Hi Lauren. I just love how you educate us about different aspects of living in Alaska. You should be the Honorable Tourism Minister to Alaska... I love it.
We moved to Alaska from Houston Texas in 2002. We were shocked at the house prices here and the quality of what we could afford in Anchorage. I kept thinking “Have these people not seen HGTV?” We ended up in Palmer and were able to get a nice little house with an unfinished walkout basement. Over the years we have done different improvements (including a finished walkout basement) and are now pretty satisfied with what we have. We love living in Palmer.
I'm typically a silent subscriber, but this vlog was so informative and is much appreciated. Thank you for the time and effort you put in to your channel.
I live in Pittsburgh, PA but my entire family lives in Alaska. I keep my house temperature at 68 degrees. We’ve had a very mild winter but with the increase in gas heating costs, our monthly bills aren’t reflecting the mildness. I pay approximately $250 per month to heat our 2000 sf home. Our electric have increased substantially as well. It “used to cost” during in the winter about $75 monthly but now about $125. LOVE your videos and never miss one. Thank you for sharing your life!!
Hi Lauren, I’m in England. Thank you for such an informative video! My husband and I plan to visit Alaska when we retire after seeing a travel programme years ago, then I happened to stumble on your channel! I love seeing the differences in how we all live across the world. Like a lot of Europe, Gas & Electric prices in the UK have soared recently (due mainly to the War in Ukraine). We are a family of 6 and pre-war we paid £148 per month for G+E combined…….last bill was £500! Things have got so unaffordable especially as it’s winter, that the Government have stepped in with a help package as many people are having to choose between heating or eating. Our winters are nowhere near as cold as yours, but during a recent cold spell it was -5 Celsius (23F) overnight, and many houses here aren’t always insulated properly. We’ve lived in our detached house for 16 years, purchased for £189,999 but now worth £325,000 (due to renovations and market increase). I’ve recently overhauled our monthly budget to see where we’re at. In total, our outgoings are £3100 per month (mortgage, council tax, TV, Internet, Mobile phones,Life Insurance, Car Insurance, Road Tax, Water bills, Union fees + helping to support our eldest who is living away at University). That doesn’t include food/laundry.toiletries which is around £150 most weeks (£200 on a bad week). Thanks again. I’d love to see a video on schools in Alaska (especially as I work in a school!). Xx
I’m in Scotland and the prices are horrendous. It’s impossible for pensioners and low income families. Saving is borderline impossible for most in the UK now. 🥺 x
I told my daughter that I have always wanted to visit Alaska but I understand things are quite more expensive than down South so I will continue enjoying your videos 😁🥰🥰
Hi Lauren I love how Ms. Luna is so comfortable in your arms. She knows that you are lovely and that you have a very kind heart and a gentle personality. I love watching your vlogs and you and Mark interact with your children. It shows off the grace of our Lord in you all. Blessings. With love from Vancouver, Canada.
this was so helpful & so informative! my husband and i are moving to the muldoon/eagle river area this summer and i have been devouring your videos. we’ve been multiple times but hearing all of your wisdom and facts about alaska has been so great. THANK YOU.
Hi, Lauren! I am about an hour and a half east of Pittsburgh, PA. I keep my heat at 66. Last winter, we had a lot of days that were well below freezing so I did turn it up to 68. My family likes to run around the house in shorts and t-shirts all year long and I am not paying a heating bill for them to have indoor beach weather when it’s 12 degrees out! Thank you for sharing so much of your life in Alaska!
Just happened upon your channel because of your Costco trip and morning devotion time. I love your channel! I could not make it in Alaska. We have more than enough snow in Pennsylvania. 😂 Yet I love seeing what living in Alaska is like, and because I am also a believer in Christ, I note your dedication to the Lord and your care for your family. I’m also a huge Costco lover. So I’m a new subscriber! ❤ I made my hubby watch a little bit with me. We enjoyed it together. Thank you for showing us what life in Alaska is like!
I live in Indiana and keep my winter heat on 71 and air condition on 73-74 in summer. I grew up in the country and we had well and septic system. Enjoy watching you channel❤️
Lauren thank you so very much for taking the time to give us all the information that you did. It’s amazing to see the difference in each neighborhood. Your house is amazing. Love 💕 y’all!
I loved this video! We live in the SF Bay Area, and last summer our temperature topped out at 118 degrees, and it dips down into the 30's (sometimes lower) in the winter. We currently have snow all over our local mountain, and the temps have been in the 30's at night. We keep our home around 68 degrees or so, but use split units in each room so we generally only run the split unit in our dining, living, kitchen area (it's a huge open space) in the evenings. Power is EXPENSIVE ($1,000ish during the extremes, and they raise the rates incredibly high during the hot and cold months). We are in a major drought, so the cost of water is expensive, especially if you go over your water allotment. We pay quite a bit for internet ($300ish, but it's necessary to have the highest speed internet because my husband works from home). Garbage is reasonable, and we have trash, recycling, and yard waste with an additional 2 bulk pickups per year, and 2 bulk drop off events. Our tax rate is generally county by county, but some cities within counties are higher, I believe ours is somewhere around 8.75%. The cost of real estate in the bay area includes some of the most expensive in the country (we do not live in an expensive zip code, our home is just your average 3 bedroom with office, 2 bathrooms, on a larger suburban lot), but there are areas that are fairly reasonable, you just spend a lot more time commuting (or work from home, which is not uncommon in the tech sector).
I live on Olympic Peninsula in Washington. I keep winter house at 65 during day 55 at night. I like wearing layers and especially sweaters. We have community well and septic. My dad wanted to move our family to Alaska in the 60s, but mom refused. Love your channel, just found it
Hi Lauren! What a great idea with this video. We live north of Spokane, WA and we keep our heat around 62. Some days we just can't get warm and we may raise it to 65. Electricity has gone up by 30-40% in the last year from what we see.
Thank you Lauren! This was enjoyable as well as informative. Born, raised Texan. Love your home! Fantastic family! And following now on your journey with your pregnancy, praying for you & Mark and precious girls! Thanks again, God Bless 🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼
Hi Lauren👋🏼We keep our house at 68, mostly due to me (he’s always cold), and live in Michigan (north of Detroit). I could never live in Alaska, because I love my hot summers too much (as long as my a/c is working!). But I can & do watch your videos until the cows come home! Sending much love💕💕💕
Hi Lauren, wow, I’m in southeastern PA, 50 miles outside Philly, we are on 1/3 acre, 3 b / 2.5 bath, 2220 sq ft. our taxes are $5500, we also have 6% sales tax, Local tax, and state tax, we are taxed to death, AK sounds wonderful. This was a great video, thank you for opening your personal business for us to compare and “see” AK. Have a wonderful weekend. 😊
Winter 16 Celsius summer 16 Celsius = 60.8°F cannot stand heat of any kind. So hubby and i have different bedrooms lol yes we are still in love, great remarriage after divorce, we found we couldn't be away from each other. We have installed close off vents for the ducted cooling and heating..Now due to the cost of living here in my State of Victoria in Australia our Son has moved home and like his dad can't bear my temperature so they have a double garage as their party room when their friend's come over. Myself I'm not a social Soul, more comfy alone than with Friend's. Exception my Mum, hubbie and Son. Oh and our two cats. Hence why i adore this girl and channel. Kindest thoughts to you and your families and Furbabies from Australia x
Hi Lauren. Thanks for the information. I keep my home around 60-65 in the winter. I live in So. California so I really try not to use the heat. In the summer, however, I keep the house at 80 during the day and around 76 in the evening. In winter, It is so easy to slip on a warm robe, blanket, or sweater. However, in Summer, it is hard to sleep in an 80-degree room. In Winter, keeping it at 60 degrees helps keep the gas cost down and, I don't get a dry throat or nasal passage with the heater blowing.
