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Insulation

C

Corinarose

New member
I live in vermont and have a 30' yurt with the full insulation and snow load package.
I heat with wood and was able to be toasty warm when the wood was burning. What bothers me though is for a space that is just over 700sf I am burning more wood then friends in conventional homes with much more space.
I want to find a way to add insulation that helps to hold heat not just lose heat

I wanted to live in a yurt to simplify~maintaining a woodstove in a yurt is by no means simplifying~ it is a full time job. I have a great stove.

Have others used insulation beyond the reflectix insulation? Sources?

Thanks

Corina:)
 
Welcome to the forum Corina!

I am no expert for sure, but I do know you can use that rigid foam insulation between the rafters. The manual that came with my Pacific Yurt even has directions on how to. Is your floor insulated at all? Does your yurt have upright supports for the rafters (studs)?
 
Same question.

We just built our yurt in April, and have not lived through a winter in one yet. We have the full insulation and snow and wind load package. Foam board would fit nicely between the rafters, which was something we hadn't thought of. I was thinking of stapling thick cloth on the rafters. Any other suggestions or proven solutions would be great.
 
I have the full snow load package which means 2x4's under each 2x6 rafter. Securely attached to each rafter and the floor. I have been in the yurt with 75 mph winds and only heard some creaking over one window~ I have real windows. Also my floor is insulated with 2" of foam board between the floor joists

Back to insulation~ mostly I have thought about using foam board but wanted a snugger (?) fit. Also the work of fitting the foam board between each rafter seems like a lot of work. One writer on this forum wrote about using denim insulation between her rafters and on the wall and reported only using 1 1/2 cords of wood
I went through 5 cords last winter and wasnt in the yurt for almost a month .
I dont mind when the temps are in the 50's in the yurt at night but going through so much wood really gets my goat!

I am going to try denim or roxul but then want to cover them. I dont think covering with fabric makes sense insulation-wise so I am considering using wood of some type. I am just concerned about the weight on the rafters and the wire that supports the whole roof.
I tried heavy curtains on the walls, even added another layer of reflectix to my north walls and only used my south exposed door last winter.

One other company that I spoke with talked about using quilt batting~ you can get it in various sizes~ it doesnt absorb moisture.
I researched online the cost of 2" of this type of material and it was not cheap~ even buying in bulk.

There is one couple in NC that used foam board~due to town regs and it looks awesome.
I live alone so doing some of these 2 person projects become a challenge.
I am also putting on storm doors as that was a big heat loss area as well as the dome~ which I put 4mil plastic over (on the inside)and held on with the velcroe with the bug screen. It helped some

Has anyone tried the foam board?
Any insulation is a good investment if one is living full time~ even this summer with all my windows open (6 ) it would get up to 100 so I left the doors open~praying that no bears (I am surrounded by berries) or other critters ventured in.
Thanks to listening to my ramblings
Corina
 
More radiant Heat info

Here is a link to a yurt owner and his experience with Radiant heat.

"The pex tubing embedded in my sub-floor, along with the water heater, makes my floor a heater. The following three additional items make my floor an efficient heating system…finally......

» Notes on a hydronic radiant floor

Also, I know the Colorado Yurt company must have all kinds of experience with heating a yurt.

Bryan
 
Corinarose said:
One writer on this forum wrote about using denim insulation between her rafters and on the wall and reported only using 1 1/2 cords of wood
I went through 5 cords last winter and wasnt in the yurt for almost a month .
I dont mind when the temps are in the 50's in the yurt at night but going through so much wood really gets my goat!
Click to expand...

Are you referring to face cords or full cords? I have to think you mean face cords, because I would have a hard time burning 5 full cords in my outdoor fireplace in a month.

I am starting to wonder about your wood stove. What type of stove is it? Is it an airtight stove? Has it been properly sealed? An airtight stove that is functioning properly uses very little wood.
 
Reply to Jafo
I didnt mean to imply that I burned 5 cords in one month- I was saying that from October to April/May I burned 5 full cords and during that time I was not in the yurt for a total of atleast one month--not consecutive days..
I have consulted with most yurt companies and most stand by reflectix insulation~which while it does reflect heat and is warm ~ it does not hold heat worth a dime and therefore one is burning more wood. I have not been able to talk with other long time yurt dwellers, except Becky Kemery~ who will be sorely missed~who have used other forms of insulation. Recommending a type of insulation is different than using it and living with it to know how efficient it is( how much wood one goes through) and whether moisture/mold is a problem.
My woodstove is a jotul, it is well sealed and a very efficient stove. I know 3 others who use this stove and love it- they live in well insulated homes.
One other local couple who have lived in a yurt for two years go through 7 full cords of wood each of the last two winters~they only have reflectix insulation.
 
