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Any decent sized hot tub is going to be more like 200 gallons or more. You say you want to simplify but having a hot tub at a dry cabin is really complicating things as mentioned above. You'd have to haul a lot more than 30 gallons in unless you're a tiny midget. Yeah, You could theoretically do it. You would also have to keep it plugged in.
A better option for a dry cabin would be one of those nice wooden tubs with a submersible wood heater (not cheap) and drained after use rather than it's continually filled electric heated counter part. A lot of dry cabins I've seen also aren't necessarily wired up for these things.
You would also have to find a landlord that doesn't mind you bringing a hot tub in. I'd imagine most are going to be confused when you ask but you should be able to find someone.
If I was in your situation I'd get an on demand propane water heater from amazon and a small Tupperware bucket and tell my wife it's the closest thing to a hot tub she's getting and I'll take her to the Hampton inn to use the real hot tub once a month.
That's the reason I'm asking this stuff. I don't know what I don't know.
Problem I have is that I want to live in a dry cabin, at least for a year or two. Only consideration I have is that my wife would like a hot tub. This isn't a deal breaker at all. It's just something we're trying to feel out and see if it's a possibility.
That's what I'm wondering. What are the options? Are there options?
Otherwise we'll just move on since it isn't a deal breaker either way.
Nick8281, I think we are thinking about a tub that holds 100's of gallons of water, and you are thinking bath tub size. 30 to 40 gallons. Find a old metal tub, build a metal stand for it, and heat the tub of water with fire wood. You can place it for a great view. Just clear the burnables around the tub. The other thought is Sauna. Heat makes you sweat,a roll in the snow and a rinse with 1 or 2 gallons of water. You wont have to worry about water run off. kachemakcooperage
I agree with Keyman. Just get a little tub and fill it with hot water. After you do that a couple of times, a night the Alpine Lodge or Chena is going to look pretty good. FBs is close enough to Chena to make day trips, so you wouldn't even have to spring for a room.
If you're thinking of bringing a standard-sized hot tub indoors, all I can say to that is oh hell no. I think I'd have reservations if a tenant wanted to put one outside, even.
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Originally Posted by Nick8281
I'm literally thinking of a soaking tub more than a unit for bathing...such as many other hot tubs which are like mini pools utilizing chemicals to keep the water 'fresh'...rather than relying on constantly refreshing the water outright.
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It is pointed out that having an indoor hot tub is 'absurd on its face.' What does that even mean? A subjective valuation regarding a bathtub has nothing to do with any empirical objective value on that same bathtub. If having a hot tub isn't all that important to you I can assure you that I will drop any previous plans I had regarding acquiring one and setting it up for you.
Again, oh hell no. No landlord in their right mind is going to let you install one of these indoors in a small, basic structure. Those things are heavy, and I doubt most dry cabins have strong enough floors to support them. Even if you paid to have the proper floor framing installed, who the hell wants their rental home ruined with constant indoor humidity (not much natural ventilation in the winter, and dry cabins generally aren't equipped with built-in ventilation)? Mold and mildew removal is expensive. Not to mention overtaxing what's probably a pretty simple wiring system and permeating the entire home with that icky hot tub chemical odor?
Anyway, that should explain to you what 'absurd on its face' means in regards to indoor hot tubs.
Last edited by Metlakatla; 03-05-2016 at 06:58 PM..
Oh, and I forgot to mention that for the type of tub you said you were thinking about
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I'm literally thinking of a soaking tub more than a unit for bathing...such as many other hot tubs which are like mini pools utilizing chemicals to keep the water 'fresh'...rather than relying on constantly refreshing the water outright
You really need to shower thoroughly before soaking in these in order to reduce chances of contamination. Not sure how that's going to happen in a dry cabin. I suppose you could set up a shower but then...it wouldn't be a dry cabin. Or your wife could go drive somewhere, take a proper shower, drive back, and use the tub, but....