Wow! You are correct Alaska is expensive! Here’s my breakdown for a townhome in Minnesota: $1267 mortgage/property tax inc, if taxes paid separately $2750, phone $60, natural gas $60 winter, $20 summer, $40 internet, electric/ garbage thru city $85. Water included in HOA $260 We are looking like your area, had a dumping of 20 inc 2 days ago, up to over 70 inc this year 😱. We usually get 50 something. Thanks for sharing! Laurie/Minnesota
Hi Lauren and Luna and of course the Alaska Boys. Absolutely loved this blog. I am addicted to house videos and was surprised and happy to see this. I live in Moonee Ponds a suburb of Melbourne which is the capital and largest city in Victoria and the 2nd largest city in all of Australia. My suburb is about 6 ks from the centre of Melbourne and is serviced by a train line and station, buses and trams. I am close to most services including lots of supermarkets and other types of shops, all types of doctors and ancillary health services and hospitals. I have lived at my current address for just over 26 years and I am in government rental which is capped at 25 percent of my government disability pension. I live in a block of villa units which are brick and tile construction about 30 years old. They are all ground floor (no stairs) and have at least one courtyard. A very convenient and fairly budget way to live for me who is lesser abled, 1 adopted black kitty Rocky who currently resides on top of the pantry in the kitchen and eats off the top of the fridge next to it. I have no garage, 1 bedroom and a bathroom/laundry off it. In Australia we buy or rent and there is no fridge or washing machine provided if you buy unfurnished which I did. I am close to most everything I need and want to be. The bus 5 minutes walk away takes me up a hill to my local Baptist Church and the next stop on to the railway station which is about a handful of stations to the city centre. My husband lives near the station and catches up with me most days. After almost 3 years of wedded bliss we still have not merged households as 2 humans and a kitty do not squeeze into the same space as 1 kitty and a human. We are a work in progress. I wish you all lots of love and continued great u-tube videos. From Karen, sometimes Peter and definitely Rocky the kitty xxxx 💕💕💕
Thank you for sharing! I live in Southern California and an average 3 bedroom home is about 1.6 million. We have foreced air heating but we don't have airconditioning. We keep our house at 69 degress and our gas bill was $150 last month. Our gas bill has gone up the past few months.
That last home in Chugiak with the air plane hanger looked absolutely amazing from the outside. The inside was so dated, l disliked the dark wood panels on all the cupboards. I could sit and listen to you talk for hours, you have such a soothing voice. Thanks for sharing 😊
Hi Lauren. I love learning about Alaska . It is a fascinating state. We live in New England. Well, Western Massachusetts. During our winter, we keep the house at 62 to 64 degrees and the house has home heating oil..
I would recommend insulation between the floor struts in your crawlspace, protect your copper pipes with insulation as well. These are cheap upgrade and provide protection as well
What a great video about Alaska expenses, housing, utilities etc. Location. Location. Location. That’s what impacts all the expenses from taxes to utilities. Susan
This was a great informative vlog! I love this kind of stuff, and I always love seeing more of Alaska! I also would love seeing these neighborhoods in the summertime. Your monthly bills are pretty much inline with Fresno, California, except your water, garbage and sewer is cheaper overall. Mine bill goes over $100 a month in the summer because I water my lawn and I live on a larger lot. My house was built in 1967, so you got more land back then. The way they build now they would probably fit three houses on my lot. Also, your gas prices are cheaper than ours in Fresno. Alaska gas $3.67 a gallon estimated and Fresno $4.17 a gallon, these are both Costco gas prices.
California always seems to have the highest gas prices with all the extra taxes. I agree with the houses being close together, barely any land anymore, so close together
Wow. I am at $200+ a month for WSG here in WA state, a town close by is at almost $300/month for theirs, and we also have natural gas which is at $45.00/ month.
We keep our house at 71 during the day and 68 at night. During the summer we keep the a/c at 73, because it is hard to get it any cooler during the day. East Tennessee
I was so interested in how Alaskans heat their homes. Thank you so much for today's vlog. I really love your channel. I am from Wellington in New Zealand, and we only get snow flurries on the hills during Winter. We get very cold winds from the South thou. Love it when you take us sightseeing. We get a lot of earthquakes as well, and we are known as the shaky Isles, and are in the ring of fire in the Pacific. Much love from New Zealand. xx
I live in South West Scotland near Glasgow in a duplex house. I found this vlog especially interesting & very informative. It's a subject you-tubers all over the world could address & we would all benefit. Alaska is a place in which I once aspired to live. However, Scotland is where we ended up. Your house looks lovely. Two & a half acres is enough to have some animals & homestead if you want.
We have done some “homestead” activities ( milking goats) in the past but it gets a little hard in the summer because we are rarely home. We do have a garden and often have chickens, though we don’t have them at the moment.
We keep our house at 70°. We have snow from November to April, temperatures in January and February typically -20° here in NE South Dakota. We heat with liquid propane. BTW, love your show!
Thanks for sharing about the costs of living in Alaska and the different building styles. We are in Lindsay ONtario Canada and keep our house at a constant 72 F year round.
Small world.....I live in Eagle River too (off Driftwood). I thought you lived somewhere in Anchorage. But I have only been here 3 years so I found this very informative. Coincidentally, speaking of gas....one of the knobs on our gas stove is loose and last night somehow it got in the on position again!! Gas was filling our house. I can't smell (don't know why to this day) but luckily my son and his girlfriend smelled the gas later on last night about 10:30 pm when they came in and they saw the gas was on for one of the burners. 🔥 Needless to say, I am getting my landlord to replace the knob. I could have been barbeque this morning. Yikes! 😄 Btw, I take my glass to the recycling ♻️ center down the road so that is an option.
Love your channel! Taking a second Cruise to Alaska in September! Can't wait! Your tips are so helpful! Also, Our neighbors son and young family just moved to Palmer , Alaska! Excited for them and their new Life! I will pass on your channel to them. The wife is a ER nurse and will be commuting to Anchorage for work!
Our trash gets collected by the local council at about 4:30 am, every Thursday morning, so you really need to have it out on the kerb the night before. The larger recycling bin is collected every two weeks on the same day as trash but a bit later. (Melbourne Australia 🇦🇺)
I’m fortunate to live in Canada now in Calgary AB. There is a lot of similarities in how we do things here. We can get quite cold and very hot both extremes. It’s similar we use forced air heating. It’s common to keep the house around 72 F or 21 C.
Hi Lauren. Your house is gorgeous. This is good info to compare with our country. I have a small natural gas heater which heats most of my house which is around 15squares. I have it on around 18degrees centigrade. I have a reverse cycle electric air conditioner for summer. It gets really hot here in Oz in summer. I have it on 21degrees centigrade. Electricity is very expensive here too now. It’s gone up a lot this past year. I am on town water and sewerage.
Really loved this video Lauren! So different from what I typically come on UA-cam to watch, but I’ve been in the building design and real estate industry for a long time and love seeing how it differs from place to place!
68° to 70° I keep my house in the winter right now in the center of Washington state where I live it is 8° so I’m at a strong 70°. Love your videos. Have a great day.
