yurts: the downside

On April 22, 2009 · 13 Comments · In alternative building

We love our yurt. I am really glad we decided to go this route.

But no space is perfect in all ways, and yurts are no exception. After nearly four years in ours, here is the unvarnished truth to living in a gigantic, glorified tent.

Sound

If you put up your yurt on a mountaintop, 100 acres from your nearest neighbor, this one will not be a problem. It is lovely to lie in bed at night and hear the owls and frogs and deer doing their nighttime thang in the woods around our yurt. You can hear it all, and when the sounds are good, this is a good thing. However, we can also here the neighbors coming and going, hear the folks down the road giving a party, and rainstorms make shouting a necessity. There is NO sound proofing to the walls of a yurt. When the fan on our waterstove started rattling, it kept me awake at night, even though it is outside and fifty feet from the wall. Yuck.

And don’t forget sounds goes both ways. If you listen to music, fight with your spouse, or, say, have a really good time with your spouse, ahem, the neighbors will hear you. Forget the privacy you may be accustomed to with six-inch thick, standard construction, insulated walls. Sound goes straight through a yurt skin. So give your yurt a lot of space around it to compensate.

Temperature

Yurts are HOT. At least ours is. They were designed for Mongolia where it’s freaking freezing, so, duh. But if you’re thinking of putting a yurt anywhere where the days get over 80 or 85 degrees, you are going to want an air conditioner or you are NOT going to want to be in your yurt during the afternoons. We have a large window unit, backed up to one of the windows and resting on a 55 gallon steel drum, that does pretty well keeping us cool, until outside temps get over 95—and then it’s just not powerful enough to keep the yurt cooler than 80. Without the air conditioner, if we open all the windows, and there is a good breeze, it’s, well its still totally hot, but the breeze does blow straight through, and that can be nice. For a minute. Until the breeze stops. A friend of mine who got a yurt (that she adored in the winter) had to move out in the summer. She couldn’t draw enough electricity to run an air conditioner and her yurt was unbearably hot three months out of the year. And did I mention the dome casting a huge circle of heat, starting on one side of the yurt and working its way across, like a giant heat lamp, each day? Basically, without the breeze or the air conditioner what we have here is a big solar cooker. And we are the roast chicken.

However, yurts warm up well when it’s cold. We’re toasty during the winter with our heating set up (see waterstove link above). It would be interesting to see an infrared photo of the yurt—I wonder if there is heat just pouring out of the acrylic dome. Probably. One thing to consider is this is a BIG volume of space for the square footage. We have 16 foot peak in the center, and all of that space up there gets heated before the humans down on the floor feel it. Our propane heater is rated for 60,000 BTUs and it can heat the place to hot, if we’re willing to pay for the fuel (which we’re not). Anything less and you’d be cold, I think.

Bottom line: when the temperature outside changes, the temperature inside the yurt changes. It’s pretty easy to adjust it, but yurts do not hold a temperature the way some other building styles do. Our super-insulated bathhouse stays cool all summer, minus the hottest days of August, with no air conditioning at all. And we heat it comfortably with a small space heater for about $10-$20 a month in winter. In comparison, we pump a lot of energy, whether electrical (for cooling), propane or wood (for heating) into changing our inside temperature. Heating and cooling are not the yurt’s strong points.

ETA: Paul wanted me to put in that the walls and ceiling of the yurt meet the minimum R-values for insulation in our state. He couldn’t remember what those are, maybe R-10 for the walls and maybe R-19 for ceilings…? At any rate, the R-value of the foil-covered-bubblewrap insulation that is on our yurt is lowish, but within the range of building norms. However, the vinyl windows and the acrylic dome are big heat loss points.

Rain

No, our yurt does not leak. It is tight as a drum. BUT. Having never been in a structure with absolutely no overhang before, I really didn’t get how rain would run down the long expanse of roof and then come right in through the windows. And because the yurt skin is a pliable fabric, the rain curves down, around, and vroom! shoots straight in like someone pointing a hose through screen. I only had to test THAT out once. You HAVE to close the windows when it rains. OR you HAVE to have good awnings. Maybe good gutters would be enough in a light rain. I wish we had gutters! My biggest regret, besides not putting in radiant floor heating, is not getting the gutters.

In addition, the windows open and close, at least on our yurt, on the outside. So, in order to open and close them, you have to be outside, too. It’s not a big deal, but it’s a bit of a pain in the patooty to run out into the rain to unroll and zip.

Our solution to all of this is just to rarely open the windows. We have two doors on opposite sides of the yurt, and these are almost constantly open, unless the heat or air conditioner are on. Both have gutters and awnings. And since the space is small (our 30 foot yurt is about 700 square feet) this usually gives plenty of airflow for a nice spring day like today. We only open windows when we know we’re going to be home and there is no rain on the forecast. But that’s not very often. If you’re thinking of getting a yurt, get the gutters. And get screen doors so you can use the doors as your windows when you don’t want to mess with the whole rolling and zipping routine.

