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Outdoor saunas with and without electricity

May 11, 2013 By Glenn 4 Comments

wiring an outdoor sauna for power and in this case speaker volume control.

As mentioned in this video here, many country and lakeside saunas don’t have electricity.

In Finland and everywhere, many traditional saunas were built before electricity.   Also, many saunas are built away from the main house, cabin, cottage.  To the positive, this reality is what helps make the sauna building a true escape, a step back in time and towards simplicity.

There is a wind of change: solar and wind systems are becoming more affordable for the average bear.

Saunas that have been lit exclusively by candle or lantern may now, with the flick of a switch, be powered up like the LM in Apollo 13.

When building an outdoor sauna, spend the extra time and cash to wire the structure for lights and outlets.

A simple hot room light, a couple wall sconses in changing room, and an outdoor patio light is all is needed (the power of three).   Oh, and put ‘em all on dimmers.  One can bring power into the structure by wiring an RV electrical plug (expensive) or a simple male plug tucked under the structure outside.  The system can be tested and powered for sauna parties by running extension cord from nearest power source.

Run 12/2 wire from the outside plug under the bottom plate directly to a GFI outlet, then run power to lights and additional outlet(s). This keeps your entire system safe from power surges and accidents eg. when a drunken guest thinks your triple light switch is a sink.

When you step up to get the solar panel or wind turbine, your structure is wired and ready to go.

 

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An authentic sauna by the shores of Joshua Tree National Park

March 24, 2013 By Glenn 2 Comments

Authentic saunas are generally known to sprout up by the shores of a cold lake or perhaps on an island in a cove cut deep by glaciers receding centuries ago creating the Baltic Archipelago.  Yet authentic sauna is expanding to other beautiful places.

Enter Levi:

Hi Glenn,

Don’t know how many outdoor sauna owners there are out here in the southwest.  My sauna has been an absolute treat.  I attached some pictures to the email as requested.  Apologize for the delay.

We get some snow here where I live, at the west end of the Joshua Tree National Park, but not a lot this year.  With temperatures in the teens and 20’s this year, I did have plenty of great nights in the sauna.  Appreciate the website as always, keep up the good work.

Regards,

LC

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The 612 mobile sauna

March 24, 2013 By Glenn 1 Comment

The mobile sauna culture is becoming more vibrant.

There’s something magical about bringing a sauna party to someplace unexpected.  Here in Minneapolis, MN, I am helping my friend John build his mobile sauna.  Labelled “The 612 sauna” for the Minneapolis area code, this sauna started as a tiny house, and is slowly being enhanced via the integration of an interior tongue and groove cedar hot room, wood burning stove, changing room, and upstairs loft.

For folks living with intense building code restrictions, a mobile sauna may be the right answer to be able to enjoy an authentic outdoor sauna, then trailer it around to your next party.

Check out more of the 612 Sauna here.

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Sauna benches of 1,000 saunas

January 18, 2013 By Glenn 1 Comment

After a recent flurry of sauna bench construction for others, there I sat in my backyard outdoor sauna thinking “why don’t I change out my sauna benches?”  Like the cobbler’s kids having holes in their shoes,  I was thinking “man, these are lame.”  In fairness, they worked great for 10 years.  They showed a bit of novice design and construction, but it was time.

So I built new benches and a week later, there we sat, my friend Kirt and I, admiring the upgrade advantages:

  • 2×4′s. More stout bench density.
  • Wider. A 24″ wide sauna bench, at least upper bench, is an ideal width.
  • No legs.  The stout construction of my improved bench system means no supports needed down to the floor.  This sleek design makes it easier to clean the sauna and allows the lower bench to slide in and out, tucking under for more standing room or pulling out for more sitting space.

Before exiting the hot room, Kirt, of Finnish decent and demeanor, summed it up:  “you got a thousand saunas out of those old benches”.  Left alone, I began adding it up:

  • 3 saunas per week
  • 12 saunas per month
  • 10 months per year (2 months at the cabin)
  • 10 years
  • 1,200 saunas minus a bunch for traveling, etc.

