An Alaska modular home is also more weatherproof than a traditional home due to the precisely fitting individual blocks which make up its walls.

The Alaska Modular Home: As Tough As They Come

Does the idea of living in an Alaska modular home strike you as just this side of insane? Are you picturing gale force winds, nights which last for months, and sheets of ice weighing down your modular roof to its breaking point?

If so, you can relax. You may not have known that in the oil company British Petroleum, which built the Alaska pipeline during the 1970s, uses modular housing to house its construction employees on Alaska’s North Slope. The terrain and weather conditions on Alaska’s North Slope are among the harshest on Earth, with permafrost which never thaws. The average temperature on the North Slope is 9.7 degrees, and where the wind never stops blowing and fifty-mile an hour gusts, producing wind chills of fifty below, are monthly occurrences.

If an Alaska modular home can handle the North Coast, they can handle almost any other part of Alaska as long as it does not thaw in the spring and float out to sea. An Alaska modular home, in fact, may be the only option for parts of the state to remote to be accessible for construction crew and the delivery of traditional home building materials.

It’s Not A Mobile Home
Many people have lumped modular homes into the same category as mobile homes, and they could not be more different. Your Alaska modular home will be constructed on a permanent foundation and cannot be moved.

When completed their appearance is identical to that of traditionally constructed homes, but the number of people for their construction is much smaller, and they can be completed in much less time than traditional homes. Its simplified construction means that an Alaska modular home will cost considerably less than an equivalent traditional home.

Energy Efficiency
One of your major concerns, if you are considering an Alaska modular home, will be its energy efficiency. Because modular homes are built in blocks which are designed to fit together precisely, they are almost completely draft proof. But an Alaska modular home can be ordered with additional insulation, and even manufactured to meet Energy Star standards. In addition, your Alaska modular homes will be constructed to meet the building codes in the municipalities where it is built.

One factor you’ll have to work into your Alaska modular home plans is the delivery cost you’ll have to pay. Depending on which part of Alaska you want to call home, your Alaska modular home may have to come a long way, and the shipping charges can add a significant percentage to its cost.

Alaska has the scenery, the clear clean air, and the peace and quiet that can make you wonder why you ever wanted to live anywhere else. And your Alaska modular home, against a setting like that, can guarantee that you won’t!

But maybe not. Did you know that as long ago as the 1970s, when British Petroleum (BP) was constructing the Alaskan oil pipeline, they housed their pipeline construction workers in Alaska modular homes on the state’s legendary North Slope. The North Slope of Alaska is one of the most hostile environments on the planets, with the permafrost in the ground never thawing, and constant winds gusting regularly to fifty miles per hour, creating a wind chill effect of -50F at least once each month while the average year-round North Slope temperature is a balmy 9.7F.

Yet British Petroleum’s Alaska modular homes stood up to the worst the North Slope could throw at them, so an Alaska modular home could almost certainly handle conditions in the less rugged parts of the state unless it falls victim to global warming and drift out to sea on a melting ice shelf. There are some places in Alaska, in fact , which are simply too remote to be reached by traditional home construction crews with traditional home building materials, and in those spots the Alaska modular home may be the only housing option.

A Mobile Home It’s Not

If you’re someone who has always thought that a mobile home and a modular home were one and the same, you will be surprised to learn that they are entirely unrelated. Any Alaska modular home must be erected on a fixed foundation and will remain where it is assembled permanently.

Once an Alaska modular home is completed, it will be indistinguishable form its traditionally built neighbors, but the construction of the Alaska modular home will require much less man-power and will be finished in a remarkably short time. Because it requires so much less labor to assemble an Alaska modular home, the total cost of the home will be much smaller than that of a similarly-sized standard home.

The Energy Efficient Alaska Modular Home

Anyone considering building an Alaska modular home (or any Alaska home, for that matter) will have to factor the home’s energy efficiency into his or her final decision. All modular homes, however, are constructed of individual blocks which fit together so precisely that they are virtually impenetrable to the elements.

But if that’s not enough for you, you can choose to order an Alaska modular home with extra insulation which surpasses Energy star efficiency standards. You should also keep in mind that every Alaska modular home must meet the local building codes for energy efficiency.
Alaska is one of the last unspoiled natural treasures on earth, with its crystal clear air, tumbling mountain streams and raging rivers, breathtaking coastlines, and unsurpassed wildlife. After one visit to Alaska you may decide that you don’t want a home anywhere else, and buy choosing an Alaska modular home, you can afford to make your dream a reality!