No one is going to let you put one of these things inside a rental (that just goes without saying). Some slumlord *might* let you put one outside. This is why I asked how you're going to heat it in the winter. Hey, I don't know, maybe you're independently wealthy and you love wasting electricity as part of your simple, transcendent, low-impact rustic Jacuzzi life plan. GVEA will love you.
OP, if you're going to come here to ask people who live here questions, don't act like a know-it-all when we try to help you. You might want to go re-read all the questions we asked you, and this time try it with some humility, because you are in fact naive... at the very least.
That display of verbosity wasn't as impressive as you intended it to be.
A cubic foot of water is something like 7 or 8 gallons. So a modest-sized hot tub is going to require 150, 200 gallons. That's a lot to haul per fill. A gallon of water also weighs a little over 8 lbs, so including the weight of the tub, you're pushing 2,000 lbs or more. This is not secret local Alaskan knowledge, it's just math. So that'd be foolish to put inside the average rustic cabin that wasn't built for it. No landlord would allow it, as Met says.
The electric bill for heating an always-on hot tub outdoors in Fairbanks winter (or even spring and fall) weather outdoors would be astronomical. Electricity is expensive here, and the heat loss off even covered water will be huge and constant. And if the power goes out - which it does pretty regularly - the tub will likely be destroyed. That's assuming, generously, that the cabin is set up to handle a power suck like that. Dry cabins that have electricity are generally wired in a very basic DIY manner.
Moreover, there's nothing magical about a "dry cabin." It's just a cabin that doesn't have running water. It's not going to heal your consumerism or give you a Jack London experience just by dint of being a dry cabin, especially if you're just going to suck on the commercial power grid and have copious water trucked up to your cabin anyway. That's just keeping a modern lifestyle and adding an element of inconvenience to it. Alaska is not a geographic solution to personal issues. If you want to consume less, just consume less.
As far as aesthetics go, a $400/mo rental dry cabin is probably not going to be very cute or be situated on a scenic plot. (Or there'll be a reason the price is so low, such as being located somewhere difficult to access.) The inexpensive ones are often shacks. Attractive, well-finished dry cabins are out there, but they do cost money, and that's also the kind of landlord that probably won't have a sense of humor about someone erecting an eyesore on the lot.
That display of verbosity wasn't as impressive as you intended it to be.
A cubic foot of water is something like 7 or 8 gallons. So a modest-sized hot tub is going to require 150, 200 gallons. That's a lot to haul per fill. A gallon of water also weighs a little over 8 lbs, so including the weight of the tub, you're pushing 2,000 lbs or more. This is not secret local Alaskan knowledge, it's just math. So that'd be foolish to put inside the average rustic cabin that wasn't built for it. No landlord would allow it, as Met says.
The electric bill for heating an always-on hot tub outdoors in Fairbanks winter (or even spring and fall) weather outdoors would be astronomical. Electricity is expensive here, and the heat loss off even covered water will be huge and constant. And if the power goes out - which it does pretty regularly - the tub will likely be destroyed. That's assuming, generously, that the cabin is set up to handle a power suck like that. Dry cabins that have electricity are generally wired in a very basic DIY manner.
Moreover, there's nothing magical about a "dry cabin." It's just a cabin that doesn't have running water. It's not going to heal your consumerism or give you a Jack London experience just by dint of being a dry cabin, especially if you're just going to suck on the commercial power grid and have copious water trucked up to your cabin anyway. That's just keeping a modern lifestyle and adding an element of inconvenience to it. Alaska is not a geographic solution to personal issues. If you want to consume less, just consume less.
As far as aesthetics go, a $400/mo rental dry cabin is probably not going to be very cute or be situated on a scenic plot. (Or there'll be a reason the price is so low, such as being located somewhere difficult to access.) The inexpensive ones are often shacks. Attractive, well-finished dry cabins are out there, but they do cost money, and that's also the kind of landlord that probably won't have a sense of humor about someone erecting an eyesore on the lot.
Have you ever been to Fairbanks?
