Cooling & Insulation
Insulation
Sheep’s wool is one of the oldest ecological thermal insulators, having been used for centuries. Its use is increasing because of its natural thermoregulation properties, in addition to its durability and ease of installation. The most attractive feature of sheep’s wool is its hygroscopic nature, this allows it to release moisture to cool the environment on hot days and absorb it on cold days.
Air Circulation
Keeping the yurt cool is actually not usually a problem. Our Mongolian friends are so ingenious that the very shape of the yurt encourages a natural draft. All that’s needed to take advantage of this is to encourage air flow into the interior of the yurt & physics will take care of the rest.
There are multiple ways to accomplish this, but the most efficient & effective way is to simultaneously:
- Open the toono
- Roll up the sides of the yurt.
Mother Nature will take care of the rest!
Now, when we say roll up the sides, we don’t mean all the way around the yurt. Rolling the felts and vapour barrier up all the way around the yurt is super time consuming & not always smooth sailing, especially when your vapour barrier is made of tyvek.
Simply tie a rope about 2 feet up on your walls. Slide it underneath all the layers and up through to the exterior in 2 or 3 spots. When you need to encourage air flow, simply lift up on that rope and tie it to one of the outside ropes.
Custom Ventilation Traps
In extremely humid climates, you may want to encourage more air flow by cutting panels out of your door and putting them on hinges. To protect from bugs, you can also screen this in with netting. We have seen some customers create a rudimentary geothermal heating and cooling system through their platform floor by running a pipe underground from the exterior of the yurt into the interior through the platform. This allows you to take advantage of the ambient air temperatures underground in warmer climates to cool and circulate fresh air.
Air Conditioning
So, it’s still too hot in your yurt eh?
You can add a small fan while lifting opening the bottom covers and opening the toono top to create a moving breeze that will keep the yurt fresh. You can mount this fan on the walls or on the baagans of the yurt.
The last and final solution, which actually helps with dehumidifying the space and the felts, is to install an air conditioning unit in the yurt. We’ve found that a mini split unit works well and is the least invasive addition.
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Insulation & Heating
Insulation Our yurts come standard with one layer of 100% sheep’s wool felt insulation. The felts are sourced from the Mongolian countryside, and the thickness may vary slightly, but on average, one layer has a thickness of 5/8”. In colder and damper ...Chimney Options
Please Note: Your chimney options greatly depend on the size of the yurt you are purchasing!! There are two options for venting your chimney either through the toono (center dome) or through the wall. For best radiation, we prefer installing the ...