Ahh ok, well I cannot speak to it yet, this is my first year and I haven't even put in the wood stove yet. I am curious, do you have your yurt divided into multiple rooms?
 
Talk to Colorado Yurt Co. on this one Corina. They have excellent insulation kits that meet r-values and are made out of recycled materials. Good stuff!! I haven't seen anyone in the industry with an equal solution for this yet. Foam board would likely work, but installation would be a pain. SIPs panelling floor is also a great way to build in cold climates. Not something you can easily add on after the fact, but for anyone who is still planning, that's a good route to go.
 
Does your woodstove have a blower? Does your yurt have a ceiling fan?

I have found that as a rule of thumb, a woodstove that is rated for at least double the square footage of your yurt will work best, mostly becuase the insulation on these sucks.

There are always places that leak air in our yurts, no matter how much we try and keep them sealed up. I agree reflectix insulation does not perform to the standard we would like it to, but for the meantime, it's what we have. Do you have insulated exterior doors in your yurt? Are they totally sealed up with weatherstripping and rubber sweeps? Just a thought.

Also, you can use bubble wrap for shipping in between your screen and plastic windows to try and insulate that area a little better in the winter. Good heavy draperies will help a little here as well.
 
Bss,
Thank you for your thoughts
I only have an extension cord for power so at this time I don't have a fan or a blower on the Woodstove
The issue for me is not what happens when I am tending the stove- I am plenty warm
It's the amount of wood that I go through and the work it takes to keep the fire going.
I plan to add insulation-either wool , denim or xps in the ceiling and walls. The floor is already insulated with 2" of pink foam board and then hay bales and metal framing around the perimeter
Also I have real windows not plastic windows, low-E and use heavy, insulated curtains as I was a seamstress in another life. I also use the curtains on the doors. I have storm doors on each of the doors
After I insulat I will share what I learn. I do not have a loft or partitions- it is all open space.
I have thought of building a loft but at my age navigating ladders in the middle of the night is not my cup of tea.
 
Well yeah, it sounds like you have the bases covered. And I assume in VT you are burning mostly hardwoods?
 
Corinarose said:
Have others used insulation beyond the reflectix insulation?
Click to expand...

I've used a wide variety of insulation types over the last 10 years. I've worked hard to identify the best solution for the wet, windy and cold weather one often has in both Scotland and Sweden (where I am now).

The foil-based insulation you mention is simply not warm enough in my experience. It also creates condensation problems. Wool, hemp and other natural fibres are great to when initially installed, but soon develop mould problems when it rains for 3 weeks non-stop (welcome to Scotland).

What I now use is glass wool made from recycled bottles in both the platform and on the walls and ceilings. It is made by Knauf. It breathes, does not rot, is pretty good to work with (no itch) and is ecologically sound. It keeps a small yurt very warm with only intermittent heating from a small 800w electric oil heater. A wood stove would be way too warm.

The platform was easy to insulate - simply lay the insulation between the battens. For yurt itself we use 6 metre rolls that are supplied with chicken wire backing. The insulation is relatively easy to staple to the crown and trim at the base of the walls.

To summarise, I've got 5 (!) layers:

1. An inner cloth liner (cotton)

2. Builder's paper to ensure that no insulation fibres migrate to the dwelling space

3. 20cm of glass wool attached to chicken wire

4. Tyvek breathable membrane that provides a wind and water vapour barrier

4. The outside yurt wall (in our case canvas).

I hope this of interest.

Stephan
 
Welcome to Yurt Forum Stephen!

That is some great advice! We just fired up my wood stove at my yurt camp this past weekend, but it was only 35-40 degrees F outside so it is really hard to tell from that experience how well the insulation is working for us but the yurt was plenty warm. In fact, I had to open the dome a few times because it got too warm. I am still surprised at how much wood Corina is using. We kept our yurt warm and barely used any wood. Granted, I would probably have to use double to triple that with winter temps, but still, I don't think I would use as much as she has.