I just can't figure out why you're acting like this is a flame war. I've been tripping over myself to tell you and the others that I don't know what I don't know...that any arrogance is unintended and that I mean well. I allowed myself to get carried away just briefly bc I was amused...but I was far from disrespectful and definitely not under the impression that I knew more than you or anyone else here.
Why would I even be posting this here if I was behaving like you're implying I was??
I'm a young person, I'm excited about my future, I'm excited about going to Alaska (it has been a constant obsession since I was 6 years old)...and I'm just trying to feel things out and get advice from people who have been there before.
Now I see why my idea was a shoddy one unlikely to work. The thing is - I love my wife and I want to make life for her as easy as I possibly can. To that end I felt obligated to try my best to make things work for her as ideally as possible.
The reason I kept elaborating and expounding on my ideas was not because I imagined myself knowing more than you or anyone - I was honestly just trying to lay out the situation, lay out the 'problem,' and then lay out my thoughts on the matter. My frustration (if you can call it that...since I wasn't really frustrated) was oriented more towards me trying to explain that the scenario I laid out was just a one off with little thought behind it. I was hoping to get across the idea of the problem in the broadest most vague sense possible...and then asking if anyone can figure out means towards an end I'm not considering.
For example the info about the sauna club, etc. That's the sort of advice I was trying to find.
Again...I apologize if I gave you the impression I was being condescending, arrogant, or anything like any of that. I didn't mean it to come across that way at all.
You imply that my display of verbosity was somehow meant to impress...or something. Iono what, lol.
I clearly said I was just having a little fun. No harm was intended.
You said:
As far as aesthetics go, a $400/mo rental dry cabin is probably not going to be very cute or be situated on a scenic plot. (Or there'll be a reason the price is so low, such as being located somewhere difficult to access.) The inexpensive ones are often shacks. Attractive, well-finished dry cabins are out there, but they do cost money, and that's also the kind of landlord that probably won't have a sense of humor about someone erecting an eyesore on the lot.
First off - yes, I have been there.
Second - I'm using a very personal and subjectively worded set of parameters. By talking about the aesthetics and the look of things - I'm well aware that this isn't Yosemite National Park or some imminently photogenic place like that. I'm referring instead to my own notion of beauty which...ever since I was a kid...has centered around my own obsession with pointed firs, snow, aurora, etc. I'm well aware that plenty of people see nothing inspiring in a flat acre lot of land that is 40% covered by pointed fir trees. But I do. I love it.
Dry cabins not being 'magical'...again, this is a subjective idea and while I'm well aware that to most people there is nothing romantic about hauling water across town several times a week just so that I can wash the dishes, nor is there anything immediately idyllic about using an out house that has likely been frozen, thawed, frozen and thawed hundreds upon hundreds of times while who knows what else seeped into the cracks, etc. Many...most...people see nothing inspiring in scratched linoleum/dirty plywood floors that are neither sturdy nor flat. and plenty of people lose any sense of 'awe' when they're struggling to afford the fuel to heat their house...while being too cold to sleep.
But these are things that I do value. I don't know why. When it is cold outside - I get exceedingly uncomfortable. But I love it just the same. Winter is far and away my favourite season of the year and cold is far and away my favourite type of weather. The fact that I hate being cold only makes me enjoy it that much more. I just enjoy feeling closer to the process of living.
My own personal dream is to lay in bed and just think about my physical location on the planet itself. I love geography. I love climate. I love meteorology. All of these things that go towards making life in these locations less romantic or idyllic than others might imagine have nothing to do with me. It's simply what I love and it inspires me to no end.
I'm honestly not sure why it's necessary to pick apart my enthusiasm here. I'm well aware that you guys are sick to death of idealistic hippies like the 'into the wild' guy...but that has no bearing on my own reality. I grew up in extreme northern Maine. I've seen multiple winters drop to -45 and colder. I've helped tend to sled dog teams. Where I live is 70 miles from the nearest Wal Mart. We get 150 inches of snow a year. Virtually all living spaces here have shifted on their foundations multiple times such that no floor is flat.
