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Insulation

so what I am (trying) to understand here is that to prevent moisture buildup you have to have a gap between the insulation and the inside of the roof?

to add on to this----does the roof of a yurt go : outside cover then reflective insulation inside
 
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bbased on this pic what am i looking at, just the roof cover material or is the white stuff insulation? Regardless, there doesnt seem to be enough room to put insulation between those beams and leave enough area for air flow. Thoughts?
photo089.jpg
 
it gets pretty cold here in Saskatchewan

my goal is to figure out the optimum insulation for a 32 foot yurt combined with the best heating option (wood stove?) to put together the best overall package for heat
 
IMO wood is the best option because it is a dry heat. The insulation/moisture topic is a hot one within the yurt community. My opinion on this is basically this:

Have you ever been in an attic of a normal house? Do you see vents in there? Have you ever been in an unvented attic? It is usually full of mold and rot.

Mongolians live in a dry climate and even they leave their roof open most of the time. A yurt must be ventilated, just like any other structure, or it is going to get damp.
 
Based on my experience you'll need a massive wood stove to heat a 32' yurt. Look only at the biggest model a manufacturer offers. Plus, the more mass the stove has, the better.

I have a small 'fireplace insert' type welded steel wood stove with a dinky little firebox maybe 1.5 cu ft. When it is well below freezing that little dude barely heats my uninsulated drafty 16' yurt. At zero it just doesn't heat it, period, unless full on wide open and stoked every fifteen minutes.And, with a drafty porous canvas wall, the heat exits pronto.

That's why you need a tight yurt that is well insulated if the temp dips to -30. Frankly I would consider a forced air heating system to keep the yurt warm. But expect to pay $$$ for heat. Yurts are great, but they aren't houses.
 
Bob Rowlands said:
Based on my experience you'll need a massive wood stove to heat a 32' yurt. Look only at the biggest model a manufacturer offers. Plus, the more mass the stove has, the better.

I have a small 'fireplace insert' type welded steel wood stove with a dinky little firebox maybe 1.5 cu ft. When it is well below freezing that little dude barely heats my uninsulated drafty 16' yurt. At zero it just doesn't heat it, period, unless full on wide open and stoked every fifteen minutes.And, with a drafty porous canvas wall, the heat exits pronto.

That's why you need a tight yurt that is well insulated if the temp dips to -30. Frankly I would consider a forced air heating system to keep the yurt warm. But expect to pay $$$ for heat. Yurts are great, but they aren't houses.
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what are your thoughts on a 24 footer with a 14 footer beside it and an enclosed walkway?

just tossing ideas out there besides the 32 footer
 
I can't make knowledable comments about yurts larger than my primitive 16'er, or yurt clusters, since I have been in neither, nor know anyone who has such. Hopefully someone on here will help you with that based on their experience.

I have looked at the floor plans of 24'ers and IMO they appear ideal for an empty nester couple. If you had an adjacent 16er you'd have a garage lol.

If you are really intent on a yurt in -30 temps another suggestion would be to build one yurt inside another and insulate between the two. Like a superinsulated house. I know that would hold the heat better than one single walled yurt.

My wife and I have lived in temps lower than -30. In fact it was below zero for a whole month and down to -50. Managing that kind of cold in a massive cloth covered gives pause for thought. Cold isn't fun if you don't have a nice warm place to hole up in.

Good luck.
 
I just got off the phone with Yurtzby Design and they are claiming their insulation is good to minus 60,..........little sketchy about that.
 
The only insulation they list on their website is rFoil... We have the reflective stuff AND the arctic insulation from Shelter Designs, and at -40F it was pretty chilly in there, I had to run a kerosene heater along side the wood burner those days. If we just had the foil, I think all the water would have froze.
 
SeverTheTether said:
The only insulation they list on their website is rFoil... We have the reflective stuff AND the arctic insulation from Shelter Designs, and at -40F it was pretty chilly in there, I had to run a kerosene heater along side the wood burner those days. If we just had the foil, I think all the water would have froze.
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thats totally what I expected. Thanks for the reply.

This insulation issue is going to be a little tricky

Whats size is your yurt and your wood stove?
 
We have a 30 foot yurt, and use a Hearthstone Castleton 8030 (CASTLETON 8030 | Wood Stoves | Hearthstone Stoves). It is rated at up to 45,000 BTU, up to 1500 Square Feet. We could probably use a slightly larger one, but I think we are going to work on some better insulation at some point.

