Although a house made of snow does not seem likely to be a cosy one, in fact snow is a good insulating material because of the air pockets trapped inside it. Outside the igloo, the temperature in winter in the far north may be as low as minus 45 degrees C, but inside it can reach 16 degrees C even when warmed by nothing but body heat.

Igloos could range in size from a temporary shelter built during a hunting trip to a large building with several rooms (or several domes linked by tunnels) for a family.

The igloo is constructed from blocks cut from wind-blown and compacted snow, and it can be built in the hole made when the blocks are cut out. The blocks are not laid in courses, but in a spiral; the short tunnel entrance is used for storage, and it also prevents heat loss. A small ventilation hole is cut in the roof, and a block of ice can make a window. Inside there is a raised platform to sleep on – raised, because warm air rises. Heating came from the traditional stone lamp, a stove, or just body heat.

In the summer, when the melting snow made the igloo uncomfortably damp, the Inuit would abandon their igloos and move into tents, or shelters built of driftwood or whalebone. See the drawing below in the 'Peoples of the World' section.

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