New, modern yurt build in Mongolia

[UKadventurer]

Hi Bob,

there are some amazing commercial solutions for insulating window/door coverings but in Mongolia we have to improvise and importing takes ages. Especially considering we are having a cold snap, way below typical averages, right now!

Another issue is our yurts have curved and tapered windows. There's no off-the-shelf solution. There's only custom.

I don't mind, I like to customize. My wife made a bunch of multi-layered curtains/drapes for the doors and I put up some hooks to hang them. We put grommets (tarp style) in the drapes and brass J-hooks in the wood frames of the doors. It's all very improvised but it works quite well. I'll upload some comparison photos (thermal camera) tomorrow. We're just enjoying the improved insulation this evening.

If I had to estimate, the double glazed doors PLUS heavy drapes roughly equals the double felt walls in terms of effectiveness. This depends on getting a nice seal around the frames, as you pointed out.

A small aside: the FLIR camera is amazing. You can see the effect of a nail in wood as a thermal bridge (bringing cold from the outside). The FLIR cameras are fantastic diagnostic tools and I spent maybe $200 for mine - it works with any Android phone.

 

[Bob Rowlands]

Window quilt doesn't do curves. Have you considered velcro? How about magnetic strip tape?

 

[UKadventurer]

Just a quick update.

We had a slight disaster with our well-house to bathroom pump. The heating failed over night and it was the usual -34C (-28F?) overnight. The pump froze and then burst the upper casing when it thawed out.



Luckily none of the pipes froze because they have heat tape and are buried 1.5m deep. We had to buy a new pump (about $200) but my handyman decided to repair the broken one anyway and all it needed was a new head ($50). So we're keeping it as a backup. We like backups.

Anyway it shows that we need to be extra vigilant. We also upgraded our well house heating to 2 electric heaters. One is mechanical and will remember its settings if the power goes off and then comes back on. The other is a "smart" heater that is WIFI enabled and can tell me the temperature but it's also stupid because it won't remember its settings in the event of a power outage and when the power comes back on. I have the "smart" heater in frost mode so it only kicks in if the temperature goes down to 5C.

I also did the same heating system in my insulated shipping container where I keep my toys (motorcycles). I may put my truck in there but it would be a really tight fit. It has a engine heater which I have to use if the night temperature goes below -25C, which is every night. So I guess it's okay for now. Here are the temperature stats (sorry they are in C but the range is -29F lows with 5F highest).



Lots of bathroom / hallway upgrades and improvements. We added all the barn doors. We changed the hardware to a lower profile systems which was very affordable, quieter, smoother etc.

Door to bedroom ger.


Door to living room ger.


Closeup of the door track. The wheels are plastic mini-skateboard affairs. Very quiet and smooth running.


We swapped over the 50L (13 US gallons) hot water tank because it was insufficient to have a nice bath - the bath is longer than standard because I'm tall. Probably big enough for 2 - yet to try it out. We bought a Bosch front loader washing machine. Finally we added a "bidet" (butthole washer) to the toilet which is great and very refreshing.





We adopted a new puppy. He's a Tibetan Mastiff / Mongolian Bankhur mix. He's getting along well with all our adopted cats. One of my next jobs is to build them all little kennels so they can live outside.


Something like a super-insulated kennel that Jasper, our other puppy has. Smaller for the cats and probably bigger for the new puppy who will be massive when grown.

 

[Bob Rowlands]

Happy to hear you got that squared away. You have good people around you. Place is looking GOOD!

Freeze up on a pump is a whole lot less $ than freeze up on a 1.7l Ford V4 engine block. Been there done that with my 1968 SAAB 96. Froze solid when I was in college.

Why? Dumazz kid and his first car, and no Dad around for reality check. "Coolant? Why pay for coolant when water will work just fine. Cold doesn't get in that deep in an engine, and even if it did freeze, engine heat will thaw it out, no problem." lol


haha Kids are funny. $750 and that was a PILE of money in 1974.

 

[UKadventurer]

Wow, I can't imagine the cost of a frozen and ruptured engine block. My diesel truck (Ssangyong Musso) has a block heater which I'm using a lot these days. I have to pre-heat the engine for about 20-30 minutes before going out. However, I'm thinking of moving it into my insulated shipping container when the floor is done. I maintain the temperature in it at 10-12C. (pictures coming soon). I'm generally worried that every night out is not great for my truck, although it was cheap ($3.5k) and parts are plentiful and cheap.

My total loss from the heating failure was $200 for a new water pump and $50 to fix the previous one. But now I own two. So you could think of it as a $50 loss. It could have been worse.

Speaking of extreme cold. Gers/yurts have an interesting property, especially mine with large windows and glass doors. Even though we have to heat a lot at night, we can turn the heating OFF completely when the sun comes up. We essentially get 6-8 hours of FREE heat, assuming a sunny day and most days are in winter. Except today which is a light snowy day but that makes it warmer at night so maybe it's a wash. The passive solar effect of putting windows facing for maximum sun exposure is phenomenal. Very impressed.

No passive solar today unfortunately. Ginger is temporarily being renamed to Frosty.