The challenges when it gets cold are several fold. Keeping it warm and moisture are something we fought all last winter, and will probably fight every winter.
 
SeverTheTether said:
We have a 30 foot yurt, and use a Hearthstone Castleton 8030 (CASTLETON 8030 | Wood Stoves | Hearthstone Stoves). It is rated at up to 45,000 BTU, up to 1500 Square Feet. We could probably use a slightly larger one, but I think we are going to work on some better insulation at some point.

The challenges when it gets cold are several fold. Keeping it warm and moisture are something we fought all last winter, and will probably fight every winter.
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ooo thats a sweet album you have im just flicking through it now
 
I have an old smaller woodstove in my 30 foot Pacific Yurt and it keeps the place pretty warm. I have been here to -20 and was walking around inside with a tshirt and shorts on. I agree with Bob that bigger is better when it comes to wood stoves. The only issue I have with my stove is that I have to load it so often since it doesn't hold a lot of wood.
 
I have a 20 foot yurt in Maine that has the bubble/reflective insulation. I only go there for weekends and vacations but some day if I retire I could end up spending alot of time there so I want to explore ways of better insulating the yurt.

The bubble insulation seems inadequate, I found this article:

"Stay Away from Foil-Faced Bubble Wrap"
Stay Away from Foil-Faced Bubble Wrap | GreenBuildingAdvisor.com

Once the temperature gets down to near zero, I tend to not visit the yurt. I can deal with 20 degrees no problem. I only have a small jotul stove plus a kerosene heater that I try not to use too much. It's sort of like a 3.5 season camp and is fine if it is not too cold or I would not stay there for more than 4 days in the winter.

I see that traditionally felt was used for insulation, I am not sure how expensive or easy this is to find ?

GoYurting - Felt Yurt Lining, Yurt Insulation, Camping Yurt

I will have to explore the previous posts here ..
My yurt can get very hot in the summer. The skylight creates a greenhouse effect even though the sun only hits the roof in the afternoon. Would I need insulation that is removed in the summer ? I do not want to have to use air conditioning for cooling, but just fans. I am also concerned about mice getting in insulation. I have to set mice traps every fall.

The insulation should be durable and be able to last whether left on or stored someplace
 
I built in Montana so I know a little bit about dealing with the cold. A wood burning stove is a good start, but there are some other things that you can do to increase the heat value of your yurt. One thing to do is build your yurt with layers, kind of like dressing for winter days.

I did the same thing when I bought my yurt. I added an insulation kit to it (I got my yurt kits from simpleterra.com/yurt-kits/ for reference).

Before I got my yurt I built a wooden platform for it to be on. I dug footings for stability. Before I put the deck on I insulated between the joists with insulation bunting. You can find it in any builder store like Home Depot or Lowes.

Before I put the canvas over the frame I added Tyvek. Tyvek is used in traditional built homes and creates a barrier for moisture. It’ll also help with keeping heat in as well. It’s about $66 dollars a roll so not to bad and well worth the investment.

In addition to the outer layer, which is usually made from canvas but can be made from other materials, you could also add a layer on the inside of the yurt. Canvas would be another great choice because of how heavy it is and will help keep the heat in.

I added solar panels (mine are the ground, my yurt kit isn’t durable enough to handle the weight on the roof) so that I could have electricity. I added a mini-split to heat the yurt in the winter and AC in the summer. This was added after I’d already established the yurt, so it was a little difficult.

I ran the wiring up through the wood platform so that it’s not in the way. But that really comes down to how much you want to invest in your yurt. We ran lights as well so it was a nice touch of us.
 
When you comes to insulation you just have to make sure you are venting moisture. Sure, you can lock the heat in, but if you are also locking in the moisture, be prepared for mold.
 
We insulated our yurt floor walls and ceiling just like a house. R19 in the walls, R34 in the ceiling, and I can't remember how many Rs in the floor. No mold problems after 6 years. We do get some condensation in subfreezing weather that runs down the roof fabric and into the walls. We keep the dome cracked and use a bathroom exhaust fan to minimize humidity in the winter. I believe there are no mold problems because the walls breath very well in our windy climate. Also, our climate is not excessively humid.



We have been able to heat our 30' yurt with a 25K BTU wood cook stove and no auxiliary heater. Our lowest temps are typically around zero degrees F.
 
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