Things to Consider When Looking for that Rural Alaska Cabin (Part 3) (LONG READ)
By Natalie S.
(Estimated reading time: 15-20 min)
Our cabin in the middle of winter!
Diagram showing why our light angle gets so low in winter, and then the opposite extreme in summer when Earth tilts back again. Source: clickorlando.com
An example of a solar set up in Alaska (Source: 907Solar.com)
This one battery is charged by solar and our generator, and it powers most of our household needs.
Example of a battery bank system in an off grid cabin (Source: Battle Born Batteries.com, great website!)
While pricey, wood cookstoves are ideal because they don't require expensive fuel! (Source: Ebay image)
Our 5 gallon electric water heater, plumbed to our indoor water storage tanks.
A woman pulling freeze-dried clothing off the line (Source: PoemHunter.com)
A vintage Maytag washer and wringer (Source: Dengarden.com)
An example of an indoor clothesline (Source: The Dyrt.com, Robin F.)
Welcome to the final part of this long-read article series! When you make the switch from an on-grid way of life with many conveniences, to an off-grid rural life, especially in a place like Alaska, it has benefits and disadvantages like anything else does. You are basically exchanging one set of pros and cons for another, so knowing what they are in a bit of detail is something I find useful. However if you have already been living off the grid, alot of this information may not be new to you. But in that case, consider the weather factors that I will be discussing, many systems that work further south may not work the same in Alaska. If you missed Parts 1 and 2, I urge you to read them first, it will help this last piece be even more clear!
Being off-grid means being responsible for your own power needs, so plan accordingly!
Me with our solar panel in the background during spring thaw.
When we were looking for our cabin, we didn't have a generator or any of our own power system needs with us. We had been through alot and had mostly our household possessions with us in the travel trailer, our dog and our truck! We decided we would try to find a cabin that was set up with a generator already and that's what we found in the end. The cabin had a solar panel and battery bank with inverter/charge controller, but we had alot to learn about the effectiveness of these systems during winter, and with long-term everyday use.
In Alaska, solar is not always reliable, but you should still use it!
While I love solar and we are working to expand our setup, it is not always the most reliable thing in Alaska. Obviously the type of panels you have, along with their appropriate storage batteries and charge controller/power inverter, are all things you can discuss with a solar company to get your energy needs calculated and prepared for. But if you just move into a cabin with a solar set up and expect it to be enough for you, I would recommend researching a good storage battery bank system, and having a backup generator just to be safe!
In Alaska we experience more extremes in light and dark due to what is called "axial tilt". Because of this, we get the Midnight Sun in the summer, and the Polar Night in the winter. During summer in Alaska, despite maybe cloud cover (this year we had ENDLESS rain all summer), solar panels enjoy endless light and batteries can stay charged almost perpetually. However when we shift to winter, solar power gets a bit tricky because of that sun angle! The further north you live, the more extremes in light and dark you will experience.
Snow accumulation on panels throughout the winter has to be kept to a minimum with careful maintenance. You won't exactly have a roof over a solar panel because it sort of defeats the purpose, so the panels will need to be in a place where they are protected from falling branches, ice and hail, and if they are on a roof they can get covered in snow which may have to be cleared off regularly during the winter. So this something to think about with the placement of panels.
From about the end of November to the beginning of March, we mostly have to rely on our generator for our power needs, because the angle is just too low and the light isn't strong enough! Our location is also partly the issue, if we were at a higher elevation with a clear shot of the horizon it would be easier. Cabins way out in the woods can have a dense treeline that blocks the light. But solar energy is a great source of power when there is enough light, in summer it works amazingly well because of how much daylight we have! But I just wouldn't plan on solar being your primary off-grid power source for a yearround Alaska life.
You need a battery bank!
This is a big one, if you generate power, you need to be able to store it. The set-up that had been put in place in our cabin by the previous owners were 8 car batteries in series, connected to the charge controller and power inverter for the solar panel, and a dedicated plug that fed outdoors to the generator. (I don't have detailed information in this piece on how to install off-grid power systems and how to do your own wiring, but I have included links at the end of this article that can help!) We ended up replacing these batteries, which were inefficient and barely held a charge, to one single 12V Lithium Iron Phosphate battery made by a reputable Solar company called Renogy, which when charged has about 100 amp hours. It is also deep cycle, and can discharge very slowly. Click this link to find our battery on Renogy's website.