I can not overemphasize this effect. When it's -20C outside and we can get free heat to maintain around 20C indoors, we're maintaining a 40C (100F) difference due to passive solar heat. In the future, I hope to harness the solar power for something useful at night, with solar panels and batteries. With cheap electricity rates, I'm not sure if it's worth it financially.

Despite cheap electricity rates (about 5c per kWh) Our last electricity bill was a shocker though at $300 for one month. However, it was an unusually cold November and December might be a bit warmer. We're using electricity to heat about 114m/2 (1227 sq ft) of indoors (including exterior buildings).

The good news is we're in for some relief from the government soon which apparently will give FREE electricity at night from December to March, which is off-peak for them but peak use for us. Hopefully that will cut our bill substantially. We'll see when we get our January bill.

As I've said before, we get supplementary heat from firewood. I've no idea how to convert for the USA (cords?) but it costs us $2 per sack. A sack is about 11kg (25 lbs). Half a ton delivered here cost us $75. A picture might help.



At current use, that could last us through the cold season. We had a young local cut down some of our dead trees but it's not really worth it when I have to pay him. I really should do it myself but it's hard work and I'm old and not broke. I'll pay one way or another. Cash or sore muscles. Which should I chose?

 

[UKadventurer]

I had to take photos for the district office so we can get an address and qualify for free night time electricity. So I thought I'd share.

The very lightweight fence marks the end of our property, about 2 acres (or 1 hectare). Not including all the public land around is which is free for all to use.

The fence is in a poor state due to cattle and yaks rubbing against it and tripping over it. That will be a project for spring. The ground is frozen now.

View to the West (top of the hill).


View to the North (closest to the forest).


View to the East (uphill).


View to the South.

 

[Bob Rowlands]

Thanks for photos.


You have WAY more snow than us. Kathy and I attended an outdoor Holiday event last night. 28F in Camry when we left the grounds. Or 48 degrees warmer than the -20f I worked in 40 years ago. I really can't believe I did that. Youth...I'm telling yuh.. hahaha

 

[UKadventurer]

How y'all doing with the weather? I've seen the news about the US extreme storms.

We've had a mild (by normal standards) December. November was worse. No storms as such but some regular snow falls which drop a few centimeters of snow each time (4" is typical each time). The snow just keeps building up and is much deeper than last winter.

Our truck is still managing to get up the last part of our hillside. We can just about get up the hill in 4WD Low ratio with some sliding around. The snow has built up to about 30-40cm (12-16"). Some drifts are deeper of course.

 

[Bob Rowlands]

Thanks U.K.! Merry Christmas buddy!

 

[UKadventurer]

Merry Christmas everybody.

 

[TSRalex]

Merry Christmas everybody.

From me too....

 

[Bob Rowlands]

U.K., thanks for all your experienced, down to earth, and positive 'can do' contribution to this forum.

 

[Jafo]

The snow has built up to about 30-40cm

We had about 4' here in Central New York and then we had a bout of rain which knocked it back down to 2'. Will be snowshoeing into my yurt tomorrow for a couple days.

 

[Bob Rowlands]

haha Thanks Jafo! Folks get that look when I go all in on details. lol That, and :roll eyes: covers a lot of my posts. lol

 

[TSRalex]

We had about 4' here in Central New York and then we had a bout of rain which knocked it back down to 2'.

With my online converter that was always easy to solve....

https://jumk.de/calc/

 

[UKadventurer]

I grew up in the UK, lived in the USA then Asia so I'm bilingual when it comes to metric/imperial since I've had years of experience with both.

So here's my 5 meters (16 feet) of kitchen furniture / countertops which I designed and built with help from my handyman. I design in Blender3d (open source 3d software) then built with glu-lam (I think) sheets (25mm/1" thick for the countertops and 17mm/3/4" for the sides) and some 10cm x 10cm (4"x4") lumber for legs.

I've still to attach the wheels on the stovetop (propane) island and some internal shelves but, finally, the kitchen is fully functional. Probably do some more oil, lacquer, stain work. Currently I've just added several applications of mineral oil to make the countertops more resistant to stains and water penetration.

The sink countertop is more complex due to dealing with a curved (on 2-axes) wall. I kept the front linear and just follow the curve of the back wall, notching the countertop to fit around a support post of the ger/yurt. The final countertop changed a bit from the design. We decided to add 10cm square posts because they match the aesthetic of the ger/yurt. However, they weren't strictly necessary. The length is 2.44m (8 feet). My handyman did the plumbing which was probably the most complex thing because it hooks up to the bathroom and has to go round 2 corners and still maintain a fall for the drain.





The stovetop counter is an island which can be moved around because the stove is a 2-burner propane type and the gas bottle can be contained under the counter. We could've gone electric but we have outages often enough to decide propane gas was more reliable. The design to build is pretty much identical, although I haven't put shelves in it yet. There is a cantilevered bar with seating for 4 people. [

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I rounded the corners of the bar and backsplash and oiled it a bit more today. I really like the oiled look.



The cost was about $130 in materials for the cooktop island and probably $80 for the sink counter. About $100 for my handyman's labour. I'm really happy with the results although there's still some more work to do for shelves, backsplashes, etc.

