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Article Info
FAQ
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In terms of sauna bathing there is no difference. A pre-cut sauna is built from scratch on site, and therefore the construction time and inconvenience to the facility is much greater compared to a pre-built sauna that is quickly and neatly installed in wall element sections. There is no need for sauna design and planning, no sauna construction experience is required from the persons making the installation. Also as the installation work is quickly done and no modifications are done to the facility, typically a pre-built sauna is lower in total cost. A pre-cut project involves a lot of sawdust, noise, machinery, workmen stepping aroung with their boots and carrying dirt everywhere, risk of damage to structures and furniture, and this can be to a great extent avoided with a pre-built sauna. A pre-cut sauna typically requires building permits, with plans for ventilation upgrades, electrical work etc, but a pre-built sauna is not permanently fixed and therefore in many places is considered by law as only a piece of furniture.
You will need to verify this with your area building regulating officials. In many locations no permits are needed when the sauna is installed into an already moisture sealed room such as a bathroom, but landlords and building owners might want to understand the effects of the sauna on the building structures and ventilation systems, and you need to cooperate with them. We will be glad to help you to find any answers they need.
Each sauna is manufactured to order, and therefore a typical lead time from order to shipping from the factory is three weeks. Delivery is done by land or sea, depending where you are, and you can verify shipping rates on our web site by proceeding in the order process and feeding your address. You’ll find that many of the products have free shipping in the USA.
The Pre-built sauna rooms are very simple to assemble. If the assembly is done by one person, it is normally completed in a weekend. If the assembly is done by two people it will take a day. The instructions are easy to read and the assembly will be finished before you know it. If you would like to use a carpenter, we warmly recommend you do so. In any case you will need to hire a certified electrician for the heater connections.
Some pre-built sauna rooms come with a duckboard (check model) but not an actual full floor. The sauna should be installed on a tiled or linoleum covered floor, or in any case moisture protected floor covering. Sauna bathing will inevitably cause some water to splash, so you need to make sure your floor is ready for this type of use.
You will need a licensed electrician to connect the heater and sauna light. You must consult your electrician before the purchase of the sauna or the heater to find what limits you may have in the available power.
The amount of moisture released from the sauna bathing is normally lower than the moisture evaporating from a shower, and at the same time sauna slightly warms up also the room where it is, and keeps it dry. If the existing ventilation system is working well, for example so that the room dries out after a shower, then it will be fine for the sauna. However if you plan to install the sauna in a location where there is no ventilation, then you need to consult a specialist. A ventilation can be also directly connected to the sauna.
It is essential for sauna bathing comfort and for the hygiene and durability of your sauna that there is an adequate air ventilation. It is important that there is enough fresh air in the sauna. Incoming air is often directed to below or behind the heater to make it circulate. You can have air vented out through the top vent or the bottom vent, and make sure there is enough fresh replacement air. The used air should eventually vent to the outside of the house. If the air circulation of your house is not adequate, get a small bathroom fan to circulate the air through the sauna after bathing. If you have a window in the room where your sauna is installed, open it shortly to vent out the moisture in the room. Your responsibility is to make sure there is enough ventilation to prevent moisture damage to your sauna and its surrounding space.
An electric heater is more popular and there are plenty of models available, for different sauna sizes, designs and preferences. An electric heater can be controlled via a control unit with a thermostat and a timer, which makes it very easy to use. If you have an adequate electric connection, choose an electric heater. A gas heater uses a live flame which needs oxygen to burn. Thus choose a model that takes its air from outside and vents the gas back outside. The cost savings in using a gas heater are negligible, at least in private use, especially if you calculate for the cost difference of the heaters. We calculated a 6.0kW electrical heater to cost about $1 in electricity costs per sauna heating. More important than what is heating the rocks, is how much rocks you have. The best sauna heater is a wood burning heater.
No, it is not. The term Sauna is being misused, and they should be called infrared cabins. Infracabins are great for what they do, and we don’t disapprove of them or discourage from using them. They just are not Sauna. A sauna has certain features that make the atmosphere and experience as special as it is. A sauna must have a heater with rocks where water can be poured, so that hot steam can fill the room. Sauna bathing is not only about extracting sweat, but it is about relaxing, using your senses to feel the steam, to hear the hissing of the heater, to hear the silence of the sauna, to smell the scent of wood and the steam. The infrared heater does not heat up the sauna air, it only heats up the surfaces directly exposed to the infrared radiation.
Yes, the sauna heaters are designed to keep a steady temperature. When the heater detects a drop in temperature, it switches on to heat up the sauna. When the Sauna heater detects that it has reached the desired temperature, it switches off and then alternates between on and off to maintain that temperature.
If only one heating coil is lighting up (turning red when heated) check if the heater is connected to the electrical outlet correctly. It may be the electrician wiring in the heater neglected to wire in all the coils, causing only one coil to heat up. You should also be sure that the heater is wired in using a 240V one phase line or a 208V three phase line depending on your service. A standard 120V line will only work for the small 120V heaters. If you have 120V, you also have 240V, you just need to have the connections done correctly. If you still have questions about this, please send us an e-mail. If you live in a country where you have the European 230V 50Hz service, these heaters are also available.