Storage

We have none! What I wouldn’t give for a pantry! Paul built an amazing, freestanding, closet/bookshelf (closets on the ‘bedroom’ side and bookshelves on the ‘living room’ side) that divides our yurt into two areas. In addition to that we have a wardrobe for coats (overflowing), and a hutch and some shelves in our kitchen. But, basically, we end up with stuff everywhere and no good place to put it. Of course, we are four people living in our yurt, so if a person was on his or her own, this may be less of a problem. But there is no junk room, no attic, no basement, no spare bedroom, no closets, no pantry, no mudroom, none of those spaces in a more traditional house where you stick your stuff. This is because yurts were designed by nomads. They didn’t have much because whatever they had, they were going to have to hump it somewhere else pretty soon. Depending on one’s propensity to acquire stuff, this lack of storage can be quite a problem. For us, basically, we’re screwed.

But that’s about it. There are some difficulties with privacy/sound at night, particularly when some of us want to sleep and others of us do not, but that is more of an issue of four people in one room, than a problem with yurts per se. We’ve solved some of that with things like wireless headsets for the tv, for example. And just being thoughtful.

But, like I said, we love our yurt. It’s a beautiful, light-filled, affordable, fast, comfortable space. For us, moving onto this land with very little money and a high time-pressure (I was pregnant, our lease was up, tick-tock-tick), it has been perfect.

Check out the ‘yurts’ tag for other posts on our yurt, such a series on how we prepared the site, built a platform and then, finally, put up our yurt in one day, or this one on what it’s like to live inside a sundial.

13 Responses to yurts: the downside

Ted says:

April 24, 2009 at 3:46 pm

I can totally see all these yurt posts being compiled into a book. You might start a movement.

–Ted
Anthony says:

March 22, 2010 at 5:47 pm

Hi Maya, great job on your yurt and your helpful posting. I have a 30′ Yurt and you are correct, no dwelling is perfect. I hope you don’t get in trouble with the yurt police that seems to take great offense at any suggestion they are less than perfect. Great… YES! Perfect…. No!

I am surprised however about your comment on the heat. I could not tell from your pictures if your acrylic dome is fixed or has the little mechanism that allows you to lift one edge. Mine is operable so it is like a vent and on a hot day, with it open and the windows open there is a tremendous draft that really keeps the temperature down. On a blazing day my yurt is no hotter than sitting in the shade. Not exactly great when it is 90°f and 90% humidity but I’m not “baking”. Consider upgrading to the little mechanism that allows you to raise and lower the dome!

Also, for the winter, consider a state of the art EPA rated wood stove. They burn a lot more efficiently which means they don’t need to be re-stoked as often AND they create much less pollution. I bought a big one (sized for a 2,500 SF house) for my 30′ yurt and it can burn through the night without needing to be re-stoked. You don’t have to go for a fancy name brand at a boutique stove store, the one I got is available at Lowes, Home Depot, etc. for under $1,000. You do need a tall stove pipe (15′ rise) and it is VERY expensive, figure another $1,000 for the pipe! I just mention this because it gives off a really cozy, steady, heat that makes the yurt really comfy even on the coldest days.
maya says:

March 23, 2010 at 10:01 am

Hello Anthony, thanks for stopping by, always a pleasure to meet another yurt dweller!

About the heat, well part of our problem is half our windows are too high for us to reach to open (we’re on a hill). The plan is to have a deck there at some point, but it’s low on the list. So we don’t do well with the cross breeze. But also, where we live, 95 degrees outside in the summer is common. Too hot anywhere. We can open the dome, but I haven’t found that it makes much difference.

And in the winter, we do really well, stay nice and snug. We have an outdoor waterstove (I have a post on that if you’re curious) that heats water, sent through a pipe into a radiator inside the yurt. Very nice.

I’d love to hear where your yurt is, how long you’ve lived in it. And I didn’t know there was a yurt police! Crap! I’m sure I’m in trouble now…
Steve says:

June 20, 2010 at 1:40 am

Having deja vu reading your blog! We live in a 30 foot yurt on a hill on an island in the Pacific Northwest. It doesn’t get as hot outside as it does where you live, but even still the summer temps inside the yurt are brutal. As I type this I am in the middle of redesigning the inside of the yurt- thinking about adding a loft with a bath/shower underneath. And storage. And a deck. And a cover for the front porch…..ad nauseum.
We used to raise goats as well. They were Saanen, big and white. I mainly used them to clear the land to build our garden. Now we just have cats and chickens.

