There is lots of discussion about sauna temperature.  Some like their sauna at around 200 degrees f.  Others enjoy their sauna around 145 degrees f.   That can be quite a range, but a friend of mine said it best:

“The perfect sauna temperature is one that gives you 10-15 minutes of comfortable relaxation.”

That about sums it up.  I find that a 10-15 minute round is ideal.  It gets your body temperature up, you start sweating, can feel the release of toxins, your muscles relaxing, and your pours opening up.

There is this machoness to sauna temperatures, where some try to drive others out with overwhelming heat.  But a sauna is all about what makes you comfy, not Sven with a silly grin tossing water on the rocks to try to drive you out.  However, sometimes Sven gets it right, a nice blast of water on the rocks and riding it out is as exhilarating as that jump into a cold lake.

Above is my favorite sauna thermometer.

• It looks nice and is easy to read in the dim light of a sauna.
• It has a hydrometer: fun sometimes to know where you’re at humidity wise.
• It shows temperature in both Fahrenheit and Celsius, good for both you and Sven.

I’ve seen outdoor showers for $150 in catalogs.  Granted some have nice walls around them and a soap dish, but you can build a nice private surround on your own.  They all hook up to a garden hose, so I got to thinking, why buy something fancy?  So here’s what I did. I think it functions better, and feels more natural than a free standing unit.  Follow these 9 easy steps:

1. Locate a tree or overhang where you want the shower.

2. Measure hose length needed from shower head to shut off valve (about waist high) along the length of the tree:

3. Find a hose from the garbage or scrap piece somewhere.  Or if necessary, buy a 15′ hose at Home Depot for about $12.00.  I used a grey hose and it blends in nicely with the tree trunk.

4. Cut one end of your hose to size.

5.  Go to hardware store and have them attach a fitting to the cut end ($3.00).

6. Attach a hose nozzle, set on “shower” or “center” mode (do not use “jet” mode unless your body is thick with rust).

7. Secure your hose along the tree branch with a few twist o ties.

8. Attach other end of hose along the base of the tree to this shut off valve, from any hardware store ($5.00).

9. Connect the other end of this shut off valve your garden hose, et voila!

Here’s a story about Infrared, and losing weight in a sauna.  On second thought, this video is actually more factual and informative:

I accept the fact that an increased body temperature burns fat. I take issue with Infrared and the mechanisms by which infrared technology raises one’s body temperature. A wood sauna is a sauna. An infrared is a microwave.  Wood heat is a much more natural way to heat a sauna room.  Loyly (steam vapor from water tossed on hot sauna rocks) is a key component to any authentic Finnish sauna experience.  With infrared, you can’t toss water on light bulbs.

Go to Scandinavia, where folks have been taking saunas dating back a couple thousand years. Ask any Finlander (or this guy singing in the video) what he thinks of infrared ’saunas’ and he will confirm: infrared is NOT a sauna. Infrared is merely an easy way to market and exploit a great health and wellness tradition:

• Infrared light bulbs are cheap.
• Infrared ‘heaters’ plug into 110v, requiring no chimney’s or special wiring.
• Infrared companies can ship product to any sucker anywhere via flashy websites and trade shows.

Please read my page on free sauna information and become better informed.

Before you buy an infrared, take an authentic Finnish sauna.

I love this product.  These fire starters are environmentally sound, inexpensive (27 cents each), and they work fantastic.  They are simply candle wax and sawdust, wrapped in paper.  I put Lifeworks Fire Starters to the test one day this winter:  it was 10 below zero.  The water in my sauna bucket was frozen brick solid.  My wood was ice cold, my sauna stove as cold as the air outside.  I lit a fire starter with a match, put it in my sauna stove, added a couple logs, then ran in the house for 1/2 an hour or so (stationary bike).  Upon my return,  the sauna was 130 degrees and hungry for more wood.  I shuffled the coals, threw on another log, then a Rhapsody music play list, and my sauna was 145 and climbing.  I don’t know why folks think wood sauna stoves are a lot of work.  Fire starters take the effort out of starting a wood burning sauna stove.

They sell versions of these at Home Depots and hardware stores, where you’d find charcoal and grills and such.  I’m not sure if they are as natural and environmentally sound as the ones I use, but i’ve ordered these ‘organic’ ones online here. I don’t use them at my lake cabin sauna, as birch bark is known as nature’s gasoline.  At the cabin, with a quick light, I get some birch bark going then add a bit more/thicker birch bark, throw in a couple logs and the Kuuma stove is barking within a couple minutes.  In Minneapolis though, in winter especially,

usually, I’ll start my sauna with a couple pieces of newspaper and some kindling, but damn, when you’re in a hurry or it’s friggin’ cold outside, or you’re getting ready for a sauna party, these fire starters are hard to beat!

A friend of mine, looking to cut expenses, picked up a stationary bike on Craigslist and knocked off his $65/month health club bill.  Good move, but he’s pining about missing the sauna.  Beyond saving his health club expenses, is that the complete picture?  I could start adding up the savings my sauna brings me in terms of not having to drive to go work out (something i’ll never understand) and yet, I enjoy a beer or two in the sauna after working out (something others may never understand), plus, in a home sauna you can choose who you sauna with vs. looking at some Fitness Fred sweating it out at Bally’s.

So, let’s try out some amortizing:

• $65/month – no more health club
• $36/month – gas ($3 round trip x 3x per week x 4 wks per month)
• $24/month - water or food ($2 each time x 3x per week x 4 weeks per month)
• $125/month: estimated savings working out home vs. health club.

Let’s analyze what a home sauna would cost, as the deal he got on a stationary bike and scoring some free weights was negligible.

• $4,000 sauna/$125 per month = 32 months / 12 = 2 years 7 months.
• $8,000 sauna/$125 per month = 64 months / 12 = 5 years 4 months.

PLUS you:

1. don’t need a babysitter to watch our kids while you go to a health club.
2. can sauna with your family/friends instead of Fitness Fred at Bally’s.
3. raise the value of your house for resale.
4. can play the music you want, or keep it quiet.
5. don’t have to remember where you left your car at Bally’s when over friendly Fitness Fred is following you in the parking lot.

For $8,000, I could help you save 5 years of health club noise and have your backyard feel as an authentic Finnish sauna lake cabin, or that up north nature cabin on the rocky shores of an outcropping peninsula.  No driving, no Fitness Fred,

it’s how an authentic Finnish sauna was meant to be.

This is a way interesting sauna.  The only major issue that I see with the barrel sauna is that you step right out from your ‘hot room’ to the outdoors.  If you go with one of these, and you live in a colder climate, be sure to position the barrel sauna so the door opens away from the prevailing winds.  Nothing worse than being in a 180 degree sauna, and someone opens the door to say hi, and ice cold 5 degree winter wind comes blowing on your sweaty face!  A cool look, but I prefer the conventional free standing stick frame 8×12 ’shed’ type sauna.  8×12 is an awesome dimension as:

1. 8×12 = 96 square feet, and under any building code restrictions i’ve ever heard of.  (Some municipalities require permits for structures larger than 100 or 120 square feet).
2. 8×12 allows for an ample size sauna room, say 6′x8′, as well as a 6′x8′ nice sized changing room.
3. An outbuilding can be customized to match your house: same siding, pitch, roof, even a cool out-patio for chilling out.
4. The 6′x8′ changing room can double as a home office, party space, or doghouse (figuratively) away from your primary residence.