- Title: Dome sweet dome: Russian family try out experimental living situation
- Date: 14th March 2020
- Summary: YAKUTIA, RUSSIA (MARCH 6, 2020) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF SCIENTIST ENTERING DOME SCIENTIST TAKING READING OF DOME SURFACE TEMPERATURE SCIENTIST TAKING READING OF DOME SURFACE TEMPERATURE, SAYING (Russian): "THE TEMPERATURE ON THE SURFACE OF THE DOME IS CURRENTLY -8.5 DEGREES (CELSIUS). THE INFORMATION WAS GATHERED USING A PYROMETRE" SCIENTISTS WORKING UNDER DOME VARIOUS OF EXPERIMENT PARTICIPANT ALEXANDER EFREMOV SHOVELLING SNOW VARIOUS OF WEATHER STATION OUTSIDE DOME VARIOUS OF EFREMOV REFILLING GENERATOR EFREMOV, HIS WIFE AINA EFREMOVA AND THEIR DAUGHTER SAT AT KITCHEN TABLE EFREMOV SAYING (Russian): "HOW DID YOU SLEEP?" VIEW OF DOME THROUGH WINDOW (SOUNDBITE) (Russian) EXPERIMENT PARTICIPANT, ALEXANDER EFREMOV, SAYING: "We borrowed a van, loaded it up ourselves, our cat, child and my wife. We loaded up all our things in one day, the big things, and came here and unloaded. We were exhausted and went straight to sleep. It was only the next day we began to believe that we had moved so far from the city (Yakutsk) into the countryside, the unknown." CAT WALKING AWAY (SOUNDBITE) (Russian) EXPERIMENT PARTICIPANT, ALEXANDER EFREMOV, SAYING: "Here is our bedroom, it's pretty standard." JOURNALIST ASKING OFF CAMERA: "Is it warm in the house?" "Yes, look here's a thermometer. There are thermometers in every room here. It's showing 25, 26 (degrees Celsius). Here's our kitchen and hallway. This is where we play, entertain ourselves. Our child plays here." (SOUNDBITE) (Russian) EXPERIMENT PARTICIPANT, ALEXANDER EFREMOV, SAYING: "I suspect that this experiment will show how the ground (permafrost) on which the house is built changes. We will need to know how it behaves and how it affects the family overall, including psychologically because it's a closed sphere. Some people are afraid of enclosed spaces." JOURNALIST SAYING OFF CAMERA: "Claustrophobia." "Claustrophobia and that kind of thing, but on the whole, we like it here." VARIOUS EXTERIOR VIEWS OF DOME VARIOUS OF FILIPPOV WORKING AT COMPUTER (SOUNDBITE) (Russian) NORTH-EASTERN FEDERAL UNIVERSITY HIGHWAY FACULTY DEAN, DMITRY FILIPPOV, SAYING "We observed a very significant difference between the outside air temperature and (the temperature) under the dome. And during the lowest temperature before New Year when in Yakutsk the temperature dropped to -50 degrees (Celsius). We saw an unprecedented difference -16 degrees."
- Embargoed: 28th March 2020 10:26
- Keywords: Yakutia Yakutsk energy consumption experiment home under a dome
- Location: YAKUTIA, RUSSIA
- City: YAKUTIA, RUSSIA
- Country: Russia
- Topics: Human-Led Feature,Human-Led Stories
- Reuters ID: LVA002C50VQL5
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: A family in Russia's far northern region of Yakutia have become guinea pigs in an experiment called 'House under a Dome', which aims to make the bitterly cold winters in the area more comfortable and energy efficient.
The Efremov family, composed of Alexander Efremov, his wife Aina and their daughter and cat, moved into the single-storey wooden house around 40 kilometres (25 miles) from Yakutsk surrounded by a 10-metre (33 feet) high PVC dome at the beginning of March, replacing its previous inhabitants.
While they live in the house the family need to take temperature readings throughout the house and document their experience in a video blog. "On the whole, we like it here" Efremov, a driving instructor, said.
The experiment has been running since December 2019 and aims to establish how such constructions are affected by the extreme temperatures in the region where the mercury regularly drops below -40 degrees Celsius (-40 degrees Fahrenheit).
The project is also assessing how the dome affects energy consumption of the house, the permafrost below it, as well as the mental and physical well-being of its inhabitants.
According to one of the organisers of the experiment, North-Eastern Federal University Highway Faculty Dean Dmitry Filippov, when temperatures in Yakutsk plummeted to -50 degrees Celsius (-58 degrees Fahrenheit) the temperature under the dome was -34 degrees C (-29 degrees Fahrenheit).
He attributed the difference in temperature to the energy from the sun accumulated during the day and heat emitted from the house below.
The research is being conducted jointly between the North-Eastern Federal University and IT group Sinet. If the experiment proves successful, the use of dome technology could be expanded in the region.
(Production: Roman Kutukov, Peter Scott) - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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