Its worth mentioning that regular car batteries are not ideal for long-term power storage. They are designed to discharge power very quickly to start a car, then have charge put back into them by the engine of a vehicle. Also once they get discharged past a certain point, they never really maintain a full charge again! For off-grid needs, deep cycle batteries are ideal for storing power. You can find them through off-grid and solar websites and stores, and they're worth the investment. They not only hold a charge better but also discharge power more slowly, giving you a steadier stream. Whether its charged with solar or the generator, it has longevity, and gives you a good steady power supply! Marine and RV batteries are also suitable, just make sure you calculate how many you need (see links below for how to do this). Our battery can't run a water heater or a high demand appliance, but it can run almost everything else, and keeps the lights on and the devices charged!
If you have batteries on a rural Alaskan property, you also must keep them from freezing. We have ours in a closet located indoors, so it stays the temperature of the rest of the house. But if we kept them in a separate outdoor space, we would have to heat that space daily, even overnight, and keep the batteries charged more often in order to keep them from expanding and becoming damaged. Small cabins can have this problem, even if there is an insulated space apart from the cabin for storage, it may still have to be heated. So consider this when looking at living space.
Don't go cheap on a generator for rural Alaska life.
When getting set-up for off-grid, know that no two generators are created equal. There are many brands that are marketed to be affordable, such a Generac, which are cheap and often the most available in Home Depots and Lowes up here in Alaska. From my experience, we have had two of them and they haven't been able to handle the harsh winters here without extreme babying. They are great in a pinch, are often used during storms and events with power outages, but are not designed for long-term everyday use, and hard to fix without parts from the dealer. You don't want to get stranded in the dead of winter with no power and have to spend a bundle on a new generator, so start with a good one! We now have a Porter Cable 10,000 watt gas generator that we bought from a neighbor, which has a reliable design, is easy and affordable to maintenance, and can handle all of our power needs. Not to mention its absolutely essential for running the well pump and the water heater.
Our two generators, a lower wattage Yamaha "suitcase" and our 10K watt Porter Cable.
Generators also need different oil and fluids during winter, specifically a compound called Heet, which is a type of antifreeze that is crucial for the engine to function well during extreme temperatures. With whatever generator you have, make sure you have a manual, replacement parts or know where to get them if they are not available in Alaska (reduces time waiting for parts, our mail service takes FOREVER!) ) We also have a back up generator at a lower wattage for emergencies, or for when we just don't need all that power and want to just charge the battery. At the end of this article check the links for more information on all of this!
Generators and propane tanks should live outside in a dedicated protected space.
Generators and propane tanks can be outside, as long as they're protected from the elements! The generator shelter should be well-ventilated, and close enough for a cable to come to your cabin for your power needs, but never in the house with you. There are some who run it in a garage downstairs or in a nearby room, and end up poisoning themselves and their families with carbon monoxide. CO is a silent killer. It has no smell, no odor, and it poisons the body by replacing the oxygen in your blood. So don't keep it where the exhaust can get into the cabin! Also, they are very noisy, so just a stones throw from the cabin is a good place for a generator shed.
If you're planning on using propane, do it safely!
I have also seen folks use propane heaters, with the tank set up in the house. While there are many propane heaters can be used indoors, the supply tank should always live outdoors in its own space. Propane leaking into your environment is just as dangerous as carbon monoxide!
Also if you use any appliances such as a propane refrigerator, you have to make sure that it is vented outside for the same reason, otherwise you will have to have a window open to ensure air quality. Anything with a constantly lit pilot light should never be without proper ventilation. The vent pipes on these refrigerators need to be cleaned regularly as well, and know that they go through ALOT of propane, our old one consumed almost a gallon a day!
We use a gas range/oven combo to do our cooking, and vent it to stay safe from harmful fumes. A vent over your range is very important to keep contaminants in the exhaust out of your air, so really consider this one, or consider a wood cookstove instead if you don't want to risk it! Also a vent is good for getting rid of grease, which if not vented will go up into the air and then settle on everything you have in the house, making cleaning more difficult.
Another note on gas ranges, just because you buy a gas stove doesn't mean it will work with propane! Many stoves run on natural gas, which operates at a different pressure than propane, so you'll need a conversion kit to switch the stove over to propane.
Want to be low or no-tech? No problem! You just may want a power source anyhow for future/emergency needs.
I don't judge anyone for wanting to not have roaring engines and electric lights! Many people are totally happy being low/no-tech, and if their set up makes that possible for them then good for them! I know some people who live without these systems, even cellphones. There are many things they have in their cabins that no one should be without, such as lanterns, candles, campstoves, oven attachments to woodstoves, camp showers, and so forth. But going straight to a low/no-tech situation may be a bigger leap than you are prepared to make, depending on what your goals and needs are. But basically the amount of modern comforts you want, your power needs will go up.
Hot water is a luxury in rural Alaska cabins!