This was a really informative video. My family and I live in Florida but I always have an interest in other states on their housing prices, houses, and cost of living. Of course, no basements here but we have a utility garage for storage. We are on city water and sewer. We are all electric but conservative with our usage. The water here doesn’t taste the best, so we got a filtration system. There’s a hot tub. The garage is kind of my husband’s man cave. Cars are kept outside year round. We are from NY and yes, we had some harsh winters there. Had a one car garage we used when it snowed or really cold. Don’t miss winter. I never realized you had special trash bins to keep bears out. Our trash is 17.00/month. We do have raccoons, skunks, and at times a bobcat. Have to be cautious. I was hoping you could cover home and car insurance costs ( high in FL), vehicle cost ownership like registration. No state inspections? Thanks again, really enjoyed this video. Till next time. Bye Luna.😊
Great video. We don't have any sales taxes in NH so our property taxes are higher just like Alaska. Our cable bill is very high and we don't have a choice. Comcast is it. Our electric is somewhat high as well. We have well water and septic too. No natural gas in our area. Propane and Oil are the choices. We heat with oil and that can be expensive as well. We also have a Generator for the ice and snow storms that occur here. Such a blessing for sure!
Here in Charleston SC I keep it at 71 degrees year round…definitely need the AC here. ❤ I am originally from upstate NY, Albany area, just watching all that snow I’m littering shivering lol.
I live in a town in the wine country of northern California. A 1400 sqaure foot starter home on a 6000 square foot lot will cost you about 1.5 million dollars. Every once in a while a home will come on the market for about 900K, but everything here is just ridiculously expensive.
Lauren we love your vlogs we are Kentucky we don’t get a lot of snow. We love how your family gets outside and do all kinds of things in the snow. We love all your boys but Everett cracks us up we laugh at him all the time.
First time commenting. Loved this video. Very interesting and so informative. You are so open with sharing your personal finances. Loved the neighbour home tours. Your channel is excellent.
Just found this podcast and really enjoyed it. I went to Alaska in 2002 and I just loved it. I thought of moving to Haines, but it was to expensive for me.. I love hearing about your town, where you shop, what you do as a family ect.
I have central heat & air here in Florida but I don’t use that heat source because it causes me to have sinus headaches. We have about a week where temps fall to the 30’s, so I usually just layer clothes or use a small portable electric heater that has a shut-off feature if it falls over. I look forward to the winter here because I find the summers brutally hot.
I love all the information you provided. My husband and I are thinking of moving the family to Alaska, and this helps so much to get some sort of an idea on what to expect. Thank you! Love your videos🤗
I just found your channel and, so glad that I did. Your videos are so informative and well done. I live in Hawaii, and it was so interesting to see how much living in Alaska vs. Hawaii. We do pay sales tax here at some ridiculous rate. We also pay state income taxes based on your income. We are in the 30 percent income bracket.🤣 The cost of the average home is over 1 million $ which is just crazy! Our home was built in 1988 it is 1,270 sf with a garage of 450 sf. Our home is currently valued at $1.250.00. Our home has no insulation. Homes in Hawaii are just basic unless you have a mansion or have done a major renovation. We pay for electricity, water, sewer, internet, cell phones. We are charged a sales tax for everything and we cannot claim what we have paid when we file our income taxes. I apologize for being so long winded but found it so eye opening when I found your channel. I will definitely be watching more. God bless you and your family. Love and Aloha from Hawaii❤️🌺🙏😊❤️
I just discovered your channel. Thanks for the 'civilized' homes tour and explaining your home systems. We have a home in Tununak, out on the tundra. We do have electricity but we poo in a bucket and haul in our own water. Currently residing in Washington state. Best to you!
Looks great!! All your hard work really paid off! You have earned a big "Great job"! A sense of pride doing your own work 100%. Looking forward to what comes next!
Add food, gas, car insurance, entertainment, and the OMG fund, and you're looking at close to $4500.00 plus a month! That is a lot. Thanks loved your video!
Houses where I live in Northern California are about $900K for less than 2K square feet and almost no yard. Sales tax is 9%, eggs are $17/dozen, cell phone (bought mine outright as well) $140, gas is almost $7/gallon, utilities are around $400/mo, property taxes are outrageous (at least $14K), and HOA is about $300/month, etc. Alaska would be a break from Northern California. 😂
Living in West Texas, I have TXU for electricity and I'm on a plan which has free nights and solar days. Which means I get free electric from 8pm til 5am everyday. That's when the dryer comes on and I switch from gas heat to electric fireplaces. My internet is high 100 a month. My gas bill seems to be getting more expensive and the water bill has trash and sewer included the base pay is almost 70 and mine is always over a 100. You didn't mention cable. My internet and cable are billed together so my bill is near 200. It gets very hot here in the summer and cold in the winter but that is inconsistent might snow might be 80 degrees. Anyone who lives in Texas knows about the crazy weather we have. Great video.
we have ours set in the winter at 72Fsometimes 73F only because we have my mother living with us who is 88 and is always cold, mean while when were down in the lower level we have the windows open cause were hot. We call these houses Semi's, we live in one have for the last 30 years, and love it, we have great neighbours which makes that a bonus. For us when you say a Duplex, they are known to up and a house that was divided into 2 homes, usually on top of each other, the same with a tri-plex. a home divided into 3 homes.
Hi. New to your channel. I love how informative you are about Alaska Life. I grew up in Tacoma WA. I was there during the 1964 Alaska earthquake. I will never forget the tremors in Tacoma. Now I live in Tucson. Totally different climate for sure
I curious about homeowner's insurance and also I assume, if you watch TV, you must stream it as no cable bill. In Fla. a $500K house payment would be comparable, add Home Owners insurance which is extremely high if you can get it, flood insurance, property taxes even with Homestead, electric for cooling, water, HOA fees etc can easily be the same or exceed your costs. $500K housing here is about average on the coast. Price of living the dream!
Hi Lauren and Luna! What an interesting video. I loved how you shared your expenses regarding your home. I love your home. Its so spacious and open. I think nowadays its expensive everywhere. You gave some good insight into the area. I loved that some of the houses and the views they have….I would be interested in how you and Mark met and how you and your parents ended up in Alaska. Hope you have a wonderful week! Hope Mark and the boys are good. 😊
Really informative video I have been somewhat curious about housing in Alaska particularly prices of homes there .Taking the tour with you gave me a real sense of various neighbor hoods actually not so different than anywhere else.I live in New England and a 500.00 thousand dollar home is typical a million dollar home is not as large as the one in your video very expensive to live here .I do think prices of food in Alaska seems extreme although food is out of control everywhere yours is particularly extreme. Thanks so much for this video !!
Thanks Lauren so much for another great video. It is so interesting to see what your part of Alaska is like. It is very different from Australia. Much love from our family to yours. May Heavenly Father’s blessings be upon you all now and for always. Bel xxx
Hi Lauren, thank you so much the time and effort you have taken in making this video. You are just made for the role of educator, it's so interesting seeing different aspects of Alaska and Eagle river, those eagles are amazing. I'm in the UK and couldn't imagine the amount of snow you guy's deal with. I'm freezing when it gets to -3C! I usuallt have my house which is heated by gas central heating on 20C, this year though as the prices are sky high I have been trying to stick with 18C, for us this is not warm at all. You seem to get more for your money is the US regarding houses.
Lauren, I loved this video! Very informative! We moved to Oklahoma/Texas from the Seattle area right BEFORE housing prices skyrocketed there. I also use average billing for electric……you gave high natural gas in the winter and here in Texas we have high electric bills in the summer! Gotta have my AC!!!