It's been a tad chilly lately. We finally hit -40 which I like because it's the same in F/C - no need for conversion. The heating is keeping up but we supplement with the wood stove from time to time. Passive solar heating allows us to turn off the heating after the sun comes up (10:20am) until it goes down (4:40pm).

I should add that -40C/F is the recorded temperature in the capital city which is 32km (20m) from us and 400m (1300') lower in altitude so I'd guess we're a few degrees colder than that.

 

[Bob Rowlands]

BEAUTIFUL! The clean lines and spartan design is >perfect< in that yurt. GOOD JOB!

 

[UKadventurer]

Thanks! I'm a function over form guy but if I can have both I'm extra happy. I think the kitchen is already very functional but will also look great IF I stain the posts with the same stuff used on the posts, rafters, etc.

 

[TSRalex]

The clean lines and spartan design

.... is similar to the professional stainless steel furniture you can find in restaurants & hotels.

I would love the kitchen in pure stainless steel too, but I've to confirm, that the wooden version looks pretty good. *thumbsup*

I'm a function over form guy

Me too - FFF (Form Follows Function) is my credo since my childhood...

 

[UKadventurer]

How's your winter going, guys? Are any of you living in your yurts?

In my case, I think we're over the worst of it and I'm VERY relieved. This winter was colder than most. Every 10 years or so, we get a colder than usual one. This has been one. Before now, the lowest I've experienced is -46C (-50F) in January 2011 when I lived in an apartment in the city. The last couple of nights were in the -40's (same in C or F). Take a look:



It reached -43C (-45F) ambient temperature on Monday night, -41C (-42F) on Tuesday and then just -34C (-30F) last night. Luckily the forecast is trending warmer in the -30C's to mid -20C's. Which seems positively tropical for me. Bear in mind I'm at a higher altitude than the city by 400m (1300') so my actual temperatures could be different. Probably a few degrees less. Potentially windier too.

Take a look:



How did I manage? I say "I" not "we" because my wife has a sick aunt with acute liver failure and is the designated caregiver in the family. So she's been staying bedside in a city hospital in a toasty room. It's just been me at the camp for going on 2 weeks. What difference does that make? Well, at night, it's very comforting to share warmth under the blankets. She's a great bed warmer amongst here many talents. I've missed her.

I've actually been warm enough at a significant financial cost. My December electric bill was US$370. January's will possibly be higher. This is with cheap electricity rates of about 4-5 cents per kWh. I need to heat not only the 2 gers and bathroom connection but a well-house (critical components) and an insulated shipping container. To at least keep them comfortably above freezing.

Luckily, our other living expenses are very low. We own the land and improvement free and clear.

It's actually been more stressful than anything else. I need to monitor the heat of the outbuildings (well house and insulated container) with an app, especially of the well house. If I'm careless I could freeze the 2 pumps and rupture them losing my water supply. That already happened once with the well house to gers pump. This didn't happen this time because I was vigilant enough.

Indoors, it's cozy enough (at a cost) with underfloor heating barely keeping up and I can have wood fires in the evening to reach a very nice room temperature but I can't keep a wood fire going all night. The fire needs frequent feeding to stay burning. Because of this morning temps in my bedroom usually drop to 10C (50F) which I've got used to. Then the sun comes up about 10:20am in our high valley and I can turn the heating off entirely and soak in the passive solar heat.

The 5 animals (3 cats and 2 dogs) are also something I worry about more than myself. The larger dog has a well insulated kennel but he doesn't always use it at night. His choice. The oldest cat has one too. He always uses his. The puppy is about 2.5 months old now and just sleeps on a sheepskin rug outside. She seems to suffer no ill effects at all from sleeping outside, shockingly. She's a big ball of fur now so I'm sure that helps. I thought she'd be able to share one of the kennels but that hasn't happened. 2 of the privileged cats get to stay indoors at least at night.

The big problem is when I have to work outside. I'm constantly monitoring my electricity and tripped circuits happen sometimes. I have to go to the main panel (down the hill at the power pole) or the sub-panel in the shipping container to diagnose faults. This is when I suffer with frozen hands. I can't work on electricity problems with thick gloves but when I wear thinner gloves that allow enough dexterity, my hands go numb. I try to work fast but my hands don't allow it. I get frustrated but I need to finish the job. No choice.

So I've decided that I need a bit of reorganization of the circuit breakers. I really need sub-panels in the gers themselves for heating, light and sockets. It's not a difficult job and it's indoors so that's pleasant. This change makes it convenient to reset a tripped circuit breaker and diagnose problems (loose wires, overloads, etc) without facing harsh outside conditions.

For example, last night, the floor heating circuit tripped in my bedroom ger. I didn't notice because I was asleep but if I had, I would've had to get dressed, go outside to the shipping container and reset the circuit.

We do have some advantages despite the extreme cold. We don't get winter storms when it's this cold. OR much wind so there's not much wind chill. I don't need to go anywhere beyond the property so I more or less hibernate and only do the absolutely essential chores. I'm well stocked with food, firewood and propane. All in all, it's not been as bad as I thought it might be.