House made of snow blocks crossword puzzle 4 letters. How an igloo retains heat. Why do you need a snow house?

An igloo is built from snow blocks. Snow is compacted, because in this state it is lighter than ice. These snow panels trap air between the snowflakes. It protects against the cold and contains a lot of air between its snowflakes. Air conducts heat poorly and protects against cold well.

The igloo is built from the inside. To do this, blocks cut with a hacksaw are placed in a circle. The blocks should not touch each other with their lower corners. Because of this, the structure may lose stability and the house will collapse. To prevent this from happening, small holes are left in these places. triangular shape. Then they can be easily sealed. Vertical joints should also not match. Otherwise, a long crack along its entire length will form in this place. It is not recommended to move blocks. It is better to cut off the protruding parts with a hacksaw.

To prevent the structure from melting, the outside air temperature should not be higher than 0°C. This condition is easily met. After all, for Arctic regions such temperatures are completely normal. The inside of the house does not melt even if it is heated with lamps. This becomes possible thanks to the rounded shape of the roof: water does not drip, but is absorbed into the walls. Therefore, it is dry inside the snow hut.

A vent is punched into the dome for ventilation. As a rule, on the contrary, a bed is built from the same blocks. And finally, they cut out the door.

Why is it warm inside an igloo?

To keep the room warm, the door to the hut should be below floor level. In this case, oxygen comes in and comes out carbon dioxide. The Eskimos heated and cooked food in their homes using a device for burning melted fat - a fat burner. They used live fire only for cooking food or tea. At the same time, the temperature there was never lower than 5 degrees Celsius. This temperature is quite comfortable to bear if you also take cover warm blanket from fur. If you sleep on animal skins, it will be even warmer. After all, it is an excellent heat insulator. In addition, it does not allow the snow floor to melt.

The colder it is outside, the higher the temperature in the igloo. This occurs due to the ability of wet snow to lose its heat-shielding properties. Frost, freezing the inner surface of the walls that had begun to thaw. Thus, the temperature outside and inside the igloo is balanced. In addition, a snow dome has very little thermal conductivity. Therefore, human heat is sufficient to maintain a slight positive temperature.

Indian tribes live not only in warm places. Read about the igloo - the ice dwelling of the Eskimos!

An igloo is a typical Eskimo residence. This type of building is a building that has a dome shape. The diameter of the dwelling is 3-4 meters, and its height is approximately 2 meters. Igloos are usually built from ice blocks or wind-compacted snow blocks. Also, the needle is cut from snowdrifts, which are suitable in density and also in size.

If the snow is deep enough, then an entrance is made in the floor, and a corridor to the entrance is also dug. If the snow is still not deep, the front door is cut into the wall, and a separate corridor built of snow bricks is attached to the front door. It is very important that Entrance door in such a dwelling was located below floor level, since this ensures good and proper ventilation room, and also retains heat inside the igloo.

Lighting comes into the home thanks to snow walls, but sometimes windows are also made. As a rule, they are also constructed from ice or seal intestines. In some Eskimo tribes, entire villages of igloos are common, which are connected to each other by passages.

The inside of the igloo is covered with skins, and sometimes the walls of the igloo are also covered with them. To provide more more lighting, as well as more heat are applied special devices. Due to heating, part of the walls inside the igloo may melt, but the walls themselves do not melt, due to the fact that the snow helps remove excess heat outside. Thanks to this, the home is maintained at a temperature that is comfortable for people to live in. As for moisture, the walls also absorb it, and because of this, the inside of the igloo is dry.

The first non-Eskimo to build an igloo was Villamur Stefanson. This happened in 1914, and he talks about this event in many articles and his own book. The unique strength of this type of housing lies in the use of slabs unique shape. They allow you to fold the hut in the form of a kind of snail, which gradually narrows towards the top. It is also very important to consider the method of installing these improvised bricks, which involves supporting the next slab on the previous brick at three points simultaneously. To make the structure more stable, the finished hut is also watered from the outside.

Today, igloos are also used in ski tourism, in case emergency housing is needed, if problems arise with tents, or if it is impossible to continue further in the near future. In order for the skier to be able to build an igloo, special instructions are given before the trip.

For a long time, people have been using any material suitable for this purpose to build their homes: some use wood of various species, some clay, and some have even found a use for snow. Yes, yes, we will talk about those very snow houses of the Eskimos, called “igloos”, which are so unusual for the perception of most people.

Translated from Inuktitut, “igloo” means “winter dwelling of the Eskimos.” Such houses are dome-shaped buildings, the diameter of which reaches about 3-4 meters, and the height - 2-2.5 meters. The main material for building igloos is ice or snow blocks compacted by the wind. If the snow cover is deep, the entrance to the room is built in the floor, breaking through a small corridor to it. If the snow cover does not have the required depth, then the entrance is built in the wall, adding an additional corridor using snow blocks.

