

Cost.

Were you raised in a dry cabin or did you learn along the way?

I was familiar with the life from childhood, yes.

If you could have typical running water, electric, heat...would you choose that if you could?

Yes. And now I have. I would be willing to give up having a well in the future if I got a deal on a home that I really loved where the land could not support a well, but I'd still want to make the place "damp" (i.e. plumbed, but fed by a holding tank rather than a well).

If you had a choice between dry cabin on 2 acres (no water or electricity) or a cabin with electricity but no water on approx 1/2 acre...at very close to the same price which would you choose?

Personally I wouldn't want to ever live without electricity again. But even besides the pain-in-the-butt aspect of it, I would not recommend that someone who never had done so jump in full time with both feet and no alternative plan, particularly in winter. The learning curve for a modern first world person on living without electricity is steep. And I'm not talking just "oh, it's tricky to learn to get the temp right when baking in a wood oven," I'm talking, like, learning not to burn your house down or suffocate yourself.

[grcg]

This is an old thread from another forum....but it has a lot of experience in it. If you can ignore the people throwing shade on the guy asking the questions in order to feel better about themselves, it is a good and interesting read.

I'm moving to alaska.

here is another one on outhouses...also a topic that inspires a lot of opinion.

outhouse


If you have the time and energy to live deliberately and spend more time on the things that get you by day-to-day, living in a dry cabin can be a wonderful and peaceful thing. I really enjoyed it a lot. Sounds like being close to family is an added bonus! I wish you lots of happiness with whatever ends up working for you!

[Metlakatla]

Those throwing shade in that thread are spot on.

As for the OP, I agree with Mizzile. Just come up and rent a place for awhile and then look around at available properties.

[riceme]

Originally Posted by Frostnip

Personally I wouldn't want to ever live without electricity again. But even besides the pain-in-the-butt aspect of it, I would not recommend that someone who never had done so jump in full time with both feet and no alternative plan, particularly in winter. The learning curve for a modern first world person on living without electricity is steep. And I'm not talking just "oh, it's tricky to learn to get the temp right when baking in a wood oven," I'm talking, like, learning not to burn your house down or suffocate yourself.

You are so right. And, my comment about cooking on and in a woodstove being an art was probably one of the biggest, scariest understatements there ever was.

[keyman51]

I live in a dry cabin with electricity because of the cost of putting in a water line is very expensive (15,000). I haul water every couple of weeks and just use 5 gallon water containers. There are a couple of people here that have holding tanks, but then you have to pump the water from your container to the holding tank. I do not have a vehicle, so use 4 wheeler or snowmachine. Much easier because only takes a few minutes. I take showers at the laundromat.This is all on the way to work, so it is not out of the way. Have been doing this for 8 years. Moved from a house with washer/dryer and shower to here. If the house was built with little or no inspection, you do not know if it was built to local codes. Although not having electricity, and being in Nikiski, there are less things that can go wrong or bad. Cooking on a wood stove in the middle of summer is not great. There is a couple here that in the summer, if they want to cook, they do on a coleman stove because it gets way too warm. They have a solar setup but they still use alot of battery operated lights.

[Restart04]

Wow! Lots of awesome responses. I admire the honesty here, folks. I realize that you are just trying to keep me from getting myself into a situation that could be harmful, miserable , or even fatal. I know the smart thing to do would be as Mizzle and Riceme suggest. Rent first then take it from there.

Not fully sure just yet what I am going to do....
I will know more tonight as my daughter and her boyfriend are checking a few places out for me later today. Her boyfriend is a lifelong Alaskan so I think he knows his area pretty well and I will trust his judgement.

I admire you folks for your lifestyles and I also am really grateful that you took the time to explain the ups and downs of dry cabin living to me. It is the cheaper costs is what draws me and the fact that I have always dreamed of an alternative lifestyle outside the rat-race we have here in NJ.
I visited there in August and wished I had not gotten on the plane to come back here. I did not listen to the little voice that was telling me "do not get on that plane, your ticket is refundable"....its always in hindsight for me.....?!

I have to mention to grcg memeber ....I could not get that link to pull anything up about the outhouses or the dude moving to alaska.... I wanted to read it but couldnt find it.

Anyways... good stuff here...Thanks Again Everyone for your opinions and input to my post! I will keep you all posted as to what I decide. I need to get settled here soon... recently divorced, running out of bucks soon and anxious to get working and settled.. You folks rock!

[Irish4evr]

Originally Posted by riceme

^one vote in favor of this.

As I mentioned earlier, living in a dry cabin with a wood stove is work.

Living off the grid is... something else entirely. You have never done either. Please don't jump in head first. I fear there may not be any water in the swimming pool.

Second this opinion also....been there, done that, dry, damp and wet...it is a lot of effort just to survive...

Regarding the "stilt" issue...are there any flooding issues..etc. Spend a little time in a non committed status...

It can be a great lifestyle, for the right person !