Tips for how to live in a yurt

Before i moved into a yurt, i scoured the world wide web for some guidance for the practical side of living in the yurt.  I pondered...What’s it like to live in a yurt?  What’s the lifestyle of a yurt dweller?  I found nothing.  Here’s some information that i would like to have read. 

It’s pretty specific for yurt dwellers of colder climes, but i hope it helps & you can always ask me any specific questions in the comments at the bottom.

Fire / Wood 

Keep a pile of wood in the yurt at all times.  Try to vary the size of the logs & be sure to always have a good supply of smaller pieces to get the fire started. 

Learn how to tell the different types of logs.  Know which burn quickly (it's generally lighter & birch) & are good to start the fire, but will disappear quickly once the fire is burning well.

Rotate the woodpile so the driest, lightest wood is used to start the fire.  When the fire is burning really well, you can add a large wet log from outside to make the fire burn more slowly. 

Outdoor wood pile

Strip the bark from the birch logs before burning, and keep aside in a pile, as these are great for starting the fire (together with newspaper).

When you order the wood tell the wood-dude what size of wood you need, so it will fit in the stove.  Otherwise you’ll be chopping wood all winter.

Find a friend/workshop who is willing to give you small pieces of wood to start the fire (usually the same place as you’ll find the sawdust for the toilet).

Collect out of date, free newspapers, from around town, to start the fire.

Baked Potatoes! Spread olive oil over a large potato, stab
it umpteen times with a knife & wrap tightly in tin foil (shiny side out).  Put in the wood burning stove for about an hour.  The length of time it takes to cook is really dependant on the temperature of the fire: when it’s really hot, check & turn after about 30 mins & it will need another 45 mins or so. I place the potato next to the coals, but away from the flames. (Also works for sweet potatoes.)

Water on the Stove 

Fill large saucepans with snow and put on stove.  This will evaporate & stop the yurt from becoming too dry.

If the pan is clean, you can use this water for doing dishes.  However, the ash from the fire falls into it, so it’s not usually clean enough for other uses.

Never think that emptying things like pasta water into the pan over the stove is a good idea.  It’s not.  It stinks & becomes totally rancid.

Water

In the winter, pull the water container on a sledge.  

Learn how to clean dishes using as little water as possible.  Empty some water into one dish & continue pouring this same water through as many dishes as possible as a first rinse.  Soap up the sponge & clean the dishes.  Rinse the soap in the same way (ie passing water from bowl to cup to bowl). 

The sponges get pretty nasty, as they’re usually not rinsed so well.  Take them to the house to give them a good rinse when filling up the water.

Once in a while add some ‘grape fruit seed extract’ to the water container, as a natural disinfectant.

Gas

Eventually the gas canister will run out ~ ours lasted at least 6 months!  You can get a replacement at the local Gas Station (the bottle has a deposit).

{Specific to our yurt ~ the canister is located under the yurt.}

Heat Rises!

Sleeping higher up on a raised bed is considerably warmer than sleeping on the floor. (This is also true for sitting.)  Use the same logic for Spring & Summer.

Kitchen

Keep a large ice-cream tub as a container for kitchen compost.

Be aware of how many plates & pans you're using as you cook.  Eat out of saucepans to save on water!

Electricity {specific to our yurt}

There is an underground electricity cable running from the nearby house (3 min walk) to the yurt.  We have around 5000v, which means it 'breaks' when we have a heater, kettle & oven on at the same time (we have to go to the house to flip the switch, or change a fuse sometimes if we forget & put everything on sleepily in the morning!).

Toilet {let’s not talk about frozen poo}

The ‘dry’ toilet consists of a tall bucket where human waste is covered with sawdust.  This is then emptied directly onto the compost pile (with compostable kitchen waste).

In winter the contents of the bucket can freeze & therefore will not empty onto the compost!  Place the bucket upside down on top of the compost pile, then pour hot water from on top of the stove/boiling water on the base of the bucket.  It should thaw & you can shake out the contents.  (You could also try peeing in it just before emptying – although this is easier for men than women, as the bucket is tall!)

After emptying the bucket, put about a 5cm layer of sawdust on the bottom of the bucket.

Collect sawdust from friends’ wood worskhops.

Best to cover the toilet bucket with a loose lid (stops flies, especially in the Spring & rain from getting in – not necessary in winter, the snow lies peacefully over the toilet!)

In the yurt, use a 1 litre jar – like a pickle jar – for pee (because putting on snow shoes just to go for a pee loses its novelty after about a week!).  Like a chamber pot, this can be emptied later, just make sure it has a good lid!

compost pile