Ger thoughts.

Ok, since I'm supposed to be doing research, I thought I'd mention a few observations I've made on the Mongolian ger. First off, I got corrected [as was usually the case] on my pronunciation of Mongolian: it's said like "gear," with a rolled, aspirated, swallowed R on the end. Like "gearrrchgh" but quickly.

Anyway, these houses have changed little over the past 1000 years, and that was part of the draw for me: could people have figured out a housing form that was so perfectly suited to the climate and their lifestyle that it didn't require modification over time? The answer seems to be, yes.

My next question: since I only observed the ger in action in the Gobi, how might its operation or construction change in the other climates in Mongolia? All nomads in Mongolia live in gers, and since the climates range from desert to mountains to forest to steppes to lakesides, how does the ger micro-adjust to those climates [since it doesn't change overall form, material, or construction]?

While I need more time, equipment, and energy to pursue that question fully, I did find a few things out by observing how people operate their gers in the Gobi. First, they are oriented south. This [as I think I mentioned in an earlier post] is mostly because the prevailing winds come from the north, but it also has solar implications. The door is usually open while people are home, as that is one of two sources of light for the interior [the other being the central hole in the roof], but by the time the sun azimuth reaches due south, the altitude of the sun is too high to reach into the ger. Instead, it bounced off the light colored sand at the entry and into the ger. Direct sun, I imagine, does enter into the ger in the winter, when the sun's altitude is lower. 

This orientation also provided for easy access to the ger's solar panel, which every family seemed to have. It was usually small, and powered a lightbulb, cell phone charger, and maybe, a TV for a couple of hours. The occupants would move the panel every couple of hours, so that it always faced toward the sun. It was sometimes leaned up against the side of the ger, laying on top of the roof, or in one case, attached to an exterior stand.

Second, occupants used the bottom part of the felt to regulate airflow through the structure. By raising and lowering the felt on the north side, prevailing breezes entered the ger from the cool side. The breeze was significant: I measured inside breezes equal to or slightly less than the average prevailing winds outside the ger.

Third, this opening, being low, facilitated a stack effect with the overhead hole, drawing air through the ger. It also seemed to facilitate convection, and I'd like to build a model to see if that's the case - initial observations [i.e. watching the smoke from our hosts' cigarettes] seem to support this. The door also provides a large opening opposite the smaller ventilation openings, further encouraging passive ventilation. On days when I recorded an exterior breeze, the interior breezes in the ger were the same or greater than the exterior breeze.

Fourth, the felt insulation itself. While only about 1.5" thick, it seems to provide excellent thermal resistance. I consistently showed outside surface temperature readings on the ger walls and roof at 20 to almost 40 degrees hotter than the wall surface temperature directly to the interior of those spots. The interior wall surface temperatures were also usually less than the exterior ambient temperature, and about the same as the interior ambient temperature.

Also, I noticed that each ger has a ground gutter - a small trench dug around the exterior, that collects water from the roof and directs it away from the ger. This came in handy the night we had a big storm, and I'm sure, helps prevent flooding of the living space. The gers have no raised floors, or even attachment of their walls to the ground: the whole thing is held in place by its own weight, and its tendency to push up on the compression ring is resisted by big weights [which can be in the form of metal car parts, rocks, tires, whatnot].  

All this points to two things: 1. I need to build some simulation models of gers to map all this and extrapolate more info [cue the quaking in boots for fluid dynamic models and re-grappling with Energy Plus software...], and 2. I need to visit more gers, in more climates, at other times of the year [cue moving to Mongolia for the next year]. I guess I could get used to the taste of mare's milk...

Raising the lower portion of the ger wall on the north side; it's propped up with a stick. I also saw empty vodka bottles employed thus.

Ventilation! Note also the ground gutter.

Roof opening. They are always kept half open, unless it starts to rain hard.

Dogs always know the coolest places to curl up...this was the only shade for miles around.

A ground gutter is the only clue that a ger was here...

Gers are very cozy places. This is the altar wall, with storage boxes on either side. Note the drying laundry above; we also saw mutton drying in this location in other gers.