Glad we are not the only ones out there “crazy” enough to raise kids in a glorified tent.
maya says:

June 21, 2010 at 12:50 pm

Hello Steve, welcome! Yes, the yurt in the heat is a bit awful for us. I understand the ad nauseum! We often find ourselves musing about how one could turn the glorified tent into a more permanent structure with solid walls, real insulation, and real windows, without just taking it down and building such on the platform. Spray insulation and a layer of gypsum or some kind of plaster on the interior walls? Cut the lattice? Add on thickness external to the lattice? How much weight could this structure really take if you wanted to put on a real roof? Etc. Just fooling around with ideas.
Yes, I’ve seen Saanen goats, they’re beautiful. I think crazy yurt dwelling, goat raising types are an actual demographic nowadays. You aren’t as freaky as you think anymore, .
Sherri says:

July 16, 2010 at 1:17 pm

I just stumbled upon your site, it is wonderful. Hubby & I and the 3 kids (boys 2,3,5) have decided to abandon the rat race!. We were researching a yurt and based on your experiences will defiantly get the “real” windows and the opening dome. We live in Ontario, Canada so insulation and some extras are a must (damn our Canadian winters) We call ourselves “microfarmers” also (berkshire pigs, chicken, kids) we were adding a Dexter cow but my neighbour complained and we realized to our shock and dismay that our realtor lied and we are not zoned for animals (live and learn, then bitch) so long story short we have 2 months to get rid of all our animals but we can keep the kids. I would love your advice on this lifestyle, I will be combing thru your site but if I may ask: where are you? how much land do you have? and how do you find your financial life with this lifestyle? We will be selling (fingers crossed) our hugely mortgaged farm for cheap (hard to find in Ontario)land (without neighbours, thank you very much) and building a yurt. Goal: self sufficient asap, only 1 person working outside the home. I would love your ideas & advice.
maya says:

July 17, 2010 at 2:09 pm

Hi Sherri, nice to meet you. We are in North Carolina, USA. We have about seven acres, but we only use a couple of those for our living area. The rest is wild and we play and walk on it. Paul has the paying job and I stay home. We do all right, but we have fairly simple needs, food, clothes, ipods, wi-fi, you know, the essentials. There is always more stuff to want than there is money to buy it, no matter the income level, so you just get used to it…although maybe there is an upper limit to that, like maybe it isn’t true for Bill Gates? Using recycled stuff helps. Oops, lightning flash, I better get off before the power flickers…
Terry & Candice says:

August 11, 2010 at 11:36 am

We are just in the begining stages of building a 30′ Yurt to live in.
We have a plot of land in NB, Canada. We intend to build from sctrach and would appreciate any advise.

Thanks….
Chloe says:

September 12, 2010 at 8:13 pm

hi all!

on the flip side to many of you: i am the kid who might be moving into a yurt! My family, tired of living within the confines of the social norm and looking to live a more down to earth existence is seriously looking into it! I am really looking forward to the possibility and hope that the final answer is a “yes” from the parents… any suggestions or advice would be greatly appreciated!

btw, we live in northern NH. Quite cold in the winter but not too hot in the summer…
asia szrek says:

October 21, 2010 at 1:59 pm

I love your entry on yurts! It sounds like you’re our neighbor. We make yurts in the Asheville area and all over!! And it’s true, there’s so much you can choose to do with your yurt, so many things to add/ improve/ you name it, you’d never stop!!! glad to see you yurtin’ in style!! Feel free to check out our blog, too, lots of fun info on yurts and other sustainability stuff that interests me. Asia
laurelnest.com
Steph says:

January 23, 2011 at 4:53 pm

My Hubby and 2 kids 17 & 19 have been living in a 30 foot yurt for 6 years now. It has been a geat home for us and we have enjoyed the adventure of living in it and the way it makes you in touch with the seasons. Summer is hot here in central california and my husband invented a pergola shade structure that we use for the hot part of the year. We take down the dome and put up the pergola. We also put up the swap cooler in the second doorway we got for this purpose. We have solar power and we can run the swap cooler in the day not at night and we enjoy sleeping outside in summer. Come winter we take the pergola down and store it until next year. Then we take a down the swap chiller. get our wood stove cleaned and ready to be in service for the winter. Summer is definitely our harshest season here. Our winters are pretty mild, but we do get down to freezing at night. Most days when it is sunny I don’t even have to have a fire in the stove and we are cozy. Anyway,I couold go on for a long time about yurts. I think they are so far superior to mobile homes. The tiny spaces,the cheap, out- gassing crap materials they are made of just don’t compare to a beautiful, open,light-filled yurt.
maya says:

January 25, 2011 at 2:11 pm

Wow, you live in a yurt with two teen-agers?!? You have room for that? We are BUSTING OUT of our yurt and our kids are 5 and 6. Do you have rooms built into your yurt? We struggle with divergent activities, such a sleeping and playing a game, all in one ‘room.’ I can’t wait to have our bedroom built for just this reason. That’s cool all your innovations. The pergola sounds great.
Yurt Welcome says:

May 8, 2012 at 12:23 am

If you are concerned about having to heat the upper part of your yurt, why not block that part off during part of the winter? Plastic would let the light in and stop air currents, and some reflective blanket with a plastic part might do even better. As for noise, there are certainly other things you can do to soundproof part of the yurt. Can’t sleep? Ear plugs and full protectors might help. What do builders, musicians, etc. do to reduce noise in temporary or rental situations?

How about going really green and re-using a shipping container to act as a sound barrier and modular/stackable framework for a building?

Radiant flooring does sound like a good idea.