BARREL SAUNA FAQ's
Sauna
Bathing or Steam Bathing?
The
"wet" sauna vs. the "dry" sauna
Why is solid wood so
essential?
What about insulation?
How easy are they to install?
How much do they cost to
operate?
What type of Sauna
Heater do I need?
How much do the saunas cost?
Five Year Warranty?
Sauna
Comparison Chart Far Infrared Sauna vs Rock Saunas
Want the real technical stuff?
Sauna
ventilation - Natural and Mechanical
Sauna is the Finnish word
for "bath." Finns who immigrated to North America brought with
them a unique bathing custom, which has become popular here over the
past decade. Often confused with a steam bath, a true sauna bath is very
different, even though both types of baths offer the same therapeutic
benefits.
The temperatures in a traditional sauna can actually exceed 90 degrees
Celsius! The extremely low humidity present in the sauna makes these
temperatures tolerable. Properly designed, the sauna's relative humidity
rarely exceeds 5% when operated in the "dry" mode. This
permits the copious amount of perspiration produced by the body to dry
quickly thus having a cooling effect.
Most saunas (except the newer infrared ceramic emitters which I will get
to later) have a radiant air heater, which has a tray for volcanic
stones. These stones retain and radiate heat more consistently. They may
also be sprinkled with water to produce the "wet" sauna. This
creates bursts of steam, which disappear quickly into the porous cedar
of the sauna. Humidity climbs
from a few percent to 20-30% instantly. This intensifies the sauna's
heat as if the temperature had increased drastically (although it may
even have dropped slightly).
By contrast, a steam bath makes use of a steam generator. This device
heats the water, not the air. The steam room enclosure fills completely
with condensed vapor. Clouds of "steam" envelop the bather.
The humidity exceeds 100% and the temperatures are much lower than those
of the sauna. Because of their very different modes of operation, the
choice of construction materials is critical. A totally non-porous
material such as tile or acrylic is the choice for a steam room, which
must also be made steam tight.
Although the steam room enclosure must be non porous and steam tight,
the opposite is true of a sauna room. A sauna must be constructed of
porous materials (meaning some type of wood), and it depends on air
circulation through intake and outlet vents. The wood actually
"breathes" absorbing and purging moisture. Many varieties of
wood are acceptable for sauna construction, but care must be taken
when selecting the type and grade due to leaching of pitch or slivers.
Whether it's dry heat or clouds of steam the choice is yours and it is
only a matter of taste and lifestyle.
The
"wet" sauna vs. the "dry" sauna
People often confuse a "wet sauna" with a steam room, although
the two are very different. All saunas have a radiant air heater with
volcanic stones. In the "dry" mode, the sauna is operated in
the absence of moisture.
Temperatures in a dry sauna may approach 90 degrees Celsius! But,
because the humidity is only a few percent, and the bather's
perspiration evaporates quickly, these high temperatures are tolerable.
To create a "wet sauna," a small amount of water is poured
onto the heater's volcanic stones, creating bursts of vapor, which
disappear quickly into the sauna's walls. Although the temperature
inside the sauna may even drop slightly, the humidity climbs to 20 or 30
percent, and the effect of the heat intensifies drastically.
The traditional Scandinavian practice is to begin with a dry sauna
followed by a period of rest outside the sauna. The bather then
re-enters the sauna, this time with a ladle and a wooden bucket filled
with water. A "wet sauna" is then taken followed by another
period of rest. Showers are taken before and after the bath.
What are the therapeutic benefits of sauna and steam baths?
Both sauna baths and steam baths stimulate circulation and respiration,
reduce muscular tension and cleanse and rejuvenate the skin and body
through perspiration.
We have heard that a heavy cigarette smoker can actually leave a brown
stain on a white towel as they perspire toxins from their body in a
sauna.
The benefits of sauna and steam bathing have been known to almost all of
human civilization for eons.
Why
is solid wood so essential?
Solid wood is the only choice for sauna construction. Avoid buying or
making saunas from hollow walls of studs and veneer. The layer of wood
inside may be too thin to absorb a large amount of moisture.
The inside of the sauna wall should also never be backed with a plastic
vapor barrier, which makes lower humidity even more difficult to achieve
and maintain. Hollow studded walls do not offer the durability of solid
wood either.
A sauna is supposed to be able to "breathe." A sauna is meant
to be dry heat. The soft wood walls must breathe and absorb and purge
moisture from the sauna room, hence our choice of only solid wood.
TOP
What
about insulation?
Since a sauna is only heated when in use, and because a properly
operating sauna is constantly exhausting hot air through its outlet
vent, there is little sense to adding insulation to the sauna's walls.
Those manufacturers who use insulation do so mostly just to fill the
hollow space between the studs that make up their sauna's walls. This
saves VERY LITTLE ENERGY.
TOP
How
easy are they to install?
All our saunas are freestanding which can save hundreds of dollars by
greatly simplifying the entire installation process. There is no need to
provide any support framing whatsoever. Our saunas can easily be set up
in the corner of a larger room or outside on an existing deck.