Each Eskimo camp has several buildings, where there are up to four related families. Eskimo housing is divided into two types: summer and winter. The first consists of stone buildings located on a slope, the floor of which is deepened into the ground. From below, a long passage of stones, partially buried in the ground, leads to the house. The last part of the passage, which is located above the floor, is covered with a wide slab of stone, and is at the same height as the bunks in the hut.

The snow house has a completely ordinary layout: the sleeping bunks are located in the back of the room, and there are bunks for lamps on the sides. When building walls above ground, stones or whale ribs are used, whose arcs are spaced so that their ends intersect each other (or both materials). Sometimes, when constructing the roof frame, whale ribs are used, adding supports to the structure. Seal skins are tightly tied to the finished frame (which allows for high-quality insulation of the house from ice), on which small heather bushes and another additional layer of skins are then laid in a thick layer.

When constructing igloos, snow or ice slabs are used. The blocks are laid in a spiral, from right to left. To do this, two blocks in the first row are cut diagonally to the middle of the third, after which the construction of the second row can begin. During work, each row is slightly tilted so that a neat row is obtained. The small hole that remains at the top is closed from the inside using a wedge-shaped block. Then the builder, located inside the hut, seals all the cracks with snow.

The entrance tunnel digs through a snowdrift with outside, ending with a hatch in the floor of the building. If the layer of snow is shallow, then an entrance hole is cut in the wall of the igloo, and a corridor of snow blocks is laid out next to it.

In this video you can watch the construction process snow house igloo

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The external entrance to the tunnel is about 1.5 meters high, which is why you can only walk through it with your head bowed. The entrance to the tunnel is even smaller - you can only find yourself in it if you crawl on all fours. But in the hut itself, the ceilings are quite suitable for freely moving around the room - their height reaches about 2 meters. Large snow house The Eskimo can reach a diameter of 9 meters, and the ceiling height in it reaches 3-3.5 meters. Typically, such large structures are built much less frequently and are used mainly for major holidays.

To complete the final finishing of the home, a lamp filled with seal oil is lit inside the room. The warming air causes the snow to melt, but the resulting moisture does not drip, but is absorbed by the snow layers. When inner surface the huts are sufficiently humidified, they are allowed into the room cold air, due to which the walls from the inside are covered with a durable layer of ice. This technique increases heat retention and the strength of the walls, and also makes staying in the room more comfortable. In the event that there is no ice crust, one careless movement is enough for the snow to begin to crumble.

In order for the durability of the home to become even greater, it must withstand the cold well. Due to heating with warm air, the seams in the hut are reliably soldered, the snow shrinks, and the structure itself, made of several blocks, turns into a monolithic, strong structure.

Secrets of building a reliable igloo

1. When working with blocks that are located next to each other, you should avoid touching their corners, otherwise the structure will become unstable. For convenience, it is recommended to leave a triangular hole at the bottom of the junction of adjacent blocks small sizes(it can be easily sealed with snow in the future).
2. It is highly recommended not to move a block installed on a wall in one direction or another, as this may cause it to wear out and lose its original shape. You can simply place a block, trim off the strongly protruding parts on one side and below, and then carefully move it as close as possible to the adjacent block. Then, using a saw, its final finishing is carried out. It is recommended to lay the slabs with the “crust” side inside the structure, as it is more durable.
3. To make the work process easier, the upper hole in the dome can be carefully covered with one of the plates. Large cracks that are located between the blocks are sealed with pieces of crust, and small ones are treated with loose snow. Through holes and the cracks are easiest to see in the evening, by the light of a small bowl of seal oil burning inside the igloo. In addition, warm air will slightly heat the joints, which will improve the quality of processing of holes and cracks.
4. Before lighting a fire inside the igloo, you need to make a hole with a diameter of approximately 10-15 cm on the leeward side in the upper part of the dome and attach a smoke extraction pipe made of strong crust to it.

Each nationality has its own special traditions that distinguish them from others. These are national clothes, cuisine, epics, language, peculiarities of housing construction. Depending on the place of residence of people, the materials used to build houses are also distinguished. It can be stones, wood, clay, branches, straw, bamboo. Residents of the Far North have nothing but snow and ice, so they could only use frozen water to build their homes.

In summer, deer skins and whale ribs were used. And in winter, the building material was a dense snow flooring, lying in a thick layer on the surface of the earth. Despite the apparent simplicity of construction, the house turns out to be very durable and warm. The name “igloo” is translated from the language of the northern inhabitants as “winter dwelling of the Eskimos.”

Why do you need a snow house?

Eskimos live in the harsh conditions of the Far North, where cold winds constantly blow, bringing with them heavy snowfalls. Residents of this region survive thanks to herds of reindeer, which are constantly on the move in search of food in the tundra. Eskimos cannot have a landline strong house, since they have to follow the herd. When stopping for the night, people learned to build huts from deer skins, placed on tied long sticks or whale ribs.

