Living in a Yurt
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 11.16.07
Yurts are almost a no-go zone on TreeHugger along with Birkenstocks and ponchos, but when I learned that David Masters of the Luna Project lived in one just a few minutes away from Cambridge, Ontario, I had to check it out. He actually has two of them made by Oregon's Pacific Yurts, a 30' diameter 706 square foot classroom, and a 24' diameter home unit.
Both yurts are set below the brow of the hill for protection from the winds, built on decks that are bolted together and sitting on deck pads rather than foundations so that they can be taken apart and removed without a trace. I thought this iffy on a hill but Dave hasn't slid away yet.
One enters from a lovely deck
And the interior is a revelation. Round rooms are tough to furnish, but placing the bookcase in the middle divides it up wonderfully into zones.
with a nice Ikea kitchen with alcohol stove and full fridge.
there is a cozy work area next to the stove, which is the sole source of heat. The yurt's walls are made from seven layers of reflective insulation.
the electrical system's controls are mounted on the bookcase;
all the electricity needed to power the place comes from two solar panels and a small turbine generating 3.2 Kw per day and stored in 4 batteries, set at the top of the hill.
We talk all the time about living with less; Dave lives in 706 square feet with off grid power, a composting toilet, a shower and a full kitchen and didn't give anything up at all to live in comfort and style. When you live in 706 square feet you don't need much to run it; he collects water from his roof, power from the sun and wind, heat from sustainably cut wood. He spends about six hundred bucks a year for his propane barbeque, gas for his chainsaw and log splitter and that is about it. He appears to enjoy it, imagine if more of us lived this way. Check out the ::Luna Project
Kw is a measure of power, not stored energy. If you want to tell us how much energy he harvests in a day it should be in Kilowatt-hours.
Also, not everyone can live like this, there isn't enough room on the face of the earth. (Not that I wouldn't like to)
This is a great way to live. I'm still a young guy, but when I'm looking for a house i think after this a yurt might be the way to go. However I'm from Toronto, and I'm a little worried about it being too cold during the winter, is it alright even on some of the -40 days that sometimes come around?
Young Guy - you can purchase additional insulation liners and upgrades for snow loads from Pacific Yurts and Rainier Yurts - I think they have specs on their sites that can tell you how much cold it could withstand.
I think this is a cool idea if you can manage to pull it off. I would love to only spend about $600 in living expenses and do something good for the environment! Sometimes I think we forget that people use to live with a lot less than we do nowdays.
what do you mean no room, griffin?
Young guy,
Consider Colorado Yurts too. They have an insulation package.
I would live like that ANY day....NO question asked!