Sizing a wood stove for a 20' yurt ?

[jmagnuss]

Just to add some extra info: I was going to use a Morso 2B, which is quite small but rated for the appropriate sqft (1,000 compared to the ~750 in my 30' yurt). After discussing with the local expert, I'm going with a Pacific Energy Super, which is a comparatively massive 72,000 BTU. The reasons were:
- takes a full-size log, with the smaller stoves I likely would have had to trim my cordwood, which by all accounts is a giant pain in the ass
- the recommendation was to get something that will be able to rapidly heat up the yurt, and then you can adjust down the fire intensity with air flow and fuel, so we're not creating a permanent sauna but can still fill the large air volume rapidly.
- larger stoves allow longer overnight burns

I'll let you know how it goes, doing the installation myself this month.

Oh, and hearth.com forums were a huge resource, but experience there varies a lot. I did a lot of research there and then had important questions answered by the installer / owner at the local wood stove shop.

[Bob Rowlands]

Well it was single digits to zero here last week for several days. Fired pedal to the metal, my little 27K BTU wood stove didn't even come close to warming up my uninsulated 16' yurt to what I'd consider a comfort level of 40 degrees or better.

So, if you're reading this thread considering 'what stove size?' for a canvas covered, trad style, uninsulated, unsealed yurt in below freezing weather, consider installing a stove 3X the cu ft recommendation for a regular insulated home. I'm thinking a volume of 3.3' would be about right in my trad style 16' yurt in zero temps. Just scale the fire down when it isn't so nippy.

[Jafo]

Uninsulated? That is going to require a very large stove. The

insulation

is a pretty big deal in the cold.

[SeverTheTether]

Our 30' yurt has reflective

insulation

and Shelter Design's 'arctic insulation' and nothing else. We heat with a Hearthstone Soapstone Wood Stove (CASTLETON 8030 | Wood Stoves | Hearthstone Stoves), which is rated to 1500 sq feet (just over double the yurt's size). It does a fine job keeping the place between 60-70 degrees (even on our first -30 degree night).

Nice thing about the stove we got is the clearances. With the heat shield, it only has to be 6" from the back wall, which is huge for us, as every bit of space is needed when you have 6 people living in 709 square feet!

[Zelig]

I'm reading this forum in hopes of helping decide if a yurt is a good idea for a temporary, but year round home up here in northern Ontario. The main concern, obviously, is the issue of

heating

when we routinely experience weeks of -15F and cold spells dropping to -45F. I'd have no shortage of firewood but not much high energy content hardwood. Assuming I went with a 24-30ft well-insulated yurt, and super-insulated the floor and skirting, would I still require a conveyor belt to keep feeding a large (80k btu) woodstove? I think the

Nomad Shelter yurts

are manufactured and utilized in a very similar climate to mine but I'm still worried that this is a ridiculous idea.

Thanks for any comments anyone may have,

Mike

[Bob Rowlands]

No way I'd consider a yurt a 'first choice' in shelters for severe sub zero weather locales, unless I was in my early twenties and without a family.

My wife and I lived in Jackson Wyoming from 1978 to 1983. Four winters of well below zero temps, down to record -50! cold. One stretch was six weeks with temps never above freezing. We lived in standard stick frame construction apartments, with a minimum of three of the exterior walls and ceiling heated by other apts. The heater cycled constantly trying to keep the place warm during sub freezing temps.

As a carpenter I did alot of redo work on stick frame, log home, and trailers in Jackson, and in nearby Wilson and Kelly in the winter. Most were somewhat cold inside, even with the woodstoves crankin. Those places were all conventional construction, from fairly new and tight, to old and drafty. Old and drafty were guaranteed cold in bedrooms, even though the wood stoves and/or heater was on all day and night. During real cold snaps the woodsmoke pall in the valley was incredible.

Nowdays there are a good dozen yurts in Kelly Wyoming, 20 miles north of Jackson, some of which have year round residents. I'll bet most are very young folks. I've read a couple interviews on YT where people living in the yurt said it was crazy to do so in the winter.

heh heh no thanks, I'll pass. Don't let 'yurt romance' get the best of common sense thinking. JMO. Good luck.

[SeverTheTether]

Had another -25 F day last night, and having another tonight. Never dropped below 61 degrees inside. We seem to be faring the cold quite well so far.

[Surely Yurts - Steve]

I've cut and split my own & heated with nothing but a woodstove in my various yurts over the years. Unfortunately, my body is getting older and the early morning winter temps inside after the fire burns out overnight are getting to be a stress on me. I will still heat with my woodstove primarily but I am adding this off-grid gravity fed pellet stove to my yurt this year. I intend to heat with my woodstove all day, but when I get ready for bed I will kick on the pellet stove so that it is still nice and toasty when I wake up in the morning. Here is the link to this really cool new technology! WiseWay Pellet Stoves - Stoves | Central Point, OR