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This is a great youtube channel, I've been watching for some time now. Good insight into the lives of the Yakut people. The video is about a hermit. More inter

This is a great youtube channel, I've been watching for some time now. Good insight into the lives of the Yakut people. The video is about a hermit. More interesting to me is the normal village Yakut. Kiun has made many videos about that, like how amazingly adapted their houses are: https://youtu.be/xZotuV1qkvA https://youtu.be/xZotuV1qkvA

triyambakam 4y ago
I've watched a number of videos from Kiun and actually their houses don't seem very well adapted. What am I missing?
- virgulino 4y ago
  In this video I found it particularly interesting that they still use moss to caulk, and I was surprised at the huge amount of moss placed between the logs as they stack them. I bet there is a lot of knowledge just in selecting the right moss. The Russian stove to me is a true engineering marvel! I've read a few books on simple Western fireplaces, and there's a lot of engineering and a lot of guesswork involved in these pathetically simple contraptions. The Russian stove looks like the Space Shuttle in comparison! The fact that they are wearing t-shirts inside these houses in winter is proof of how deceptively efficient these houses are, heated only by the wood they have to carry themselves - another proof of efficiency. There is also the fact that these houses must withstand extreme temperature variations every year, staggering -90oF to +90oF, with all the material stresses, different rates of expansion and contraction, and humidity that this implies. To be comfortable to live in. For many decades. With do-it-yourself repair capability. And 100% reliability, because this is truly mission critical - death is possible if the heating or shelter fails. I see these features as unique and therefore I think these houses are very well adapted. I think there is a lot of specific knowledge hidden inside these deceptively simple houses. Since I haven't found much written in English, I like these videos because I can spy on them and maybe extract the little secrets, like the moss, or the many layers until you reach the core of the house. Another important part for me is how they use the house. That's why I particularly like Kiun's videos. There are also https://www.youtube.com/@LifeinYakutia/videos https://www.youtube.com/@LifeinYakutia/videos . I always mix the two in my head. Cheers!
  - triyambakam 4y ago
    Thanks for explaining! It makes sense to me
  - watwut 4y ago
    > I've read a few books on simple Western fireplaces, and there's a lot of engineering and a lot of guesswork involved in these pathetically simple contraptions. The Russian stove looks like the Space Shuttle in comparison! That is because western countries has full infrastructure by now, so they use fireplace mostly for atmosphere or temporary warming up. It is not the same as in poor Russian areas. > The fact that they are wearing t-shirts inside these houses in winter is proof of how deceptively efficient these houses are, heated only by the wood they have to carry themselves - another proof of efficiency. The real feat of insulation is when you can stop the fire and the place stays consistently warm for long time. The wood generates a huge heat around the fire, you get sweaty quickly. Pretty much every wood warmed house I have been into has been very warm inside the cooking area. House efficiency shows up when you stop burning much wood.
  - shellfishgene 4y ago
    Well, if you want to compare it with the most modern Western "fireplace" you'd have to look at something like this : https://www.fischer-heiztechnik.de/de/Scheitholzkessel-tx.html https://www.fischer-heiztechnik.de/de/Scheitholzkessel-tx.ht... I'd say it's a little more advanced as it removes almost all energy from the wood and works with modern central heating systems ;)
robocat 4y ago
The wood fired heater mentioned is a type of https://wikipedia.org/wiki/Russian_stove https://wikipedia.org/wiki/Russian_stove or https://wikipedia.org/wiki/Masonry_heater https://wikipedia.org/wiki/Masonry_heater
- virgulino 4y ago
  I consider these stoves to be engineering marvels! I have never found much detailed information in English. One of the best overviews I have found is this video: https://youtu.be/r_TO30jzyUA https://youtu.be/r_TO30jzyUA

triyambakam 4y ago

I've watched a number of videos from Kiun and actually their houses don't seem very well adapted. What am I missing?

virgulino 4y ago
In this video I found it particularly interesting that they still use moss to caulk, and I was surprised at the huge amount of moss placed between the logs as they stack them. I bet there is a lot of knowledge just in selecting the right moss. The Russian stove to me is a true engineering marvel! I've read a few books on simple Western fireplaces, and there's a lot of engineering and a lot of guesswork involved in these pathetically simple contraptions. The Russian stove looks like the Space Shuttle in comparison! The fact that they are wearing t-shirts inside these houses in winter is proof of how deceptively efficient these houses are, heated only by the wood they have to carry themselves - another proof of efficiency. There is also the fact that these houses must withstand extreme temperature variations every year, staggering -90oF to +90oF, with all the material stresses, different rates of expansion and contraction, and humidity that this implies. To be comfortable to live in. For many decades. With do-it-yourself repair capability. And 100% reliability, because this is truly mission critical - death is possible if the heating or shelter fails. I see these features as unique and therefore I think these houses are very well adapted. I think there is a lot of specific knowledge hidden inside these deceptively simple houses. Since I haven't found much written in English, I like these videos because I can spy on them and maybe extract the little secrets, like the moss, or the many layers until you reach the core of the house. Another important part for me is how they use the house. That's why I particularly like Kiun's videos. There are also https://www.youtube.com/@LifeinYakutia/videos https://www.youtube.com/@LifeinYakutia/videos . I always mix the two in my head. Cheers!
- triyambakam 4y ago
  Thanks for explaining! It makes sense to me
- watwut 4y ago
  > I've read a few books on simple Western fireplaces, and there's a lot of engineering and a lot of guesswork involved in these pathetically simple contraptions. The Russian stove looks like the Space Shuttle in comparison! That is because western countries has full infrastructure by now, so they use fireplace mostly for atmosphere or temporary warming up. It is not the same as in poor Russian areas. > The fact that they are wearing t-shirts inside these houses in winter is proof of how deceptively efficient these houses are, heated only by the wood they have to carry themselves - another proof of efficiency. The real feat of insulation is when you can stop the fire and the place stays consistently warm for long time. The wood generates a huge heat around the fire, you get sweaty quickly. Pretty much every wood warmed house I have been into has been very warm inside the cooking area. House efficiency shows up when you stop burning much wood.
- shellfishgene 4y ago
  Well, if you want to compare it with the most modern Western "fireplace" you'd have to look at something like this : https://www.fischer-heiztechnik.de/de/Scheitholzkessel-tx.html https://www.fischer-heiztechnik.de/de/Scheitholzkessel-tx.ht... I'd say it's a little more advanced as it removes almost all energy from the wood and works with modern central heating systems ;)

robocat 4y ago

The wood fired heater mentioned is a type of https://wikipedia.org/wiki/Russian_stove https://wikipedia.org/wiki/Russian_stove or https://wikipedia.org/wiki/Masonry_heater https://wikipedia.org/wiki/Masonry_heater

virgulino 4y ago
I consider these stoves to be engineering marvels! I have never found much detailed information in English. One of the best overviews I have found is this video: https://youtu.be/r_TO30jzyUA https://youtu.be/r_TO30jzyUA