How's Your Yurt Handling The Cold?

[Zelig]

We're in the middle of our 4th winter in our Groovy Yurt and we can't imagine ever living in a "normal" house ever again. We consistently go through about 4.5 bush cords of firewood per year--90% of it being spruce, with poplar for warm days and birch or tamarack for cold nights. Right now, it's about -34C/-30F outside and it's 25C/77F inside with no strain whatsoever on our cookstove. If it gets really cold tonight I'll use a piece of birch that I've been saving for years but haven't needed yet.

[Jafo]

What size is your yurt?

[Zelig]

Originally Posted by Jafo

What size is your yurt?

We're in a 22ft Groovy Yurt with double felt and an 8inch Styrofoam floor directly on the ground. -42C/-44F this morning and still 24-26C inside.

[Jafo]

Awesome. A buddy of mine in N Ontario sent me a pic this morning of it -40F this morning in Dryden. I hunt up there most years. Perfect place for a Groovy Yurt!

[audreylen27]

We moved in and hadn't finished all

insulation

. We have a small wood stove and a propane heater. It still was hit and miss. My husband got up several times during the night to put more wood on. We keep layers of clothes on and sleep with plenty of blankets. I'm sure once we get the roof insulated it will be much better. The inside got to 40's one night.

[Wintergreen282]

That’s crazy! (Crazy good!). Congratulations. I do think the traditional yurts with lower ceilings and fewer (no?) windows are much easier to heat. It’s “only” 3 degrees F here in NH and my 24’ White Mountain yurt was 43F degrees this morning. (My stove is small and I don’t get up at night. Preferring to just dress warm in the AM. I don’t have to be anywhere, which helps a lot. Probably wouldn’t work if I had to actually put “water to my hair or body”. Or more likely - would quickly head to a gym.)

Anyway. I do think this is a very important point about traditional vrs westernized yurts in cold climates. And because of the

moisture

issue, it seems you can’t really insulate your way to a more climate controlled environment. Still. I, too, love my yurt life and will live here as long as I possibly can.