In north central Florida, we have a 4 bedroom, 2 bath, 2 car garage single story home. We have electric forced air heat with central air. We have a heat pump system. So if it is really cold, it is hard to get it warm because that's not how heat pumps really work. I keep the air at 73. Most newer neighborhoods in Florida have HOA's. Our house is concrete block with stucco, built on a slab. We live about 8 miles from the Atlantic ocean and can see the space shuttle launch from our front yard. We have always paid for the water and sewer we use. In our neighborhood, we have reclaimed water for irrigation. It's water that isn't as highly treated as drinking water and therefore, cheaper. Our trash has always been collected. We have ours picked up 2x per week. Recycling and yard waste is once per week. Homes in our neighborhood are about 20 years old. Our homes are valued in the 300k range. We have about 1800 sq ft. Our property taxes are about $1900 per year. Our sales tax is 6.5%. Our water bill is about $140 per month. It includes our drinking and reclaimed water, sewer and trash pick-up. Electric is about $275/month. We're on a budget plan so it is pretty much the same each month. We have cable internet at 400 mbps for $95/month. Florida doesn't have a state income tax.
In winter, we keep our home at around 18-19o Celsius (64-66 Fahrenheit) in summer we keep it exactly the same with AC so always at 18-19o Celsius!! Melbourne Australia 🇦🇺
When we lived in northern Vermont we kept our house in the winter 66 - 68 and we did not have Air Conditioning. When it got in the negative teens the house would be colder. We also had baseboard copper heating.
I live in Delaware and have the same heat (baseboard hot water) as you do. I keep the heat at 60’F in the winter. Our summers are brutal here, very hot and humid. After twenty years, we just got central air conditioning, I cant wait to use it this summer!
Good morning Lauren from a cloudy 55* Tennessee, expecting rain this afternoon !! Very interesting video with the different types of housing and utility costs ! Thank you for sharing ! Do you know some of the pay rates for jobs in Alaska .. that would be interesting to hear also ! Blessings to you all!
I live in South Carolina which is a state in the southern part of the US actually about 65 miles inland from Myrtle Beach, we have very little cold even in the winter I keep my home about 68 in the winter which is perfect for me I actually hate the heat and humidity in summer is almost unbearable, I recently found your channel and I love your family/videos... have a blessed day
Thank you for all that information, very interesting. I’ve always wondered about what happens to all that snow when it melts, I’ve imagined flooding so good to know that it’s not likely. Do roofs need to be structurally sound to handle the weight of the snow, it appears to be a lot on everyones roofs. Our aim for our homes in Queensland is cross ventilation, insulation and split level air conditioners. So it’s all geared towards cooling. High temperatures average 32 to 37 degrees Celsius in summers. I rarely use the heater in winter, maybe a couple of weeks but only at night. A low temperature would be 4deg Celsius and we think it’s freezing 😅😅. Average winter day temperature is about 17 to 20. I set the aircon 24 degrees on cooling and same for heat. I prefer to wear warmer clothing rather than have the aircon on. Many people, as I do, have solar panels as electricity is very expensive. I’ve travelled to areas in Australia and overseas that snow and I really felt the 🥶 could hardly move for all the layers of clothing 😅, I’m sure I amused the locals, can’t imagine how I would be in Alaska. That being said we all become accustomed to where we live. Thanks again for the tour and would love to see the difference in summer ❤
Heat to 58 here in VA! I was disgusted by furnace oil costs (with a nice new furnace in the home we purchased) so we learned to live cold. 4 years later switched to a heat pump when we needed a new AC unit, but we just keep it cold still. I do support heated tile and supplemental heat in the bathrooms! We use our wood burning stoves for days we are going to be hanging around the house. (We keep our house at 67 in the summer when it’s 95 outside so our costs even out 😂)
Lauren this was a great video. I am learning so much about your beautiful state and appreciate all the work you put in your videos and love the Costco trips too. Thanks!
The mud room in your home reminds me of school closets with the benches….in the uk 🇬🇧 we have what you call town houses and the living room can be at the top of the building…we have (rubbish bins) and we also recycle and the bins are collected on alternative weeks we have 4 colourful bins…bin 1 is for household waste bin 2 is for bottles (no glass) and cans ECT bin 3 is for cardboard and bin 4 is for garden waste….our utilities are very expensive especially our gas….thank you for your vlog
Hey Lauren, I live in eastern NC...temperature this week has been from 50-85*...which is warm for February. I enjoy all your videos but really like the ones where you visit an area & give us the grand tour. Also we live Luna.
I live in northern Germany and heat between 16 and 18 degrees Celsius. That is between 61 and 64,5 Fahrenheit. If that feels too cold a flu is coming. I enjoy it so much to be able to wear a sweater. I hate when Summer heats the house. More than 24 Celsius/75 Fahrenheit makes me feel really uncomfortable and i prefer my home on the cooler side. Especially because AC isn‘t a thing here
Greetings from Boston MA. My heat source is gas and my monthly bill in Winter is about 400.00 .I keep my heat at 70 degrees and yes I have c/a bc it gets very hot here in the Summer. My city provides sewer system. Water bill is high especially in Summer with irrigation.
Hi Lauren, I pay £210 each month for gas/electricity. Prior to mad inflation I only paid £92 each month. Quite a price hike and I live in a well-insulated 2bedroom bungalow.
This was really interesting. I was surprised to see the split level older homes there with the tiny entrance space. I used to live in one of those...we call them the B.C box here in British Columbia. I thought Alaska homes would all have mudrooms with creative storage because of the harsh winters. Enjoyed this video
Sorry- wrote last post but want to add: Praying fir your new little girls and Congratulations! we live in Texas… it’s freezing… 19 degrees!!! (I’m sure this temp makes you laugh- it’s like this everyday fir you!) I was cold just now so turned the temp up to 66 (from a night of 64). BUT during the day… sometimes up to 67-68 for a “heat hit”😭
In North Pole I keep my thermostat at 62 during the day and 55 at night, 24/7/365. I'm not a heat lover so those temperatures are just fine. I'd rather get an extra blanket than turn up the heat. I also have hot water heat and the boiler is fueled by oil and it also heats my hot water. The house originally had a one car garage but the previous owner turned it into a bonus room and built a huge detached heated 2 car garage. Even though i'm within city limits, i'm on a well and septic and have 1.1 acres.
Hi Lauren. I just love how you educate us about different aspects of living in Alaska. You should be the Honorable Tourism Minister to Alaska... I love it.
Agree!
We moved to Alaska from Houston Texas in 2002. We were shocked at the house prices here and the quality of what we could afford in Anchorage. I kept thinking “Have these people not seen HGTV?” We ended up in Palmer and were able to get a nice little house with an unfinished walkout basement. Over the years we have done different improvements (including a finished walkout basement) and are now pretty satisfied with what we have. We love living in Palmer.
I'm typically a silent subscriber, but this vlog was so informative and is much appreciated. Thank you for the time and effort you put in to your channel.
I appreciate you being here! So glad you enjoyed this video. Hope to do more like it in the future.
Its such a great channel!
I live in Pittsburgh, PA but my entire family lives in Alaska. I keep my house temperature at 68 degrees. We’ve had a very mild winter but with the increase in gas heating costs, our monthly bills aren’t reflecting the mildness. I pay approximately $250 per month to heat our 2000 sf home. Our electric have increased substantially as well. It “used to cost” during in the winter about $75 monthly but now about $125. LOVE your videos and never miss one. Thank you for sharing your life!!
