The Yurt is essentially the cooler older sibling of a tent. Doesn't sound too impressive, unless you really like tents, but I promise you, it is! These bad boys are between 10 and 40 feet in diameter, with a square feet between 78 square feet, to 1256 square feet - that'll be between 7.2 square meters to 116.75 square meter for us metric folks. That's a lot of space, especially since its circular, which makes it seem - and feel - so much bigger!
What can be seen here to the left is a Yurt sold by Pacific Yurt Company. These glorious people sell a modern kind of Yurt that can be assembled over a weekend, in a fairly simple to set up kit.
Other pages explain the history of the Yurt much better than i can, such as Yurt Asia, so I will not go into that here, but let me just say this: It was made for cold climates, and it handles those really well. We are talking Mongolia levels of cold, and they were still snug and warm inside.
The Yurt is split into two pieces, the roof and the walls, each with their method of insulation:
The walls and roof both consist of two layers: A heat-trapping layer made from a fabric, often wool, and a UV protecting water-tight layer that encompass the fabric to protect it. They interlock with a steel-wire and a lattice around which you can read more about here: Setting Up a Yurt).
The two layers on the roof and walls trap the heat and protect the yurt from the elements. To heat the Yurt however, it is necessary to have a heat-source within the yurt (or below, if you make a heated floor). That can be done with various stoves, such as masonry stove, a rocket mass heater or a simple wood stove. Between the fabric in the walls and the stove heating the Yurt, it's really snug and comfortable.
The modern Yurt features a really cool concept: A glass dome in the top of the Yurt, that can be hooked on a system where it can be opened to let in air.
The dome itself already lets in a ton of light during the day, and is a perfect gateway to a starry sky during the night, but its main feature is easily airing out the Yurt to reduce condensation, which can quickly become a problem, and to help circulate the air inside.
On the left can be seen the dome, and a fan hooked into the electrical circuit to further circulate the inside air.
