Have you ever thought of investing in a sauna? If you have a sauna, you have the chance of keeping your body squeaky clean, and enhance your general sense of well being. Perhaps the best sauna is the traditional Finnish sauna, with a wood fire, that lets you get the advantage of both a dry and a steam sauna. The prospect of getting all heated up in the sauna, and then taking a dip in the cool water of a lake or river is truly inviting. Your body will be clean as a new pin, and your spirits will be boosted.
There are many styles and shapes in saunas. It is possible to construct them as individual buildings or install them in homes. Regular saunas are wooden, pleasing to the eye and practical. They are usually heated with wood-stoves in the country and electric heaters in cities. The temperature ranges between 70 and 100 degrees Celsius. Water is sprinkled on the rocks at regular intervals, generating a lot of steam that raises the ambient temperature.
This age-old bath form is very popular across the globe. Unusual designs have been inspired, in keeping with users’ tastes and wants. One of the new models is the portable, folding type that accommodates one person, who can read or take phone calls while using it. The barrel form has room for six to eight people, and can be used inside or outside a house.
The 1960s saw the advent of infrared saunas. The name itself is suggestive- the heat source is an infrared heater, which heats up objects and people, not the air within the sauna. Infrared waves are a kind of long wavelength light, and manufacturers claim that health benefits they proffer are greater. Using an infrared sauna results in deeper muscle penetration, limited energy use and, according to many frequent users, greater satisfaction.
You can build your own sauna from a sauna kit, or assemble a pre-cut sauna easily. You do not have to be gifted at carpentry to put it together. Pre-built modular saunas are also available, but if you want a sauna built from ground up, you do need some technical skills.
You can choose to heat your sauna by electricity, wood burning, and gas or oil heaters. Most urban people select the electric heater.
What materials are used for building a sauna?
Most saunas are entirely wooden, the stove and rocks being the only non-wood material.
It used to be difficult finding parts for a perfect Finnish sauna in most parts of the US, but currently, sauna parts sauna parts are obtainable from the internet, including on auction sites such as eBay. Since people living outside the Midwest want saunas too, producers now sell sauna parts directly to users all over the world.
You probably have to employ a plumber and an electrician to install a sauna in your home, because you will need a drain and possibly, a 200 Volt electrical connection. You can get the wood you need from the local lumberyard. The remaining parts like the controls, the fixtures, the door, and the stove are readily available from a manufacturer.
Dry infrared saunas are in vogue now. These offer the benefits of a traditional sauna right at home. You won’t even need plumbing or special electrical connections.
There is a small hitch: infrared sauna owners might have trouble getting replacement parts, especially if the sauna model is dated. Saunas with early digital controls sometimes fail because the design is inappropriate for hot, humid climates. If the manufacturer does not have parts you require, you may have to get in touch with the part-maker to see if they have any. But your best bet is the Internet. At the end of the day, the Internet is unrivaled in finding just about any sauna part that you may need.