“Kirt, it took me all this math to come up with pretty much 1,000 saunas.  How did you do that so quickly?

“Well, I was here for 100 of them.”

No doubt.

 

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A better sauna bench.

December 19, 2012 By Glenn Leave a Comment

a better sauna benchI’ve built over a dozen sauna benches, no, many more than that.

I’ve sat on a bunch more.  Do you drive yourself crazy sitting on a sauna bench trying to figure out how it was built?  Well, this is a better sauna bench.  All 2×4 clear material.  All hidden screws (no branding on the butt).  No exposed end grain.  Super sturdy.  Every board reinforced from the sides, below, and by bracing underneath.  Simple construction.

sauna bench from underneath If there is a better sauna bench, I’d sure like to know about it.

If you already have a sauna and your sauna bench isn’t like this, i’m sure it works just fine, and i’m not trying to get under your skin (there are sensitive sauna Joe’s out there).

Its fun grazing through the 2x4x8 woodpile at the lumber yard finding boards clear on one side (no knots to brand your butt).  You need 7 boards at 8′ to make one of these 2′ wide benches.

I love this bench.

Seeing this sauna bench makes me want to go sauna.  That’s it.  I’m going.

sauna bench that's great for a patio or deck

Oh, this design works great for patio benches too.

(especially overlooking the shores of Lake Superior, not my garage).

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Wood burning sauna: feed from the outside or inside?

December 19, 2012 By Glenn 3 Comments

Hi Glenn,

I discovered your site and appreciate all the information you have here–I discovered that we have a great sauna stove mfg. right here in Minnesota–so that was good to learn.

I’m dreaming of building a wood burning sauna, so I’m looking at floor plans. I see one plan you recommend is to have the stove at the rear wall, centered in the sauna. Does this mean feeding the stove from the outside?

I was in a sauna this fall that had a changing room, and you fed the stove from that room. That seemed like a good idea to me, because the stove was inside…any particular reason for not feeding the stove from the changing room? Maybe it’s better from outside, so you have more room and less mess in the changing area?

Just curious about your thoughts on this as I start my research.

Thanks,

John
St Cloud, MN

Hi John:
Glad you found the site, and glad you find it useful.  it’s nice sharing the joy of sauna.  I particularly enjoy building saunas as you can see.
With regard to feeding a wood burning stove, i am a big fan of feeding from inside the hot room.  In the old days, an outside feed made sense because sauna stoves were not very efficient.  It became a will of sorts, overcoming inefficiency with more logs, stoking the heck out of a barrel stove or home made contraption.
The feed from changing room is a viable option.  It saves a bit of space, and offers heat into changing room.  In my experience, however, this is unnecessary.  Heat gets in the changing room just fine by opening and closing the hot room door.  Further, feeding through a wall requires some elaborate fire proofing and framing around the “throat”.
Today, wood burning sauna stoves are very efficient.  I can start and take a sauna with a handful of firewood tucked under my arm.  Loading from the hot room has never been much of an issue for me.  BONUS:  many wood burning sauna stoves, Kuuma included, offer a glass window.  A wonderful aura, turning the light off in the hot room and seeing a warm glow reflecting off tongue and groove cedar in the sauna.  Magical.
Hope this helps, please stay in touch.
g.

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An authentic sauna we built, then delivered to Ohio.

December 8, 2012 By Glenn 5 Comments

We consider this the perfect authentic Finnish sauna outdoor retreat.

Yet, we welcome any input, suggestion, idea on how it can be improved.

8'x12' structure. (under 100sf - no building permit!). Door to changing room. window to hot room. Half log siding that could easily be cedar shake or siding to match existing primary house or cabin.

 

12′ side with exterior light and reverse gable, a perfect side to extend the space with a deck or screen porch overhang.

6'x8' changing room. 2'x6' cedar bench. Upper shelf for storage. Two 28"x36" double hung windows for plenty of cross light and open feel.

24″x80″ cedar sauna door with 12″x12″ tempered glass window leading into hot room along 8′ wall.

 

6'x8' hot room. 2'x8' upper bench. 18"x8' lower bench. Wood burning sauna stove with glass window and aluminum hot water tank.

