Yurt Dome Insulation Install and Condensation
- Thread starter lizsteve
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stephanwik
New member
Great ideas. We insulated virtually the same way: in between the studs of the snow/wind kit. Instead of the 'wool' we used foam boards cut into triangles (by my very patient brother in law). The heat reclamation unit sounds intriguing although we are off grid with minimal solar...we could upgrade if needed. I was also considering finding someone to build a dome out of 6 triangles of double or triple pained glass and somehow attaching the top cover in a way that enables it to vent into the new dome. The new dome would also have a permanent vent at the top to allow for year round ventilation. This seems more in line with normal house ventilation where the soffet (sp) vents (equivalent to where top cover is resting against side) feed air to flow up to the peak vents (equivalent to the dome).
Last night down to -41. Yurt still warm but things have frosted up a bit. Not surprising! I'm not bothered, windows will clear up in a few days & indoor relative humidity is only 45%. I'm not gonna worry about any of it. I guess am lucky to be in a dry climate, not much chance for mold!
This only seems to work on a very limited basis. Any cold weather makes any level of water vapor (even cooking when humidity remains at 32%) condense on the dome...or freezes if cold enough. I even installed a ceiling fan and tried running it when cooking to circulate air, but that didn't seem to help. Is Pacific Yurts planning to manufacture an insulated dome, or a dome that is vented on top?
Well it's warmed up to -21C & frost has cleared off the dome & most of the snow has gone off the dome as well. Our French doors that were frosted right over are pretty much cleared up as well as the vinyl windows. I'm convinced that allowing air to freely move up the walls & some to vent out the dome (it's never been closed since moving in Sept. 15) is the key. Heck if things frost up....MEH....it'll go.....no sweat.....natural air movement & warmth from the floor & wood stove & things are taking care of themselves. Things frosted up at -41C but I had bigger worries than a frosted dome! I farm & livestock & tractors & poultry & water troughs way bigger issues than a bit of frost in me tent....
. It's warming up now to only -21C & things frost up & equipment will start & life goes on.
. It's warming up now to only -21C & things frost up & equipment will start & life goes on.-41C, something sounds weird here, how did this person insulate? I have a 30 ft pacific yurt with reflectix and big woodstove cranking 24hrs a day with ceiling fan on 24 hrs, dome closed and when it's -15F I can't keep my yurt above 48F. Just to mention I have a fully insulated floor and a custom steel front door with dual pane windows and window liners installed and zipped down. Staying warm at -41C in a fabric yurt sounds deceptive as well as leaving the dome open. My dome freezes on the inside wether it is open or closed as soon as the temp drops below 5F and I have tried many solutions to remedy the problem with no luck. I just installed a pellet stove on the other side of my yurt to work in conjunction with my large woodstove. Also I heard on this forum that someone put sleeping bags between lattice and liner on the inside, I tried this with one sleeping bag just as a test and within 1 hour the sleeping bag was frozen solid to the wall with a ton of ice, it somehow attracted moisture to effect the dewpoint, all the while my relative humidity has never been above 14%, high alpine dry environment, but dew point is different than humidity and I have learned this the hard way.
Well, I have a 30' Pacific yurt (hunting camp) with the same reflectix insulation, no insulated floor, no ceiling fan and no other insulation other than weatherstripping between the yurt wall and the skirt. I have been up there when it was -20 and walked around in a tshirt and shorts.
It sounds to me an issue with your heating solution. A pellet stove will not work well in a yurt because most of them are forced air heat, not radiant. So you might as well get rid of that. You would be better off getting a larger wood stove instead.
Did you partition your yurt or is it all open?
It sounds to me an issue with your heating solution. A pellet stove will not work well in a yurt because most of them are forced air heat, not radiant. So you might as well get rid of that. You would be better off getting a larger wood stove instead.
Did you partition your yurt or is it all open?
Pellet stove worked great as an addition, I did not want to put a larger wood stove in because we are already burning 8 cords of wood a year, lodge pole and Doug fir, as there is no hardwood here. At least the pellet runs without continued feeding for over 24hrs. We live in our yurt full time, and yes it is partitioned with bedroom and full bath, and we run radiant oil heaters in each room when it gets to the negative temps and they do very little to help, just make the electric bill get crazy. We are fully plumbed up to code, full electrical up to code and are perfectly comfortable when it is above 10F. We have spoken to Corina Rose on many occasions and all of us who live in these yurts full time seem to have the exact same problems, yet everybody who stays in their yurt from time to time seems to think the opposite.
Well my 28' sits on an insulated cement slab with radiant in floor heating that will keep yurt at 50F with no wood stove going. The wood stove goes 24/7 to keep it toasty warm here. And yes I'll likely go through 10-12 cords of wood. The insulation is standard reflectix so I won't use a fan or anything. The air naturally moves around the yurt anyways & as I've mentioned before my interior walls don't meet yurt walls, and loft floor doesn't either. This allows the air/heat to naturally move unaided. I live in this full time & experience no problems with condensation etc.
I totally agree with you, if you are burning 10-12 cords of wood a year and using radiant heating then I'm sure you are staying toasty warm as you say. I just cannot burn that much wood in a year in addition to radiant floor heat bills. I am used to burning 3-4cords of wood a year in a large home. So here we are living in these small spaces uses 3-4 times the energy as a mansion, which just seems crazy. So if u live in a yurt full time just be prepared for an insane amount of heating materials, whether wood, propane, electric, pellet or what have you. Other than that yurts are fun and different, they just pose a bunch of challenges to overcome and as far as green building and energy efficiency, they are on the opposite side of that spectrum.
Free firewood is a good thing! It doesn't bother me 10-12 cords of wood, it's carbon neutral. The propane bill is pretty small, heat exchanger steals heat from 60gal hot water tank. It's significantly cheaper living this way than in town. Been there & done that......I'm mortgage free now, property tax free, and cost of living way down. 
Perhaps, but the laws of thermodynamics are the same in full time yurts as they are in part time yurts. Also, bigger doesn't necessarily mean you will be burning more wood:
About The Katydid Wood Stoveâ„¢ |
http://www.unforgettablefirellc.com/kimberly-wood-stove/
Partitioned yurts always seem to have a harder time with heat, I believe this is mostly because it cuts off a lot of the radiant heat reflection.
About The Katydid Wood Stoveâ„¢ |
http://www.unforgettablefirellc.com/kimberly-wood-stove/
Partitioned yurts always seem to have a harder time with heat, I believe this is mostly because it cuts off a lot of the radiant heat reflection.
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Wise words Jafo. That's why my walls & deck of loft don't meet the yurt itself anywhere. It's a separate free standing piece in my yurt. I'm thinking that is letting the reflectix do it's job. That's why I wouldn't use any fan ( ceiling or otherwise ) . I'm convinced moving the warm air over the walls in ways other than naturally connected currents works against the type of insulation & not with it.
stephanwik
New member
What we've observed is that it works well to allow natural convection to transport humid air to the top of the yurt, and then extract this mechanically and re-use the heat while expelling the moist air (and odours).
I wonder, are heat-recovery units something that most people know about? They're very clever
That indeed must be frustrating for you. How much frost are we talkin about? Right now it's -16C and it's 4pm.......the dome has more than half cleared off of frost. By sunset it'll be mostly clear & overnight will frost up again....MEH
The wood stove has been on slow tick over all day.
