Yurt living - Anyone BTDT?

[lisser]

The question is pretty straight forward. Have you ever/are you yurt living? Pros and cons? Things to think about? On grid or off?

I want the cold hard facts.

I am considering this for a cold climate where we get 2-3 weeks of sub zero temps a year, and MANY weeks between below freezing.

Thanks! I just got Yurts: Living in the Round and have been perusing it, as well as online research. But some personal stories are always nice.

Lisser

[eastmillcreekmama]

Hi Lisser,

No one has replied here, I see! Until very recently, I was a yurt dweller. My husband and I put up a yurt to serve as long-term temporary housing on our raw piece of land, while we built our house. We moved in two weeks before our first daughter was born. We are off grid, with solar power. We have propane for hot water.

The yurt was a 24' diameter, and our kitchen, living space, eating space, closet, bed (in a loft) and woodstove were all in the yurt. We had a separate bathhouse of 2x construction iwth a bath, shower, washing machine, sink, etc.

We live in a very windy and rainy (in the winter) climate, and a very windy summer climate. I would say there was a rather long-term form of mild PTSD involved with this. I didn't sleep very well during much of the time we lived in the yurt. IT's not super cold in our climate, but cold enought to be on the edge of comfortable in the yurt, unless we had the fire going all the time in winter. The insulation kit doesn't do too much, but in a colder climate you could invest in more of an insulation solution.

For any more than a family of 2, I would highly recommend the 30' yurt. The 24 is a little small, especially for the three of us, and even more so when we would have people stay with us (not sleep in the yurt, but dine with us and use our living space). We sometimes have extended visitors for work periods seasonally.

All that said, I also very much enjoyed the yurt and it was something I was proud of. THe roundness feels so nice, and the high ceilings were nice, and it was very light inside. We designed the inside very well and it is beautiful! IT was also nice on quiet nights to hear the owls just outside in the forest, and to hear the coyotes calling in the creek, and to generally have a very close relationship to what was going on outside, weather and otherwise. I will treasure the experience the rest of my life. Now that we are done with it, we plan to rent it out to a couple who has been begging us to rent it for a long while. THey are young and naive, but I know they will enjoy it. 

Hope that helps!

[saw_whet]

eastmillcreekmama -

i just perused your blog.  first off, i'd like to say what a beautiful piece of property you own, and such a beautiful and inspired life your family is living.

the second thing that intrigued me is your dog.  any idea on what breed/mix it may be?  it is literally the spitting image of our dog that we rescued from the woods last year.  if he's anything like our jake, i'll bet that he's as quick as lightning with energy to spare.

anyway, i just couldn't read your blog and not comment.  seeing people live as you do keeps the internal fire stoked and the dream of getting there ourselves alive.