While none of this is presumably comparable to the 'trials' of living in Fairbanks - I list them instead as a means of showing that my dream is grounded in reality, not in books by Jack London.
Again, I apologize if I offended you. I was being verbose out of amusement like I said.
I just can't figure out why you're acting like this is a flame war. I've been tripping over myself to tell you and the others that I don't know what I don't know...that any arrogance is unintended and that I mean well. I allowed myself to get carried away just briefly bc I was amused...but I was far from disrespectful and definitely not under the impression that I knew more than you or anyone else here.
Why would I even be posting this here if I was behaving like you're implying I was??
I'm a young person, I'm excited about my future, I'm excited about going to Alaska (it has been a constant obsession since I was 6 years old)...and I'm just trying to feel things out and get advice from people who have been there before.
Now I see why my idea was a shoddy one unlikely to work. The thing is - I love my wife and I want to make life for her as easy as I possibly can. To that end I felt obligated to try my best to make things work for her as ideally as possible.
The reason I kept elaborating and expounding on my ideas was not because I imagined myself knowing more than you or anyone - I was honestly just trying to lay out the situation, lay out the 'problem,' and then lay out my thoughts on the matter. My frustration (if you can call it that...since I wasn't really frustrated) was oriented more towards me trying to explain that the scenario I laid out was just a one off with little thought behind it. I was hoping to get across the idea of the problem in the broadest most vague sense possible...and then asking if anyone can figure out means towards an end I'm not considering.
For example the info about the sauna club, etc. That's the sort of advice I was trying to find.
Again...I apologize if I gave you the impression I was being condescending, arrogant, or anything like any of that. I didn't mean it to come across that way at all.
You imply that my display of verbosity was somehow meant to impress...or something. Iono what, lol.
I clearly said I was just having a little fun. No harm was intended.
You are the only person here acting like this is a "flame war." People here are trying to help you and you still seem to think you're the smartest guy in the room. You need to check yourself if you think your arrogance comes off as any brand of "unintended." You're "I'm sorry if..." statements were very clearly of the "sorry/not sorry" variety. Go back and read your third post here again, then come back and say with a straight face you were not disrespectful. Your know-it-all attitude will not wear well in Alaska.
Anyway, Nick8281, you asked your questions and got some decent answers. Just because you didn't get the answers you wanted doesn't mean anyone's "flaming" you. For someone who uses an abundance of 50-cent words, you sure don't have much sense. Sorry for the bad pun; I haven't made coffee yet.
If you "love your wife and want to make her life as easy as possible," just rent a freakin' place with water so the poor woman can have a bath when she wants. There's really nothing romantic and idyllic about living in filth in a shack with no water no matter how much you brush it with subjective mental hype.
You also mentioned being disabled when you posted several years ago about a desire to move to Barrow. Dry cabin living involves a lot of lifting and carrying, and carrying all that water is difficult even for those in top shape. Even if you do decide to use local options for showers, you're still going to have to deal with meal preparation and basic sanitation. Stuff like that sucks away time and,
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My own personal dream is to lay in bed and just think about my physical location on the planet itself.
You can lay in bed just as easily in a damp or fully plumbed cabin as you can a dry one. Probably more easily, actually.
People like Frostnip, 6.7, and Riceme know a lot about living in interior Alaska, and if your dismissive attitude toward them is indicative of how you interact in real life, as has already been noted, you won't do well in Alaska. If you do manage to move, you're going to need a lot of advice and help. Like this:
Throw everything you think you know about Alaska because of living in Maine out the window.
Last edited by Metlakatla; 03-06-2016 at 02:02 PM..
Oh, and as far as putting one outside, I should mention that the attractive nuisance doctrine has been fairly well-established in Alaskan courts, and no landlord with a lick of sense is going to trust a tenant to install and maintain something like what you've mentioned (soaking tub more than a unit for bathing...such as many other hot tubs which are like mini pools). Hell, I wouldn't even let you move an old bathtub onto the place and light a fire under it.
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