Hi Lauren, I’m in England. Thank you for such an informative video! My husband and I plan to visit Alaska when we retire after seeing a travel programme years ago, then I happened to stumble on your channel! I love seeing the differences in how we all live across the world. Like a lot of Europe, Gas & Electric prices in the UK have soared recently (due mainly to the War in Ukraine). We are a family of 6 and pre-war we paid £148 per month for G+E combined…….last bill was £500! Things have got so unaffordable especially as it’s winter, that the Government have stepped in with a help package as many people are having to choose between heating or eating. Our winters are nowhere near as cold as yours, but during a recent cold spell it was -5 Celsius (23F) overnight, and many houses here aren’t always insulated properly. We’ve lived in our detached house for 16 years, purchased for £189,999 but now worth £325,000 (due to renovations and market increase). I’ve recently overhauled our monthly budget to see where we’re at. In total, our outgoings are £3100 per month (mortgage, council tax, TV, Internet, Mobile phones,Life Insurance, Car Insurance, Road Tax, Water bills, Union fees + helping to support our eldest who is living away at University). That doesn’t include food/laundry.toiletries which is around £150 most weeks (£200 on a bad week). Thanks again. I’d love to see a video on schools in Alaska (especially as I work in a school!). Xx
I’m in Scotland and the prices are horrendous. It’s impossible for pensioners and low income families. Saving is borderline impossible for most in the UK now. 🥺 x
I told my daughter that I have always wanted to visit Alaska but I understand things are quite more expensive than down South so I will continue enjoying your videos 😁🥰🥰
Please do!
Hi Lauren I love how Ms. Luna is so comfortable in your arms. She knows that you are lovely and that you have a very kind heart and a gentle personality. I love watching your vlogs and you and Mark interact with your children. It shows off the grace of our Lord in you all. Blessings. With love from Vancouver, Canada.
this was so helpful & so informative! my husband and i are moving to the muldoon/eagle river area this summer and i have been devouring your videos. we’ve been multiple times but hearing all of your wisdom and facts about alaska has been so great. THANK YOU.
Muldoon and Eagle River are not the same area just so you know, Muldoon is the last neighborhood in Anchorage before you hit the Glen Hwy
Hi, Lauren! I am about an hour and a half east of Pittsburgh, PA. I keep my heat at 66. Last winter, we had a lot of days that were well below freezing so I did turn it up to 68. My family likes to run around the house in shorts and t-shirts all year long and I am not paying a heating bill for them to have indoor beach weather when it’s 12 degrees out! Thank you for sharing so much of your life in Alaska!
Hello fellow pa peep. We are 30min north of Pittsburgh. We keep ours at 63 lol
@@akdogmum3929 Hello, PA peep! I like to get all cozy under a blanket with a book and a cup of tea and 63 sounds perfect for that!
Another PA gal here-we keep our heat on 67-68.
Hello! I’m a Pittsburgher. I was wondering if anyone in my area or near by watched this channel.
@@Kim-427 Well now! How about this! My daughter is in the process of moving to Pittsburgh. Hello fellow Yinzer! Bahahaha
Just happened upon your channel because of your Costco trip and morning devotion time. I love your channel! I could not make it in Alaska. We have more than enough snow in Pennsylvania. 😂 Yet I love seeing what living in Alaska is like, and because I am also a believer in Christ, I note your dedication to the Lord and your care for your family. I’m also a huge Costco lover. So I’m a new subscriber! ❤ I made my hubby watch a little bit with me. We enjoyed it together. Thank you for showing us what life in Alaska is like!
I live in Indiana and keep my winter heat on 71 and air condition on 73-74 in summer. I grew up in the country and we had well and septic system. Enjoy watching you channel❤️
Thank you so much for watching Kathy! We are thankful you're here.
Lauren thank you so very much for taking the time to give us all the information that you did. It’s amazing to see the difference in each neighborhood. Your house is amazing. Love 💕 y’all!
You are so welcome! Thank you for watching Shelly!
I loved this video! We live in the SF Bay Area, and last summer our temperature topped out at 118 degrees, and it dips down into the 30's (sometimes lower) in the winter. We currently have snow all over our local mountain, and the temps have been in the 30's at night. We keep our home around 68 degrees or so, but use split units in each room so we generally only run the split unit in our dining, living, kitchen area (it's a huge open space) in the evenings. Power is EXPENSIVE ($1,000ish during the extremes, and they raise the rates incredibly high during the hot and cold months). We are in a major drought, so the cost of water is expensive, especially if you go over your water allotment. We pay quite a bit for internet ($300ish, but it's necessary to have the highest speed internet because my husband works from home). Garbage is reasonable, and we have trash, recycling, and yard waste with an additional 2 bulk pickups per year, and 2 bulk drop off events. Our tax rate is generally county by county, but some cities within counties are higher, I believe ours is somewhere around 8.75%. The cost of real estate in the bay area includes some of the most expensive in the country (we do not live in an expensive zip code, our home is just your average 3 bedroom with office, 2 bathrooms, on a larger suburban lot), but there are areas that are fairly reasonable, you just spend a lot more time commuting (or work from home, which is not uncommon in the tech sector).
I live on Olympic Peninsula in Washington. I keep winter house at 65 during day 55 at night. I like wearing layers and especially sweaters. We have community well and septic. My dad wanted to move our family to Alaska in the 60s, but mom refused. Love your channel, just found it
Hi Lauren! What a great idea with this video. We live north of Spokane, WA and we keep our heat around 62. Some days we just can't get warm and we may raise it to 65. Electricity has gone up by 30-40% in the last year from what we see.
Thank you Lauren! This was enjoyable as well as informative. Born, raised Texan. Love your home! Fantastic family! And following now on your journey with your pregnancy, praying for you & Mark and precious girls! Thanks again, God Bless 🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼
Hi Lauren👋🏼We keep our house at 68, mostly due to me (he’s always cold), and live in Michigan (north of Detroit). I could never live in Alaska, because I love my hot summers too much (as long as my a/c is working!). But I can & do watch your videos until the cows come home! Sending much love💕💕💕
When I lived in northeast NY, we had an outside wood furnace. It heated water which heated the house. Loved it
Hi Lauren, wow, I’m in southeastern PA, 50 miles outside Philly, we are on 1/3 acre, 3 b / 2.5 bath, 2220 sq ft. our taxes are $5500, we also have 6% sales tax,
Local tax, and state tax, we are taxed to death, AK sounds wonderful. This was a great video, thank you for opening your personal business for us to compare and “see” AK. Have a wonderful weekend. 😊
Winter 16 Celsius summer 16 Celsius = 60.8°F cannot stand heat of any kind. So hubby and i have different bedrooms lol yes we are still in love, great remarriage after divorce, we found we couldn't be away from each other. We have installed close off vents for the ducted cooling and heating..Now due to the cost of living here in my State of Victoria in Australia our Son has moved home and like his dad can't bear my temperature so they have a double garage as their party room when their friend's come over. Myself I'm not a social Soul, more comfy alone than with Friend's. Exception my Mum, hubbie and Son. Oh and our two cats. Hence why i adore this girl and channel. Kindest thoughts to you and your families and Furbabies from Australia x
Hi Lauren. Thanks for the information. I keep my home around 60-65 in the winter. I live in So. California so I really try not to use the heat. In the summer, however, I keep the house at 80 during the day and around 76 in the evening. In winter, It is so easy to slip on a warm robe, blanket, or sweater. However, in Summer, it is hard to sleep in an 80-degree room. In Winter, keeping it at 60 degrees helps keep the gas cost down and, I don't get a dry throat or nasal passage with the heater blowing.