 

 

loading sauna on flatbed trailer.

Looks crazy, but we carefully loaded sauna on flatbed trailer and..

...delivered it to a backyard 644 miles away. Don't you deserve your own health and wellness retreat?

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Wood burning sauna stove: benefit #17 wood recycle.

December 6, 2012 By Glenn 1 Comment

Ever poke your head in construction dumpsters or those haul away green bags?

Almost always, they’ve got construction wood in them.  Sure, some 2x4s may have nails, but for the most part, there’s tons of potential BTUs heading right for landfills.

Grazing in dumpsters may be below most of us, but a secret pleasure for wood burning sauna enthusiasts is our ability to burn scrap wood material from our building projects.  Isn’t it a great feeling to clean up a wood pile and stack it up in the changing room, ready for action?  After building this 8×12 sauna, this wood pile is what was left over.  That’s a good dozen saunas, gratis.

BONUS:  No construction dumpster or green dumpster bag needed.

BONUS:  Nothing on your electric bill.

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The best hardware for a sauna door

December 5, 2012 By Glenn 7 Comments

 

Authentic sauna enthusiasts are sometimes inconvenienced by folks who keep the sauna door open, or forget to close the door on their way out.  Are these the same people who drive slow in the left lane?  Drivers on the Autobahn in Germany have no patience for this social ignorance.  They’ll get right on your bumper and flash their lights, until you get your shit together and move out of the way.

The flash the high beam equivalent for sauna is this $3.19 spring, available at Home Depot and most hardware stores here in North America.

This simple piece of hardware, one end screwed to the top of your sauna door and the other to the door jam, gives the sauna host an assurance that one of the few sauna rules, -”close the door!” – is being followed.

 

  • Kids are notorious for not closing the sauna door behind them.
  • Low bench Larry’s are often so preoccupied with overheating, that they too forget to close the sauna door behind them.
  • New visitors to sauna are often so saturated with the nuances of the new experience that closing the sauna door is often down their list of things to remember.

BONUS:  This ball catch can work in conjunction with your Prime-Line Screen and Storm Door Spring – same isle.

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Tis the season to build sauna, fa la la la la

November 2, 2012 By Glenn 2 Comments

All the leaves have fallen.

Crisp cold mornings are met with fat squirrels running around like mad, stocking up for the winter.  We know what’s around the corner, and more and more people are embracing the cold weather inevitability by building their own authentic Finnish sauna.  Taking a bite of a fresh apple, hammer in hand, “If I can get the exterior buttoned up before the snow flies” becomes the primary focus.

Mornings have been spent sipping coffee.

Drawing up the design, and like squirrels, many have collected their building materials and have dove head first into the pile, turning a stack under black tarp into a semblance of an actual building.  What pride comes with shelling and finishing the exterior!  The satisfaction of turning a drawing into an actual building.

Saunatimes gets lots of inquiries this time of year.

And we try to dispel the mystique of building your own sauna.  There are many tips, like:

1. Foil Bubble Wrap. A sauna without it is just another word for nothing left to lose.

2. Bottom Drip Edge. The perimeter base for the first course of t&g cedar to rest on.  Kids can have a water party in your sauna, and the drip edge is an integral first step toward shedding water.  (NOTE: Speaker wire along the base of sauna hot room where it’ll work just fine, away from the heat).

Most saunas are electric, inside the house.

And we understand this reality.  Ease of use, flip a switch, “My wife won’t go outside in a bathrobe.”  “I don’t have time to light a fire, it’s such a hassle.”  Yet there are folks who relish the authenticity of a wood burning sauna.  Today, wood burning sauna stoves are safe and extremely efficient.  They light easily and reliably via Nate’s Firestarters, and get up to serving temperature in about the same time as an electric sauna stove.  BONUS:  As an anonymous Finlander quietly announced: “wood keeps you warm three times.  1) when you cut it.  2) when you stack it.  3) when you burn it.”

There’s a movement away from mass culture Miller Genuine Draft and over to hand crafted microbrews.

These same folks are moving away from infrared light bulb closets and into authentic Finnish saunas.  Come join us.

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