I explained some of this in Part two, but it bears repeating when discussing heating water, which you can either do with an electric water heater powered by a generator, on-demand propane water heaters, or heating up water the old fashioned way on a woodstove or gas range.
When we first moved to our cabin, we underestimated how much we wanted and needed a shower in our home. And with the cold winters and mosquitoes in summer, an outdoor shower area wasn't practical to us. In our cabin intially there was no bathroom, just a room with the water tanks and a composting toilet, and there was no way to do laundry. We started off with a washtub and pouring hot water over ourselves, and that didn't last too long before we sourced a bigger tub and installed it with a drain out to the yard! The cabin came with a 5 gallon electric water heater that was originally for the sink water, we added more plastic pipe routed to a handheld shower head, relocated our water tanks upstairs for a higher gravity feed water pressure, and added a mixer valve so the shower could deliver hot and cold water! (See Part 2 where I describe our water storage and our shower in more detail.) We of course have to run the generator to do this, so its not on demand. But it has been life-changing!
Some cabins may already be equipped with a shower or tub, or you can install one yourself with one of your own, just know it will have to be plumbed outside.
Many people are perfectly happy taking showers off the property at a local store that provides public showers, some install animal troughs with a drain and fill them with water they boil on the stove. So you'll definitely want to think about how to meet this need when you're getting set up in a rural home in Alaska. Power to heat water is either fire, propane, or gas in a generator, so consider your budget and income to factor in this need!
Laundry gets a bit harder off grid, but its not impossible.
While I mentioned in Part Two that the town you live in will have a place to do laundry and take showers, its understandable to want to be able to do this at home, not to mention wanting to save money.
This is one you'll want to plan for when you're calculating your power set up. It takes alot of power to run a dryer, so most of us line dry, either by the woodstove in winter or on a sunny day in summer. And have you ever seen videos of people bringing in stiff frozen clothing off the line in winter? Drying on a line in subzero temps in winter is actually a form of freeze-drying thanks to sublimation – or ice evaporating from a solid state. Wet clothing may freeze, but the moisture evaporates into water vapor leaving behind dry clothing that just needs a little loosening.
A washing machine can be run with a generator, even though you will have to probably have to manually fill it with a hose from your well, or figure out how to plumb it to your indoor storage tanks. There are also the vintage Maytag washing machines with a wringer attached, which can be run off a generator easily, and they are great and highly sought after up here!
You can also wash by hand, and incorporate boiling water either by heating it up on your woodstove in winter, or your gas stove, and washing in the sink or a washtub, or even a five gallon bucket with a plunger. This is more labor-intensive though, and isn't always effective at getting high amounts of dirt and oils out of clothing. So how you will do laundry is something to think about. And while washing is a task you could do outdoors in spring/summer/fall (mosquitoes notwithstanding lol), in winter it will be a very cold task, so an indoor space for laundry is a good idea so you can stay warm.
Below I have included links to other sites that describe in detail about all the points above. I find if someone explains it better than I can, I will direct people there! The bottom sections of all three parts of this article series includes links to more information on generators, water storage, climate readiness, and more to help expand on everything we talked about.
While there are many other fine points of this lifestyle, I will discuss them more in future articles! I chose to make this three-part series much longer and detailed than any of my next articles will be, because I am asked all the time how to get set up for off-grid life in rural Alaska, and its not a short answer by any stretch! Hopefully this information was useful to you, and a deeper insight into what it's actually like to live how I do. I am not the expert in my field, and there are plenty of others who have it more hard-wired than I do, but I hope sharing what I learned and how I learned it aides you in your own journey into this lifestyle. Good luck, and plan wisely!
Information Links from Other Great Bloggers:
• Getting your solar set up in Alaska: 907 Solar.com
• Best batteries for your off-grid setup: The Best Deep Cycle Batteries (2022)
• How to calculte your generator needs: Generator Sizing Guide
• All about using generators and how they function in Alaska: Basics of Generators
• Blog post from an Alaskan with a solar set-up with pros and cons: One Year Off Grid in Alaska
•Off Grid Battery Bank information: How Can I Power My Off-Grid Cabin?
•Propane fridges vs. Electric : Sunfrost.com
• What its like to do laundry completely off grid in Alaska: Alaska Bush Life, Off Road and Off Grid
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Disclaimer: I am not an expert, do not have professional training, and have only experienced rural life inside Southcentral Alaska. These articles are based on my personal experience of the last 5 years in this part of the state. The contents of this article are intended to assist those seeking more information about off-grid life in rural Alaska year-round. I always advise due diligence, do not rely on my sole opinion. Enjoy and thanks for reading!
