R-value?

[Joop]

Hi everybody ,new to forum and yurts.just wondering how much as in max r-value can be had in a yurt .up in canada so kind of important.thanks for any info

[YurtInTheWoods]

Hey Joop,

I needed some clarification on your question before I can add a suggestion. What do you mean by "how much r-value can be had in a yurt?" Do you mean what comes stock in a yurt with a winter wind and snow package or do you mean how much can you personally add to the structure after its set up?

We live in PEI Canada with damp cold winters in a yurt for many years now.

Does the region you live in, in Canada, experience much snow? I guess a better question is what part of Canada are you hoping to set up camp (haha)?

[Joop]

Hi inthe woods,what others have done to augment heat retention i am in quebec,the yurt would be in the eastern townships lots of snow and cold.might become principal residence later on.

[YurtInTheWoods]

Hey Joop,

I've seen a few different attempts at insulating a yurt beyond its stock

insulation

... but personally we don't have much

insulation

and it stays relatively warm with a large wood stove (pioneer princess wood stove in a 30 foot yurt). I imagine more insulation would help, but I have been very concerned about condensation on the tarps on the inside of the yurt that would be blocked by the added insulation... and ultimately would end up with rampant mold. Its EXTREMELY difficult to deal with the condensation issues as it is and has led to mold issues that interfere with my breathing and joint discomfort... and this is despite our best daily efforts to combat the condensation. The temperature outside is just too severe a drop from the inside temperatures and it might as well be a waterfall on the inside walls. Its a nightmare. the floors and lattice are black with mold and our investment is ruined... and im sick from it all winter... which can be nearly 7 months here if I anger the weather gods. In normal building practices the position of the yurt tarp affects proper and healthy insulation installation and the breathing that a home needs to have... it just cannot be achieved as easily.

However, you can work with any of the standard insulation in the hardware stores like foam or pink batting... when they are cut to size they fit between the 4" wall studs and the roof would be a lot trickier, but can probably be done. Most of the time the pink batting doesn't even need to be cut and fits right out of the bag! We are too far gone with our yurt to risk trying it, but I have some hope that added insulation would possibly slow down the mold process (but by the same theory I base that on... it could go completely in the other direction and aid its spread more severely)

Basically... the more snow you get... the better. It works like an igloo. Just like any of the houses on the island/eastern/northern Canada... the more snow banks up around the outside the better off the structure will fair and the condensation issues lessen.

I don't know if you already have a yurt... but the

dome

will become an issue in our winters (we share almost the same storms/weather/winter with Quebec). The

dome

will drip and depending on how steep the temperatures drop below -15 it can run like a tap.

Metal thresholds on the door... oh boy. I'll stop there. If you want to know more I can fill ya in.

(I used to be "amberoons" on here, but my password stopped working so now... I'm this one)

[Jafo]

You could have used the lost password link.

Yurt Forum - A Yurt Community - Lost Password Recovery Form

[YurtInTheWoods]

I did. I've tried to get into the forum for a few months now but the password recovery link would never work... I've learned to check my spam box. So i tried again a couple of times this go and waited a day and nothing so i tried again the next day waited a couple of hours then made a new account. 3 hours later the link finally came through with password reset... but by then I'd posted under this one figuring I'd put in a justified amount of time and effort. Anyways. I can delete this one... or the other.

[Bob Rowlands]

YITW I just read your long post about mold. That's too bad. Tents and other biodegradables just don't last in along term wet envirionment. Airing out and wood heat is the only way I know to get

moisture

out. Wish I could give advice here. Mold is nasty.

[YurtInTheWoods]

Hey Bob... thanks for the sympathies. It has been frustrating. I was encouraged by the yurt companies that the Yurts would do well here and they had no reservations about it with proper care,

heating

and ventilation. We have been diligent and contentious about their care guidelines. However, those care guidelines make little to no difference in combating the condensation a yurt experiences. I don't blame the companies for their over confidence in their products... I am intelligent enough to weigh and measure the drawbacks and this is an obvious result of choosing to live in a yurt. We have a massive 600 lb wood stove with an "average" output of 75000 BTU which can leap enormously higher depending on the wood, dryness of wood and how high I crank the draft and flue... it is all this yurt has ever been heated with. Its a wildly powerful stove that can cook us out on some of our coldest stormiest days to a point that we have to open the dome when its -35 C and still we are becoming overwhelmed with mold from the condensation that builds up on the tarps from room temp inside and negative temps outside... it doesn't take much cold either. We find -5 outside and lower is enough to produce ice and waterfalls on the walls and roof. The only section of the walls that aren't coated in mold at this point is the immediate 1/4 of the circle that the stove us near. Realistically, Yurts shouldn't be lived in year round in most parts of Canada.

Metal thresholds build up with 2 inches of ice in -10 C in a matter of a couple of hours and we have to hammer the ice off with a 22oz hammer in order to wrench open the door just to get out. By morning we have to take shifts hammering to get to work. We will hopefully be changing those out by fall.

[Bob Rowlands]

Just brainstorming here. Is there any way the cover materials and or insulation materials can be replaced with more breathable canvas or felt? Even With that massive btu output stove water is being trapped at the,freeze threshold, just inside the cover? Or is the insulation soaked as well? One thought would be to erect another yurt just slightly bigger creating a shell outside the living yurt that would take the brunt of the cold?

[Bob Rowlands]

Wife and I lived in an apt in Jackson WY when it was sub zero for a month straight. -50 f Massive ice dam at the kitchen sliding door. Single glazed. We didn,t get mold but there were heated apts. above us and on either side. We honeymooned on the northern CA coast at Mendocino -very wet- in a friends 'get away' wood framed -uninsulated- cabin. That place was unoccupied most of the time so the heat was off. It was totally shot through with damp and mold. The smell was incredible.