To achieve a comfortable temperature with a medium size (4' x 6') Sauna it takes about 30 - 45 minutes. For larger size saunas, the heating time may be 10-20 minutes longer. Close the air vents while heating the sauna for a faster heat-up. A powerful heater will heat a sauna quicker. An underpowered heater will struggle to heat the sauna to the desired temperature even after an hour or two, and will cool down too much with water poured.
The correct temperature is what feels comfortable to you. Typically Russians like their sauna hot 210-250 deg F, the Swedes prefer milder 120-160 deg F, and the Finns in between 160-210 deg F. Typically, the higher the temperature the drier the air in the sauna. If you have a heart condition consult your physician before taking sauna.
Your heater rocks may not be hot enough to evaporate all water poured. Increase the temperature setting on the thermostat. You may be pouring too much water at once. Pour only a small amount and wait for it to evaporate before pouring more. A hint: Place a metal water pan underneath the heater. Make sure there is the required amount of space between the heater and the pan, typically 6 inches. The amount of moisture released from the sauna bathing is normally lower than the moisture evaporating from a shower, and at the same time sauna slightly warms up also the room where it is, and keeps it dry. If the existing ventilation system is working well, for example so that the room dries out after a shower, then it will be fine for the sauna. However if you plan to install the sauna in a location where there is no ventilation, then you need to consult a specialist. A ventilation can be also directly connected to the sauna.
Place a towel or a sauna bench sheet made of linen, on the benches. The benches will be more comfortable to sit on, and the towel will protect the benches from sweat and impurities and keep your sauna clean. Different types of wood conduct heat depending on their density. Typically light and low-in-density wood types conduct heat poorly and thus feel not so hot, and this is the reason why dense woods are not used in saunas, at least not as bench material. If you have a water drain on the floor, you can splash some cold water on your bench where you intend to sit.
Find out about the sauna culture and sauna bathing, and then make your own habits. First warm up your sauna to hot enough, for 45 minutes or so to c.180 deg F.
* Take a shower first.
* Enter the sauna and pour water carefully on the hot rocks. Enjoy and relax, pour more water.
* Exit and cool down, enjoy a refreshing beverage.
* Enter again and repeat as you feel comfortable.
* Take a shower to wash the sweat off, and enjoy some liquids.
* Remove bench sheets or towels from the sauna and turn off the heater. Never dry towels or clothes, or store items in the sauna!
A single sauna stay should last no longer than 15 minutes at one sitting. You can have multiple sittings, and we recommend something to drink between the sittings when you are cooling off. Relax and take your time. Your total sauna session could be anything from 30 minutes to 2 hours, only as long as it feels good.
Your floor under the sauna should be tile or vinyl, for easy cleaning. Clean your sauna depending on usage. Vacuum and wipe clean the floor. Wash the bench surfaces with water and very little of mild detergent and a soft brush depending on use. At home once per month may be enough, in a public sauna every other day may be necessary. Never hose the sauna walls, water pressure will force moisture into the insulation. Heater rocks should be unloaded from the heater at least once per year, scrub with a wire brush and replace any cracked rocks. Typically a sauna needs very little maintenance.
The wooden ladle is quite thin at the scoop, and if left in a water pail, water will swell it up and thus it will crack. Never leave a wooden ladle in water. You can oil the ladle with parafine oil to make it more water resistant. Certainly a steel or copper ladle will outlast a wooden ladle.
A dry heat sauna can be understood in many ways. We see the dry heat sauna as a Sauna with a heater but without the possibility to throw water on the heater rocks. This type of sauna is not the traditional Finnish Sauna and does not create the pleasure of the steam being produced. A steam room considered as a steam sauna, is the other extreme, better called a Turkish steam room. It lacks the enjoyment of the high heat as the temperature is much lower than in the traditional Finnish type Sauna.
Generally speaking wearing a bathing suit in a Sauna is not standard practice because of several reasons. Firstly, it is hot in the sauna, and some fabrics may suffer in such a temperature. Second, you are covering your skin which affects your sweating. The hot and moist air is only in contact with the parts of your body that are not covered by the bathing suit. There are also questions raised in the sauna society about the poor hygiene of wearing a bathing suit in a sauna, but we have no scientific proof for this. We recommend going naked, not using a bathing suit, but certainly it’s ok to have a towel lightly wrapped around your body.
Sauna bathing is linked to many health benefits. People in Finland have been sauna bathing regularly for thousands of years and still continue to do so. A person in normal health can safely enjoy sauna bathing. We recommend you to consult your physician before your Sauna experience to make sure you do not have some underlying health problem that could be effected by sauna bathing. Keep yourself and your children away from the electric heater. Hot steam will burn any body parts placed directly over the heater. Never place anything over the heater. This will create a fire hazard. Don’t fall asleep in a hot sauna.
Do you have a question but dont see it listed here?
Please CONTACT US, our friendly and knowledgeable staff will be more than happy to help you!
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