Heating & Cooling Yurt for solar powered off-grid

[CatoRockwell]

I am looking for advice on

heating

& cooling our two connected yurts we are building. I am interested in mini splits as i am off grid & looking to be as energy efficient on my solar array as possible. I am interested if anyone can provide recommendations on size of mini-split, as well as brand.

Details:
Yurts: 2x30 ft conjoined by a doorway. Platforms are on a 3ft high platform w/ 2x6 tongue & groove flooring. We will be insulating the floor. In addition to the reflectx already installed we will be insulating the walls & ceiling with traditional R value

insulation

between the wind/snow load support beams & rafters.

Location: We are located in the west desert of central Utah. very windy (60+ mph gusts), very arid (9-11 inches of rainfall a year (mostly from snow) but every few years substantial snowfall or seasonal flooding. Temperature swings are 6-105 (F) on extremes.

Resources: We are powered by solar that produces up to 12.5kw daily.

We will be investing in a wood stove as a backup, but are looking to use mini-splits to regulate temperature when sunny. Any recommendations on size or brand, as well as tips, tricks, etc... would be greatly appreciated. We are first time homesteaders & yurt owners.

[Jafo]

Mini-splits have come a long way recently. I have some in my house that are rated to work to -22F. There are so many to pick from, it will be hard to recommend a brand. That might be better asked in an HVAC forum somewhere TBH. When asking, I would inform them of the size of the yurt and the general rule of thumb when it comes to

heating

a yurt, is to oversize your heat source by 50%.

I had to put in a 40amp box for each of mine, but they are 24,000 BTUs. You may not need that. However, most likely you will need a 240 line. They do make 110 splits, but they are generally for very small spaces.

It might be more realistic to get a mini-split for primarily cooling instead of heating, but again, I would ask some HVAC experts on that.

[Bob Rowlands]

Insulation

of floor and wall is good. I recently rebuilt my simple 12'6" nomadic camping yurt and made waxed canvas panels to insulate the wall. Incredibly good insulation. The yurt really holds the wood stove heat now. All it took was one layer of canvas.

In the dry and stunning beautiful western Utah desert mold probably won't be a problem.

[Bob Rowlands]

I know absolutely nothing about mini splits.

For cooling on moderately hot days don't forget you can simply open the doors and windows and

dome

vent, or hike up the wall cover at the bottom and the

dome

vent.

Btw I recently found good videos on youtube by 'Groovy Yurts' here on the yurt forum. He has a vid on natural yurt cooling illustrating what I said above.

The vids are short and to the point. No long extended blah blah blah. You know, like reading some of my posts here. lol

[CatoRockwell]

Originally Posted by Bob Rowlands

I know absolutely nothing about mini splits.

For cooling on moderately hot days don't forget you can simply open the doors and windows and dome vent, or hike up the wall cover at the bottom and the dome vent.

Btw I recently found good videos on youtube by 'Groovy Yurts' here on the yurt forum. He has a vid on natural yurt cooling illustrating what I said above.

The vids are short and to the point. No long extended blah blah blah. You know, like reading some of my posts here. lol

Thank you. Unfortunately where I live isn't very mild most of the time. That will change as we get more trees & regenerative farming going, but thats why we are looking at the splits.

[Bob Rowlands]

10-4. Good luck.

[JFKoons]

Hi CatoRockwell, I'm building next year and am putting a mini-split into my yurt. I live in MN, so need something that is going to function at low temps. We plan on going with something from Senville, from my research, they appear fairly decent--no first hand experience though. We also plan on a wood burning stove and some radiant heat panels.

Best of luck!