No special tools or skills are required, and our instructions are
written with the do-it-yourself customer in mind. All pieces are precut,
and complete assembly takes less than 3 hours.
TOP
How
much do they cost to operate?
Unlike a pool, spa or hot tub, a sauna is only heated when it's in use.
This means that you are using electricity only for an hour or two per
day at most.
Even in areas where electric rates are rather high, regular use of a
sauna will add only pennies per day to your utility bill.
We also offer a wood burning sauna heater.
TOP
What
type of Sauna Heater do I need?
Many heaters are available. We offer the Harvia heater with multi-stage
thermostat, which improve its performance and efficiency.
Four styles of sauna heaters are offered, and all incorporate the features
mentioned above. The only difference between the heaters is the location
of the controls.
How
much do the saunas cost?
A barrel sauna will cost between US$5,500.00 and $5,900.00. This depends
on the species of wood used as well as the diameter and the length of
the barrel.
TOP
Five
Year Warranty
All our saunas are sold with a limited five-year warranty. If you have
any questions or you would like additional information or have a question
answered, please contact us at 1-506 - 485 - 1810
Sauna Comparison Chart Far Infrared Sauna vs Rock Saunas
At the present time Barrel Enterprises is not offering Far Infrared saunas.
TOP
FAR
INFRARED – the real technical stuff
The electromagnetic spectrum is divided into three segments by
wavelength, measured in microns or micrometers (a micron = 1/1,000,000
of a meter) : 0.076 to 1.5 microns = near or close; 1.5 to 5.6 = middle
or intermediate; 5.6 to 1,000 = far or long wave infrared. The far
infrared segment of the electromagnetic spectrum occurs just below, or
"infra" to red light as the next lowest energy band. This band
of light is not visible to human eyes but we can, however, feel this
type of light, which we perceive as heat. When warmed, the earth
radiates infrared rays in the 7 to 14 micron bands with its peak output
at 10 microns. Our palms emit infrared energy at between 8 to 14
microns. The ceramic infrared sauna heaters emit the majority of their
output in the long band from 5.6 to 25 microns. The output is evenly
spread around the 9.4 micron pivot point of peak human output. The
energy output from the infrared sauna corresponds so closely to the
body's radiant energy that our bodies absorb close to 93% of the
infrared waves that reach our skin.
Means two things:
1. Air circulation within the room
2. Air circulation in to the room and out of the room.
There are two ventilation methods: Natural and Mechanical.
Natural ventilation, as the name suggests, relies on natural airflow for the air exchange. This method is best suited for small-to-average-size saunas and all wood burning units.
There should be a vent underneath, or very near, the heater for fresh air intake. The heater pushes hot air up creating a vacuum underneath it that sucks fresh air in. There should be a high vent in the opposite wall or corner from the heater, where the air is allowed to escape. This vent should be 6"-18" down from the ceiling. In larger saunas (2) intake vents in opposite walls and (2) exhaust vents on opposite walls may be required.
Mechanical ventilation relies upon machines to, either, introduce air into the room or remove it from the sauna. Fresh air can be blown in above the heater or near ceiling to mix in with hot air rising from heater, or air can be sucked out the bottom of the room across the room from the heater. If air is sucked out then fresh air from the intake (above or under heater) will be sucked in.
The following is from a Finnish Newspaper & really refers to mechanical air exchange:
According to the latest research by Valtion Teknillinen Tutkimuskeskus and Reijo Perala of Saunatec in Finland as published in the 01/00 Helsingin Sanomat of Helsinki, Finland, the intake vent for air into a electric sauna room should be located over the stove at about 2/3'rds up the wall (20 in. above stove). The out vent should be installed down low, like underneath the benches; the gap underneath the Sauna door most often is adequate for this purpose. The traditional method of venting has been to take the air in down below, underneath the stove, and let it out near the ceiling. This type of ventilation -underneath the stove- only works well when the unit is wood burning and requires fresh oxygen for the fire pit. The out vent for the room should always be down low for heat rises and vent up high would only let excessive amounts of heat to escape. In larger sauna rooms the air circulation should be aided mechanically and can be easily accomplished like explained next. The in vent is in the wall above the heater mixing cool fresh air with the hot air rising from the stove; The out vent is located underneath the benches on the far wall; A duct is run from the out vent to above the sauna room and attached to a simple bathroom exhaust fan (preferably a quiet one). The air is then vented from the fan to the outside or to a indoor room where possible humidity and condensation pose no threat (rec. room etc.). The fan sucking the air out of the sauna room forces air circulation and pulls the hot air from the ceiling level lower for a smoother and more even bath. In the next table I am listing the temperature ranges and differences with the wrong and the right way of ventilating a sauna room.
Traditional ventilation Proper ventilation for Electric Saunas
HEAD LEVEL 90 degrees Celsius HEAD LEVEL 89 degrees Celsius
SITTING LEVEL 73 degrees Celsius SITTING LEVEL 89 degrees Celsius
FOOT LEVEL 45 degrees Celsius FOOT LEVEL 80 degrees Celsius
FLOOR 30 degrees Celsius FLOOR 57 degrees Celsius
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