Wow! You are correct Alaska is expensive! Here’s my breakdown for a townhome in Minnesota: $1267 mortgage/property tax inc, if taxes paid separately $2750, phone $60, natural gas $60 winter, $20 summer, $40 internet, electric/ garbage thru city $85. Water included in HOA $260
We are looking like your area, had a dumping of 20 inc 2 days ago, up to over 70 inc this year 😱. We usually get 50 something. Thanks for sharing!
Laurie/Minnesota
Boil heaters are the best. It remains constant and less maintenance and as you mentioned does not dry out you and furnishings☺️
Hi Lauren and Luna and of course the Alaska Boys. Absolutely loved this blog. I am addicted to house videos and was surprised and happy to see this. I live in Moonee Ponds a suburb of Melbourne which is the capital and largest city in Victoria and the 2nd largest city in all of Australia. My suburb is about 6 ks from the centre of Melbourne and is serviced by a train line and station, buses and trams. I am close to most services including lots of supermarkets and other types of shops, all types of doctors and ancillary health services and hospitals. I have lived at my current address for just over 26 years and I am in government rental which is capped at 25 percent of my government disability pension. I live in a block of villa units which are brick and tile construction about 30 years old. They are all ground floor (no stairs) and have at least one courtyard. A very convenient and fairly budget way to live for me who is lesser abled, 1 adopted black kitty Rocky who currently resides on top of the pantry in the kitchen and eats off the top of the fridge next to it. I have no garage, 1 bedroom and a bathroom/laundry off it. In Australia we buy or rent and there is no fridge or washing machine provided if you buy unfurnished which I did. I am close to most everything I need and want to be. The bus 5 minutes walk away takes me up a hill to my local Baptist Church and the next stop on to the railway station which is about a handful of stations to the city centre. My husband lives near the station and catches up with me most days. After almost 3 years of wedded bliss we still have not merged households as 2 humans and a kitty do not squeeze into the same space as 1 kitty and a human. We are a work in progress. I wish you all lots of love and continued great u-tube videos. From Karen, sometimes Peter and definitely Rocky the kitty xxxx 💕💕💕
Thank you for sharing! I live in Southern California and an average 3 bedroom home is about 1.6 million. We have foreced air heating but we don't have airconditioning. We keep our house at 69 degress and our gas bill was $150 last month. Our gas bill has gone up the past few months.
That last home in Chugiak with the air plane hanger looked absolutely amazing from the outside. The inside was so dated, l disliked the dark wood panels on all the cupboards. I could sit and listen to you talk for hours, you have such a soothing voice. Thanks for sharing 😊
This is a fascinating way of life....a far cry from Tennessee, that's for sure! Beautiful house.
Hi Lauren. I love learning about Alaska . It is a fascinating state. We live in New England. Well, Western Massachusetts. During our winter, we keep the house at 62 to 64 degrees and the house has home heating oil..
I would recommend insulation between the floor struts in your crawlspace, protect your copper pipes with insulation as well. These are cheap upgrade and provide protection as well
What a great video about Alaska expenses, housing, utilities etc.
Location. Location. Location. That’s what impacts all the expenses from taxes to utilities. Susan
This was a great informative vlog! I love this kind of stuff, and I always love seeing more of Alaska! I also would love seeing these neighborhoods in the summertime. Your monthly bills are pretty much inline with Fresno, California, except your water, garbage and sewer is cheaper overall. Mine bill goes over $100 a month in the summer because I water my lawn and I live on a larger lot. My house was built in 1967, so you got more land back then. The way they build now they would probably fit three houses on my lot. Also, your gas prices are cheaper than ours in Fresno. Alaska gas $3.67 a gallon estimated and Fresno $4.17 a gallon, these are both Costco gas prices.
California always seems to have the highest gas prices with all the extra taxes. I agree with the houses being close together, barely any land anymore, so close together
Wow. I am at $200+ a month for WSG here in WA state, a town close by is at almost $300/month for theirs, and we also have natural gas which is at $45.00/ month.
We keep our house at 71 during the day and 68 at night.
During the summer we keep the
a/c at 73, because it is hard to get it any cooler during the day.
East Tennessee
I was so interested in how Alaskans heat their homes. Thank you so much for today's vlog. I really love your channel. I am from Wellington in New Zealand, and we only get snow flurries on the hills during Winter. We get very cold winds from the South thou. Love it when you take us sightseeing. We get a lot of earthquakes as well, and we are known as the shaky Isles, and are in the ring of fire in the Pacific. Much love from New Zealand. xx
I live in South West Scotland near Glasgow in a duplex house. I found this vlog especially interesting & very informative. It's a subject you-tubers all over the world could address & we would all benefit.
Alaska is a place in which I once aspired to live. However, Scotland is where we ended up. Your house looks lovely. Two & a half acres is enough to have some animals & homestead if you want.
We have done some “homestead” activities ( milking goats) in the past but it gets a little hard in the summer because we are rarely home. We do have a garden and often have chickens, though we don’t have them at the moment.
Thank you for this very informative video. I also liked the drive along tour of different areas. The Eagles flying around was great addition.
We keep our house at 70°. We have snow from November to April, temperatures in January and February typically -20° here in NE South Dakota. We heat with liquid propane. BTW, love your show!
Thanks for sharing about the costs of living in Alaska and the different building styles. We are in Lindsay ONtario Canada and keep our house at a constant 72 F year round.
You done amazing on this loved all of it😊
Small world.....I live in Eagle River too (off Driftwood). I thought you lived somewhere in Anchorage. But I have only been here 3 years so I found this very informative. Coincidentally, speaking of gas....one of the knobs on our gas stove is loose and last night somehow it got in the on position again!! Gas was filling our house. I can't smell (don't know why to this day) but luckily my son and his girlfriend smelled the gas later on last night about 10:30 pm when they came in and they saw the gas was on for one of the burners. 🔥 Needless to say, I am getting my landlord to replace the knob. I could have been barbeque this morning. Yikes! 😄
Btw, I take my glass to the recycling ♻️ center down the road so that is an option.
I am in MT and we keep ours around 68-71 in the winter and 75-80 in the summer.
Hi Lauren, I love your videos. They make my day. Your family is so special and I love watching them grow. Thanks for sharing!
Love your channel! Taking a second Cruise to Alaska in September! Can't wait! Your tips are so helpful! Also, Our neighbors son and young family just moved to Palmer , Alaska! Excited for them and their new Life! I will pass on your channel to them. The wife is a ER nurse and will be commuting to Anchorage for work!
Our trash gets collected by the local council at about 4:30 am, every Thursday morning, so you really need to have it out on the kerb the night before. The larger recycling bin is collected every two weeks on the same day as trash but a bit later. (Melbourne Australia 🇦🇺)
I’m fortunate to live in Canada now in Calgary AB. There is a lot of similarities in how we do things here. We can get quite cold and very hot both extremes. It’s similar we use forced air heating. It’s common to keep the house around 72 F or 21 C.
I live in kodiak Alaska and its about the same except for oil no natural gas here or ever. Thank God we burn alot of free wood.❤
Hi Lauren. Your house is gorgeous. This is good info to compare with our country. I have a small natural gas heater which heats most of my house which is around 15squares. I have it on around 18degrees centigrade. I have a reverse cycle electric air conditioner for summer. It gets really hot here in Oz in summer. I have it on 21degrees centigrade. Electricity is very expensive here too now. It’s gone up a lot this past year. I am on town water and sewerage.
Really loved this video Lauren! So different from what I typically come on UA-cam to watch, but I’ve been in the building design and real estate industry for a long time and love seeing how it differs from place to place!
68° to 70° I keep my house in the winter right now in the center of Washington state where I live it is 8° so I’m at a strong 70°. Love your videos. Have a great day.
