Felt is cool (warm)

Dude.

Our yurt has Astro-Foil:

photo: coloradoyurt.com

Mongolian yurts have felt:

http://www.ragcha.com/mujaan/felt_mov.html

This is an absolutely beautiful clip of Mongolians making felt for their yurts. I highly recommend watching all 2 minutes and 30 seconds of it (it does have music, so if you're clandestinely reading this at work, best to wait till you get home). Chris McKee produced and filmed this clip as part of his movie, Mujaan, which is all about Mongolian yurt construction. I haven't seen it, but would love to! Click HERE for more info.

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From Colorado Yurt's Website:

The R-Value of Astro-Foil insulation is based on the direction of the heat flow. Downward (from the sun) R15; Horizontally (the walls) R7.31; and upward (the roof), R5.4). R-Value does not fully measure the comfort level achieved in an insulated yurt.

This got me thinking about comfort levels. I remember reading somewhere that the nomad's family heritage is measured by smoke stains around the wooden ring at the top of the yurt structure (where our Plexiglas bubble sits, the Mongol gur has a hole to let smoke through that can be covered with more felt). Between sometimes-cold weather, a 24-hour fire pit, felt insulation and a canvas cover, there's not a lot of air-flow. These homes must be hot and odorous (the only word I can think of to describe smoke, human, & meat smells). I would love to visit one sometime.