And during the long polar night, the Eskimos came up with another way to quickly build a shelter that would be strong, durable and warm. Many will find it strange how this can be built from snow. warm home, sheltering people in severe frosts and winds. But in fact, the Eskimo home is very warm. Travellers, climbers and Arctic researchers have been convinced of this more than once. So knowledge of the rules for building an igloo can be useful to all travel lovers and adventure seekers.

How to choose the right material?

How to start building an igloo? What is a snow house? Eskimos build houses from snow or ice bricks big size, laid in the shape of a dome with an inlet. If the snow is deep, then they begin to dig a passage into the house so that the entrance hole is in the middle of the floor and always below its level. To do this, a tunnel is made under the wall of the igloo. If the snow is not so deep, then an additional entrance corridor is built.

How to choose snow flooring for igloo building blocks? What is quality snow? You need to take dense, dry snow with a uniform fine-grained structure that retains heat well. The necessary blocks are cut with a hacksaw or cut with a sharp long knife. When lifting and carrying such bricks, they must maintain their original shape and not crumble or break. If the snow is very hard and strong, then it will have poor adhesion in the blocks and will be worse at keeping heat in the room. And when severe frosts may crack due to its increased fragility.

The most suitable place for cutting blocks is a young snowdrift with a powdery structure. You can cut a block up to a meter long from it and calmly move it to the construction site without fear of the material breaking. You need to choose a snowdrift based on the color of the snow. Old snow has a grayish tint, while new snow is bright white. Be sure to listen to the sound when walking. Good snow for building a house should crunch and leave traces 2 cm deep. When pressing with a stick, you need to find out the thickness of the snow cover and its density. It should be uniform.

Size and location of the snow house

The construction of an igloo begins with thinking about the size of the room. For a small family, a building with a diameter of 3 m and a ceiling height of 2 m will be sufficient. But there are known cases of smaller sizes for one resident, as well as huge igloos up to 9 m in diameter and a 4-meter ceiling.

There are entire villages for several families, consisting of large number igloo They are usually connected under the snow by corridors through which people can visit relatives without going out onto the cold surface on a long winter arctic night.

The location chosen for the Eskimo's house is usually at the top of a large, dense snowdrift so that an entrance corridor can be dug. Next you need to find a suitable young snowdrift for sawing snow blocks. It should not be very far away, since you will have to carry construction material. If the Eskimos have dogs and carts, then the blocks are delivered with their help. They often use the draft power of reindeer.

Start of construction

Having thought over the size of the igloo, they take a stick with a rope and, having organized a kind of compass, draw a circle in the snow. Next, the first layer of igloo blocks will be laid out around the perimeter. What is the first layer bookmark? This is the most important point. First you need to determine the side of the inlet. The main thing is that the wind does not blow cold air into the home. The entrance should be on the leeward side or perpendicular to the main direction of the wind. This can be understood by the sastrugi on the surrounding snowdrifts.

Along the perimeter of the future Eskimo house, a recess is being trampled for the first row of blocks. This will give the layer density and better adhesion to the base. If the surface of the snow is frozen, the crust must first be removed. A slippery surface is a poor base for an igloo.

For the first row, blocks are taken bigger size. Place them in a spiral and at an angle in the middle. The first row ends by mowing the last three blocks down. Next row you need to start from this notch in a circle from right to left. A distance of 1 cm should be left between the bricks so that the weight of the upper rows does not displace the blocks of the first layer.

Trimming blocks

How to correctly place blocks in an igloo? What is a dome-shaped structure? In order to get a rounded room, you need to trim each brick a little before laying it sharp knife. The joints between the blocks must be perfectly smooth. To do this, run a knife several times across the surface of the ice. The precisely polished surface of the rib should be firmly pressed against the adjacent block with a light blow of the hand. The joints are “cemented” with powdered snow.

Each block is shaped like a trapezoid. To build a house you need the participation of at least two people. One feeds the bricks from the outside, and the second lays them from the inside. The last brick should be cut to the shape of the top hole and fit tightly into the recess so as to jam the exit.

Description of the igloo

Opposite the entrance, a bed is made of snow, covered with seal or deer skins in two layers. The lesion is a fatty tissue. To allow smoke to escape, a small round hole is hollowed out in the roof into which a pipe is inserted. The entrance hole is covered with a cloth screen. Sometimes small depressions are made in the snow, which are niches for storing things. Lighting is natural through snow blocks, and at night - from fat. If the vault begins to thaw, then a small layer of snow is scraped off from the outside.

The igloo reliably serves people living in extreme conditions North, so it became very popular. Now hotels and entertainment venues are made from such buildings, using in great demand from tourists.