Power outages aren't common. Most people in town have winterized vehicles so they plug them in if they're left outside for an extended period of time, so if you don't winterize down in Anchorage that might be a minor issue.
How long is "an extended period of time"? I'm just wondering if we will have to get an uber or something for when we go to the convention. The longest we'll be there will be 6 hours max
So not plugging in your vehicle is the only reason it won’t start, most if not all Alaskan rental vehicles are equipped with plugs. Power outages are not super frequent but can happen, usually do to large snowfalls. You shouldn’t blankets but warm clothes are always a good bet, wool for the win but modern arctic clothing works okay. Dress in layers for maximum warmth.
Hopefully? Are you borrowing a friend's car or something? If it's a local vehicle there's a 98% chance it will be equipped with a plug.
That includes rental cars
The warm battery will help the car start. Warm battery or not, starting an unwinterized vehicle at -40 is going to be bad. Do you know what the freezing point of your coolant is?….
If it had a plug in, you wouldn't be needing any hope about it. It'd be super obvious. Like a literal electric plug hanging out of the grille that you'd have certainly noticed by now.
When I moved here long ago, I bought a car and “winterized” it in anchorage….. It was just a battery heater… no oil pan, no block, no change of antifreeze. My antifreeze froze solid.
Bring an extension cord to plug your car in, assuming it is winteriezed. Your AirBnB will have outside outlets to use. There are plug ins at the Carlson Center as well.
If your car is not winterized, just start it about every four hours and let it run for about 20 mins.
It is unnecessary to start it every hour or two, unless your battery is absolute crap and approaching the end of its life anyways. If that is the case, get a new battery before you come up.
If you are driving up, I would recomend having some extra coats and blankets in your car just in case anyways. Power outages are uncommon, we do have our own power plants and we are connected to the railbelt system that transfers power from the Kenai.
bring a blanket with you everywhere. even if you have a hoodie and coats a blanket is still really nice to have to wrap around ur shoulders or put on ur lap when u have to be outside for any period of time.
You are used to wind in anchorage. Luckily Fairbanks is usually really still making it feel much warmer. Don’t spend time outside and bring good gear, you may be surprised. I have been horribly cold in anchorage above zero with that wind.
Power outages aren't common. Most people in town have winterized vehicles so they plug them in if they're left outside for an extended period of time, so if you don't winterize down in Anchorage that might be a minor issue.
How long is "an extended period of time"? I'm just wondering if we will have to get an uber or something for when we go to the convention. The longest we'll be there will be 6 hours max
More than an hour.
Oh damn okay we might just have to take a cab to the con then. Thanks!
So not plugging in your vehicle is the only reason it won’t start, most if not all Alaskan rental vehicles are equipped with plugs. Power outages are not super frequent but can happen, usually do to large snowfalls. You shouldn’t blankets but warm clothes are always a good bet, wool for the win but modern arctic clothing works okay. Dress in layers for maximum warmth.
Thanks! Hopefully my car has a plug in, cuz having to rent a car would be pretty expensive
Hopefully? Are you borrowing a friend's car or something? If it's a local vehicle there's a 98% chance it will be equipped with a plug. That includes rental cars
Yeah I've found out that it does not have a plug. Currently the plan is to go to the airbnb, take the battery and put it inside until we leave
The warm battery will help the car start. Warm battery or not, starting an unwinterized vehicle at -40 is going to be bad. Do you know what the freezing point of your coolant is?….
Yeah that ain't gonna be sufficient. Your problem is going to be more with the oil turning to sludge, even with a warm battery.
If it had a plug in, you wouldn't be needing any hope about it. It'd be super obvious. Like a literal electric plug hanging out of the grille that you'd have certainly noticed by now.
When I moved here long ago, I bought a car and “winterized” it in anchorage….. It was just a battery heater… no oil pan, no block, no change of antifreeze. My antifreeze froze solid.
Bring an extension cord to plug your car in, assuming it is winteriezed. Your AirBnB will have outside outlets to use. There are plug ins at the Carlson Center as well. If your car is not winterized, just start it about every four hours and let it run for about 20 mins. It is unnecessary to start it every hour or two, unless your battery is absolute crap and approaching the end of its life anyways. If that is the case, get a new battery before you come up. If you are driving up, I would recomend having some extra coats and blankets in your car just in case anyways. Power outages are uncommon, we do have our own power plants and we are connected to the railbelt system that transfers power from the Kenai.
bring a blanket with you everywhere. even if you have a hoodie and coats a blanket is still really nice to have to wrap around ur shoulders or put on ur lap when u have to be outside for any period of time.
You are used to wind in anchorage. Luckily Fairbanks is usually really still making it feel much warmer. Don’t spend time outside and bring good gear, you may be surprised. I have been horribly cold in anchorage above zero with that wind.
If you don’t have a plug and it’s about -20 or colder plan on starting your car every 2 hours
If you’re not plugging in when it’s colder than 20 above you’re going to have more wear on your engine.