Here is a sketch of my ideal sauna, drawn in ideal conditions
on scratch paper in a dimly lit changing room, with a couple beers, taking a sauna with an architect and contractor friend, while at my island lake cabin:
- Compact: 8′x12′ overall dimensions. Most building codes don’t require a building permit for structures less than 100 sq. ft.
- Efficient: a 6′x8′ hot room is a nice size. Big enough to accommodate as a one person sauna to a six person sauna, yet small enough to heat quickly and efficiently.
- Divine proportion: the golden ratio of architecture, harmony within nature, plus all your building materials come in dimensions that offer minimal cutting and waste (to burn in your sauna stove).
- Two rooms: Critical in cold climates. Just as grocery stores have double doors as an energy saver, your sauna should have a changing room. It’s impossible to have an efficient sauna if the door from the hot room opens to the outside. Close the door!
- Dual benches: Consider pushing your internal wall a few inches, 6’4″ bench length is a magic dimension. One person can stretch out, laying on the sauna bench or three people can sit comfortably. Duel benches allow for good flow. One can alter the two bench plan, and there is a good argument that having an “L” bench instead, modesty, privacy wise.
- Versatile: A great sauna party by night can also be a nice home office escape or kids play area by day. Storage above your hot room, and allow yourself to make a cabin style patio, that flows out from your changing room. Turn your 8×12 sauna into a backyard escape.
- Odds & Ends: A few tips to consider:
- Put a dimmer light in your hot room.
- 7′ internal ceiling in hot room, never higher. Less unneeded cube mass to heat.
- Before cedar paneling your sauna/changing room, wire for sound and Ovi/Nokia mobile device technology. Plus, I’m a fan of music in the sauna.
The best “how to” book that I know of is “The Art of Sauna Building” by Jalasjaa, see: http://www.amazon.com/Art-Sauna-Building-Bert-Jalasjaa/dp/0968570704
Hi, I’m drawing up plans for a sauna pretty much just like this. I’m new to saunas and keep hearing about the ceilings being a maximum of 70” tall. I’d really like to have a cathedral type ceiling instead of trusses with a flat ceiling. Should I just go with that route, or would the extra height really hurt me as far as efficiency goes?
Thanks!
7′ = 84″. this is the magic height of a sauna hot room. 70″ sauna ceiling may work in Mayan cultures but for our 6′ tall society, you are going to need space above your head. 7′ is ideal for bench seating, etc. and I can get into that another time. I often build with cathedral ceilings, and frame my 7′ sauna hot room ceiling within, allowing for a loft above the sauna for Mayan artifacts or for sleeping if/when relegated to doghouse on a cold winter night.
Great!
Not sure why I typed 70″ last night. I meant 7′. I think I will plan on building it like you mentioned with the loft above the sauna room.
Thanks again.
Glenn, do you have any photos of saunas you’ve built with lofts above?
That’s what I want to build—a 12 x 16 building with a sauna room, changing room, loft above the sauna, small lounge area, little deck outside—it seems quite feasible to me but my friends keep saying I’ll burn up if I have a bed over the sauna room.