This was a really informative video. My family and I live in Florida but I always have an interest in other states on their housing prices, houses, and cost of living. Of course, no basements here but we have a utility garage for storage. We are on city water and sewer. We are all electric but conservative with our usage. The water here doesn’t taste the best, so we got a filtration system. There’s a hot tub. The garage is kind of my husband’s man cave. Cars are kept outside year round. We are from NY and yes, we had some harsh winters there. Had a one car garage we used when it snowed or really cold. Don’t miss winter. I never realized you had special trash bins to keep bears out. Our trash is 17.00/month. We do have raccoons, skunks, and at times a bobcat. Have to be cautious. I was hoping you could cover home and car insurance costs ( high in FL), vehicle cost ownership like registration. No state inspections? Thanks again, really enjoyed this video. Till next time. Bye Luna.😊
Great video. We don't have any sales taxes in NH so our property taxes are higher just like Alaska. Our cable bill is very high and we don't have a choice. Comcast is it. Our electric is somewhat high as well. We have well water and septic too. No natural gas in our area. Propane and Oil are the choices. We heat with oil and that can be expensive as well. We also have a Generator for the ice and snow storms that occur here. Such a blessing for sure!
Here in Charleston SC I keep it at 71 degrees year round…definitely need the AC here. ❤ I am originally from upstate NY, Albany area, just watching all that snow I’m littering shivering lol.
I live in a town in the wine country of northern California. A 1400 sqaure foot starter home on a 6000 square foot lot will cost you about 1.5 million dollars. Every once in a while a home will come on the market for about 900K, but everything here is just ridiculously expensive.
That was so interesting. Xx
I love your house; it is so spacious! My husband and I will have to visit Alaska when we retire!
Lauren we love your vlogs we are Kentucky we don’t get a lot of snow. We love how your family gets outside and do all kinds of things in the snow. We love all your boys but Everett cracks us up we laugh at him all the time.
First time commenting. Loved this video. Very interesting and so informative. You are so open with sharing your personal finances. Loved the neighbour home tours. Your channel is excellent.
Just found this podcast and really enjoyed it. I went to Alaska in 2002 and I just loved it. I thought of moving to Haines, but it was to expensive for me.. I love
hearing about your town, where you shop, what you do as a family ect.
I have central heat & air here in Florida but I don’t use that heat source because it causes me to have sinus headaches. We have about a week where temps fall to the 30’s, so I usually just layer clothes or use a small portable electric heater that has a shut-off feature if it falls over. I look forward to the winter here because I find the summers brutally hot.
I love all the information you provided. My husband and I are thinking of moving the family to Alaska, and this helps so much to get some sort of an idea on what to expect. Thank you! Love your videos🤗
I just found your channel and, so glad that I did. Your videos are so informative and well done. I live in Hawaii, and it was so interesting to see how much living in Alaska vs. Hawaii. We do pay sales tax here at some ridiculous rate. We also pay state income taxes based on your income. We are in the 30 percent income bracket.🤣 The cost of the average home is over 1 million $ which is just crazy! Our home was built in 1988 it is 1,270 sf with a garage of 450 sf. Our home is currently valued at $1.250.00. Our home has no insulation. Homes in Hawaii are just basic unless you have a mansion or have done a major renovation. We pay for electricity, water, sewer, internet, cell phones. We are charged a sales tax for everything and we cannot claim what we have paid when we file our income taxes. I apologize for being so long winded but found it so eye opening when I found
your channel. I will definitely be watching more. God bless you and your family. Love and Aloha from Hawaii❤️🌺🙏😊❤️
I just discovered your channel. Thanks for the 'civilized' homes tour and explaining your home systems. We have a home in Tununak, out on the tundra. We do have electricity but we poo in a bucket and haul in our own water. Currently residing in Washington state. Best to you!
Looks great!! All your hard work really paid off! You have earned a big "Great job"! A sense of pride doing your own work 100%. Looking forward to what comes next!
Hi Lauren! I love your videos of your wonderful family so much!!! 💜 I hope you guys have the most amazing weekend!
So interesting and enjoyable! Thanks for all your hard work in this presentation!
Add food, gas, car insurance, entertainment, and the OMG fund, and you're looking at close to $4500.00 plus a month! That is a lot. Thanks loved your video!
It is a lot!
We keep our thermostat around 65 to 68 in the winter time I’m in Central Texas
Houses where I live in Northern California are about $900K for less than 2K square feet and almost no yard. Sales tax is 9%, eggs are $17/dozen, cell phone (bought mine outright as well) $140, gas is almost $7/gallon, utilities are around $400/mo, property taxes are outrageous (at least $14K), and HOA is about $300/month, etc.
Alaska would be a break from Northern California. 😂
Living in West Texas, I have TXU for electricity and I'm on a plan which has free nights and solar days. Which means I get free electric from 8pm til 5am everyday. That's when the dryer comes on and I switch from gas heat to electric fireplaces. My internet is high 100 a month. My gas bill seems to be getting more expensive and the water bill has trash and sewer included the base pay is almost 70 and mine is always over a 100. You didn't mention cable. My internet and cable are billed together so my bill is near 200. It gets very hot here in the summer and cold in the winter but that is inconsistent might snow might be 80 degrees. Anyone who lives in Texas knows about the crazy weather we have. Great video.
we have ours set in the winter at 72Fsometimes 73F only because we have my mother living with us who is 88 and is always cold, mean while when were down in the lower level we have the windows open cause were hot. We call these houses Semi's, we live in one have for the last 30 years, and love it, we have great neighbours which makes that a bonus. For us when you say a Duplex, they are known to up and a house that was divided into 2 homes, usually on top of each other, the same with a tri-plex. a home divided into 3 homes.
Hi. New to your channel. I love how informative you are about Alaska Life. I grew up in Tacoma WA. I was there during the 1964 Alaska earthquake. I will never forget the tremors in Tacoma. Now I live in Tucson. Totally different climate for sure
How do your pipes not freeze during the Winter?
I curious about homeowner's insurance and also I assume, if you watch TV, you must stream it as no cable bill. In Fla. a $500K house payment would be comparable, add Home Owners insurance which is extremely high if you can get it, flood insurance, property taxes even with Homestead, electric for cooling, water, HOA fees etc can easily be the same or exceed your costs. $500K housing here is about average on the coast. Price of living the dream!
Hi Lauren and Luna! What an interesting video. I loved how you shared your expenses regarding your home. I love your home. Its so spacious and open. I think nowadays its expensive everywhere. You gave some good insight into the area. I loved that some of the houses and the views they have….I would be interested in how you and Mark met and how you and your parents ended up in Alaska. Hope you have a wonderful week! Hope Mark and the boys are good. 😊
Really informative video I have been somewhat curious about housing in Alaska particularly prices of homes there .Taking the tour with you gave me a real sense of various neighbor hoods actually not so different than anywhere else.I live in New England and a 500.00 thousand dollar home is typical a million dollar home is not as large as the one in your video very expensive to live here .I do think prices of food in Alaska seems extreme although food is out of control everywhere yours is particularly extreme. Thanks so much for this video !!
Thanks Lauren so much for another great video. It is so interesting to see what your part of Alaska is like. It is very different from Australia. Much love from our family to yours. May Heavenly Father’s blessings be upon you all now and for always.
Bel xxx
Hi Lauren, thank you so much the time and effort you have taken in making this video. You are just made for the role of educator, it's so interesting seeing different aspects of Alaska and Eagle river, those eagles are amazing. I'm in the UK and couldn't imagine the amount of snow you guy's deal with. I'm freezing when it gets to -3C! I usuallt have my house which is heated by gas central heating on 20C, this year though as the prices are sky high I have been trying to stick with 18C, for us this is not warm at all. You seem to get more for your money is the US regarding houses.