Corina, how many square or cubic feet is your stove rated for?
 
insulation

My stove is rated for over 1,000'
I have had a fire in the evenings and with just a little wood it is fine, keeping the yurt toasty trough the night.
Wait till the temps drop and the days dont warm up- its a whole differnt story.
It will be interesting to talk about this again come spring and compare notes

I really appreciate the insulation update by stephan
and will be playing with different insulation in the up coming weeks

My yurt is not partitioned off and I think this makes a difference~ I love the open feeling of the yurt.
Gotta run more later

Corina
 
I think a second layer of insulation may be of value to you corinarose. It sounds like it gets pretty cold in your area.

Is your stove a catalytic model? If so, what kind of shape is the cat in?
Is your outside chimney tall enough to supply the requisite amount of draft for your application?
Is it an insulated chimney?
Are there obvious leaks anywhere in the fire venting system?
Has the chimney been swept recently?
Are your fire bricks in good shape?
Do you not have fire bricks but are supposed to?
Which type of wood fuels am I burning and at which time of day/night?


Not meant to offend, in my mind those are just things I would be thinking about if it seemed like I was using too much fuel relative to my application.
 
Last edited:
bss said:
I think a second layer of insulation may be of value to you corinarose. It sounds like it gets pretty cold in your area.

Is your stove a catalytic model? If so, what kind of shape is the cat in?
Is your outside chimney tall enough to supply the requisite amount of draft for your application?
Is it an insulated chimney?
Are there obvious leaks anywhere in the fire venting system?
Has the chimney been swept recently?
Are your fire bricks in good shape?
Do you not have fire bricks but are supposed to?
Which type of wood fuels am I burning and at which time of day/night?


Not meant to offend, in my mind those are just things I would be thinking about if it seemed like I was using too much fuel relative to my application.
Click to expand...

bss

I just need to say that for living in vermont and talking with other yurt dwellers who have gone through atleast one winter, I have gone through LESS wood at 5 cords than others. We get temps below zero Farenheit for days even weeks at a time.

That said I did have challenges with my NEW stove last winter but it was primarily two issues: the insulated stove pipe outside the yurt was not tall enough causing smoke to come into the yurt each time the door was opened and 2) the wood was not seasoned as I got it late in the year. This makes the wood to not burn as hot-- but when a fire was going I was plenty warm. It was closing the stove down for the night that the fire would sometimes go out. When its in the single digits and the fire goes out you know pretty quickly.
I did have a fair amount of ash wood-- which burns quickly. This year I have all hard woods~ mostly maple. I have cut down some old apple trees on my property and apple burns good and hot.

I think adding insulation is the way to go and for some it may be to add or divide up the space.
I did add extra reflectix insulation in my north walls last winter with no real effect.
I think adding insulation over the wood stove( in the ceiling), have a blower on the stove and perhaps ceiling fan are all great ideas that I am considering
Funds are always an issue.
I guess my bias is that yurt sellers should be yurt dwellers to really understand the issues and costs that come with yurt living.
Corina
 
Corinarose said:
I live in vermont and have a 30' yurt with the full insulation and snow load package.
I heat with wood and was able to be toasty warm when the wood was burning. What bothers me though is for a space that is just over 700sf I am burning more wood then friends in conventional homes with much more space.
I want to find a way to add insulation that helps to hold heat not just lose heat

I wanted to live in a yurt to simplify~maintaining a woodstove in a yurt is by no means simplifying~ it is a full time job. I have a great stove.

Have others used insulation beyond the reflectix insulation? Sources?

Thanks

Corina:)
Click to expand...

I called a Yurt builder in Homer Alaska and asked about "arctic insulation".
She said they use a 1 inch polyester blanket on the roof and walls in addition to the foil bubbles. It was alittle too much $$$$ so i decided to make my own:

I went to Lowes and bought 2 rolls Tyvec house wrap.$210
Cut three lengths material 30 ft long
Taped with the Tyvec special tape the three panels into a 27 x 30 ft piece
Laid out cone of roof and cut out,
We used spray adhesive on the Tyvec and glued 1 inch polyester to it, in rows.
We ordered the Poly in rolls about $345
We stretched the other Square of Tyvec over the new poly cone and guled it in place.
We cut the top piece to match the bottom piece.
We the taped the two pieces together with the special tape 12 inches around the cone.
Now we have a "Arctic Blanket" for our 24 ft Yurt
 
Any pictures you have of that custom insulation would be GREAT! Oh, and welcome to Yurt Forum! :)
 
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