Hello All. New person here with a good question or two.

[massbigbore442001]

Hello All:

I have been intrigued by yurts for some time and in the near future if all goes well I will plan to make a big move in my life and possibly semi retire to a yurt type dwelling.

I stayed in a yurt once in the not too distant past. It was in the White Mountains of NH at a campground. I have always wanted to try it out and in a way I was glad.

The Whites in NH can get quite hot and humid in the summer. I found the vinyl walled yurt to be a tad stuffy at first. We had to buy a small battery powered camping fan to get some air circulation in the place.

Another question I have is what you can call "gas out" . I seem to recall a strange odor in the yurt. Quite possibly because it was not used and sealed up for a time but I do worry about chemical gas out.

Does any one have any advice regarding what would be a great yurt that does not gas out? Thanks

[Bob Rowlands]

In several years of membership here on the yurt forum I don't recall having heard about any comments about vinyl cover smell. My six year old trad yurt made from wood and canvas does not have any off gassing odor at all, so a traditional yurt with canvas cover might be in your future. No way I would recommend a canvas cover for a permanent residence though. A fifteen year professional cover is absolutely the way to go.

That said operable window and

dome

will get fresh air flow through the yurt, as will raising up the bottom of the wall cover. Roll up the cover on my 16' yurt yields a nice cool breeze flowing up and out the central smoke hole during the summer months.

You might consider calling and ask a couple manufacturers that sponsor this site about your concern while checking out yurts. That's all I got on that. Good luck to you.

[Wintergreen282]

I bought my yurt used, so any initial off-gassing had aired out. But I would be surprised if there wasn’t - with all that vinyl. I never notice any plastic smell now even if it’s closed up for awhile and warm out. Yurts generally have lots of air flow, but where they are built influences things. If tucked into a small wooded area, I could see things getting stuffy. (Though then protected in the winter. Everything is a trade off.)

My yurt has 4 plastic windows, 2 doors, and a

dome

that opens. Early on I made screen inserts for the doors and that’s plenty of ventilation. I never open the windows. Sometimes will open the dome. Mostly to let bugs out.

You didn’t ask, but living in a yurt is glamping. It provides an (awesome) space to get out of the rain, snow, wind, bugs, etc - while eating, sleeping, reading, cooking, working, visiting, stowring your stuff, etc. There are (like the great outdoors!) crazy temperature swings. Best, I think, dealt with by clothing. I do have fans, but what cools me down the fastest on a hot day is dumping a gallon of water over my head. Luckily I have no visible neighbors. ��

The closer you want/need your living space to be like a house or apartment, energy costs will be decidedly not environmental and very costly. And won’t work that well. Indoor showers, dishwashers, washer/dryer will dump a lot of

moisture

in the air which can be VERY problematic. Lots of sectioned off areas - bedrooms, bathrooms, etc. just break up the space. You can still hear everything. It’s a gorgeous tent. But still a tent, not a house.

This morning while walking up to the small building that houses the composting toilet, the cat and I passed 2 small porcupines. There was an owl hooting, bullfrogs croaking, a Whip-poor-will almost crowding out the calls of a Scarlet Tanager, some warblers, and other birds just waking up. It was like Christmas morning. That’s why one lives in a yurt, not for climate control or one button modern conveniences. All that nature happening outside your door you never see or hear. It’s out there. Or because it’s cheaper, which it can be. Thanks for the opportunity to describe my “Christmas morning”! ��

[Bob Rowlands]

We're spending $5700 on a new furnace and air conditioner. Just thought I'd toss this in as a check on costs. I associate everything 'yurt' as being very affordable.