Lauren, I loved this video! Very informative! We moved to Oklahoma/Texas from the Seattle area right BEFORE housing prices skyrocketed there. I also use average billing for electric……you gave high natural gas in the winter and here in Texas we have high electric bills in the summer! Gotta have my AC!!!
In north central Florida, we have a 4 bedroom, 2 bath, 2 car garage single story home. We have electric forced air heat with central air. We have a heat pump system. So if it is really cold, it is hard to get it warm because that's not how heat pumps really work. I keep the air at 73. Most newer neighborhoods in Florida have HOA's.
Our house is concrete block with stucco, built on a slab. We live about 8 miles from the Atlantic ocean and can see the space shuttle launch from our front yard.
We have always paid for the water and sewer we use. In our neighborhood, we have reclaimed water for irrigation. It's water that isn't as highly treated as drinking water and therefore, cheaper.
Our trash has always been collected. We have ours picked up 2x per week. Recycling and yard waste is once per week.
Homes in our neighborhood are about 20 years old. Our homes are valued in the 300k range. We have about 1800 sq ft. Our property taxes are about $1900 per year. Our sales tax is 6.5%. Our water bill is about $140 per month. It includes our drinking and reclaimed water, sewer and trash pick-up. Electric is about $275/month. We're on a budget plan so it is pretty much the same each month. We have cable internet at 400 mbps for $95/month.
Florida doesn't have a state income tax.
In winter, we keep our home at around 18-19o Celsius (64-66 Fahrenheit) in summer we keep it exactly the same with AC so always at 18-19o Celsius!! Melbourne Australia 🇦🇺
When we lived in northern Vermont we kept our house in the winter 66 - 68 and we did not have Air Conditioning. When it got in the negative teens the house would be colder. We also had baseboard copper heating.
This video is exactly what I was needing. Thank you, thank you!
Thanks Lauren! So very interesting!!
We heat ours to around 18 degrees c which to is 64F. Hi from Melbourne Australia!
I live in Delaware and have the same heat (baseboard hot water) as you do. I keep the heat at 60’F in the winter. Our summers are brutal here, very hot and humid. After twenty years, we just got central air conditioning, I cant wait to use it this summer!
Good morning Lauren from a cloudy 55* Tennessee, expecting rain this afternoon !! Very interesting video with the different types of housing and utility costs ! Thank you for sharing ! Do you know some of the pay rates for jobs in Alaska .. that would be interesting to hear also ! Blessings to you all!
I live in South Carolina which is a state in the southern part of the US actually about 65 miles inland from Myrtle Beach, we have very little cold even in the winter I keep my home about 68 in the winter which is perfect for me I actually hate the heat and humidity in summer is almost unbearable, I recently found your channel and I love your family/videos... have a blessed day
Thank you for all that information, very interesting. I’ve always wondered about what happens to all that snow when it melts, I’ve imagined flooding so good to know that it’s not likely. Do roofs need to be structurally sound to handle the weight of the snow, it appears to be a lot on everyones roofs. Our aim for our homes in Queensland is cross ventilation, insulation and split level air conditioners. So it’s all geared towards cooling. High temperatures average 32 to 37 degrees Celsius in summers. I rarely use the heater in winter, maybe a couple of weeks but only at night. A low temperature would be 4deg Celsius and we think it’s freezing 😅😅. Average winter day temperature is about 17 to 20. I set the aircon 24 degrees on cooling and same for heat. I prefer to wear warmer clothing rather than have the aircon on. Many people, as I do, have solar panels as electricity is very expensive. I’ve travelled to areas in Australia and overseas that snow and I really felt the 🥶 could hardly move for all the layers of clothing 😅, I’m sure I amused the locals, can’t imagine how I would be in Alaska. That being said we all become accustomed to where we live. Thanks again for the tour and would love to see the difference in summer ❤
Heat to 58 here in VA! I was disgusted by furnace oil costs (with a nice new furnace in the home we purchased) so we learned to live cold. 4 years later switched to a heat pump when we needed a new AC unit, but we just keep it cold still. I do support heated tile and supplemental heat in the bathrooms!
We use our wood burning stoves for days we are going to be hanging around the house.
(We keep our house at 67 in the summer when it’s 95 outside so our costs even out 😂)
Lauren this was a great video. I am learning so much about your beautiful state and appreciate all the work you put in your videos and love the Costco trips too. Thanks!
The mud room in your home reminds me of school closets with the benches….in the uk 🇬🇧 we have what you call town houses and the living room can be at the top of the building…we have (rubbish bins) and we also recycle and the bins are collected on alternative weeks we have 4 colourful bins…bin 1 is for household waste bin 2 is for bottles (no glass) and cans ECT bin 3 is for cardboard and bin 4 is for garden waste….our utilities are very expensive especially our gas….thank you for your vlog
Hey Lauren, I live in eastern NC...temperature this week has been from 50-85*...which is warm for February. I enjoy all your videos but really like the ones where you visit an area & give us the grand tour. Also we live Luna.
I live in northern Germany and heat between 16 and 18 degrees Celsius. That is between 61 and 64,5 Fahrenheit. If that feels too cold a flu is coming. I enjoy it so much to be able to wear a sweater. I hate when Summer heats the house. More than 24 Celsius/75 Fahrenheit makes me feel really uncomfortable and i prefer my home on the cooler side. Especially because AC isn‘t a thing here
Greetings from Boston MA. My heat source is gas and my monthly bill in Winter is about 400.00 .I keep my heat at 70 degrees and yes I have c/a bc it gets very hot here in the Summer. My city provides sewer system. Water bill is high especially in Summer with irrigation.
Hi Lauren, I pay £210 each month for gas/electricity. Prior to mad inflation I only paid £92 each month. Quite a price hike and I live in a well-insulated 2bedroom bungalow.
Come to Ketchikan and see the homes built on the side of the rock walls!!
I did and loved seeing it all! It was amazing! ua-cam.com/video/cwHjPvMhJAM/v-deo.html
We are outside of wasilla. Heat 4,000 sq ft with wood only. And it’s always 70 plus in our house. We have a pellet stove as backup
This was really interesting. I was surprised to see the split level older homes there with the tiny entrance space. I used to live in one of those...we call them the B.C box here in British Columbia. I thought Alaska homes would all have mudrooms with creative storage because of the harsh winters. Enjoyed this video
Sorry- wrote last post but want to add: Praying fir your new little girls and Congratulations!
we live in Texas… it’s freezing… 19 degrees!!! (I’m sure this temp makes you laugh- it’s like this everyday fir you!) I was cold just now so turned the temp up to 66 (from a night of 64). BUT during the day… sometimes up to 67-68 for a “heat hit”😭
We keep our heat in Maryland at 68 , we definitely need air conditioning in summer . I love Luna , she’s so sweet . Our boy Iris is so mean , lol
In North Pole I keep my thermostat at 62 during the day and 55 at night, 24/7/365. I'm not a heat lover so those temperatures are just fine. I'd rather get an extra blanket than turn up the heat. I also have hot water heat and the boiler is fueled by oil and it also heats my hot water. The house originally had a one car garage but the previous owner turned it into a bonus room and built a huge detached heated 2 car garage. Even though i'm within city limits, i'm on a well and septic and have 1.1 acres.
70 degrees year round! Winters are very mild here in Central Georgia, and our summers are extremely hot