Extreme temps & a fear of mold

[Heck Yeah Holler]

Hi friends. We are in the process of choosing a yurt with plans to live in it year round, off-grid.

We live in north east minnesota, average winter temperature is -20 F with consistent temps as low as -35 for weeks at a time.

Our main concern with living in a yurt is STAYING WARM! We will heat with wood but hope to not burn more than 4 cords of wood/winter (wood stoves up here typically run non-stop from October 15 until May 1st)

What yurt should we go with? Is the

Shelter Designs

"Arctic Insulation" package truly above and beyond what Pacific and Colorado offer?

Also, we are terrified of mold. Is there a way stay truly warm and not get mold?

[SunTime]

Our Mongolia Yurts have kept the nomads of the steppe warm for a 1,000 years. Mongolia routinely reaches -40 for months. The Mongolian yurts are lower lying keeping heat down and reducing windage, insulated with 100% wool felt and wrapped in a weather resistant cotton canvas. The materials breathe allowing you to cook inside with out building up condensation. Not to forget the wool has natural lanolin in it to prevent mildew. During the winter we can easily cook ourselves out of the yurt if we crank the stove in 0 degree temperatures. We use a little Jotul 602Cb stove. Get in contact with us from our website. SunTime Yurts we will happily answer all your questions. We have couple yurts still in inventory.

[YurtInTheWoods]

Heck Yeah Holler. You can check the thread "r-value" for this exact discussion going on there. You can take from it what you'd like. I live in one full time in Eastern Canada in a yurt purchased from one of the big manufactures in North America. It's not going well. Yes they keep warm but you're looking at 10 cord of wood in a 30 footer a year to be comfortable and condensation issues are terrible. Anyways. Check out the thread... it helps to see the ongoing living experiences.

[Jafo]

Mold can definitely be an issue depending on what

insulation

you use and how much

moisture

you introduce inside.

Heating

is not really an issue IMO. You will go through a bit of wood, probably more than 4 cords. You have to ventilate and that introduces cool air at times. If you don't ventilate, you absolutely will have

moisture

issues living in one full time.

[Heck Yeah Holler]

We would not have running water inside (no shower, no wash machine, etc.) would that help with potential mold problems?

[Jafo]

Without ventilation? Yes you would still have problems. Just consider how much moisture a human exhales, along with bringing in snow on your feet, etc..

[Heck Yeah Holler]

we would ventilate. but i guess i don't know exactly what that means...cracking the

dome

? how often? daily? multiple times per day? Sorry that I have no knowledge.

[Jafo]

Cracking the

dome

works for me, usually during the warmest part of the day. I must remind everyone though, I do not live in my yurt full time.

[Rabbit]

What about using a rocket stove to cut down on the quantity of wood used?

rocket stove mass heater

Has anyone tried this in their yurt?

[Jafo]

I have heard of them. My only concern about rocket stoves is their weight. I understand they can weigh up to 1,500 pounds. You really are going to need a stable reinforced platform IMO.