Good sauna stove information communicated by owner of Saunatec

How many owners of big companies communicate directly with their customers?

Mark at Saunatec, the leading sauna dealer in North America, sure does.

1. Any model/brand suggestion for the wood stove. We want a large burning chamber (ideally where we can fits 18 inches wood logs) with a large window if this is available.

[<Mark >] All the major Finnish produced heaters are designed for up to 15” logs.  The external feed versions have roughly another 12” of depth so an 18” log would fit, but it would not be as efficient and you could not fill it as full.  If you’ve ever been to Finland and experienced outdoor sauna there, you’ve probably noticed all their sauna logs seem to be in that 12” range.  That’s the length I cut at my cabin.  I use 12” logs for after my kindling burns and that is a perfect fit for me.  15” will fit in all the models but our little ‘boat sauna’ size wood heater the K007.  I would recommend either the Model KS20 or KS20V (with water tank).  You could get by with the smaller version the 16K Basic, but it would struggle to be as efficient particularly in the winter.  The external feed 20SL or even the 28SL (the strongest for this space) would also work well.

2. For the electric stove, do you know if we can install the control panel outdoor (inside the changing room) where it can be -25C (not heated when the sauna is off).

[<Mark >] Yes, the control panel works perfectly fine in the changing room.  However, whenever you are below 20 degrees F the manual controls will not turn on as they think your thermostat is disconnected even when it’s not.  Thus, the only perfectly operating electric system uses our Digi-I control system.  Another option is to go with the cheaper manual controls, but then you need to false warm up the sensor with a hair dryer or wrap it in a warm cloth long enough for the heater to warm the room above freezing.  In short, I recommend you go with the Digi-I control which is also 24 hour programmable.  The electric heater we have sized for that space is the Pro 10.5kW or if you prefer the look (and extra cost) of the Octa, the Octa 10.5kW is also good for that space.  Both the Pro and Octa are safety listed with the Digi control or manual controls.

3. What is the use of a water tank? Only to have warm water or it can be use to add humidity to the sauna?

[<Mark >] Water tank is two-fold.  The main reason is for bathing in the sauna.  You mix a small amount of the hot water in a tub along with cold water and you have bathing water for pouring over yourself with dippers.  The second benefit is the additional humidity added to the room.  This adds a good 20% to 30% more humidity before you even get into the sauna.  With electric when it heats up your humidity drops into the 5% to 10% range and then comes back to 15% to 30% typically when you throw water on the rocks.  Wood heaters, with a full water tank, lower the humidity into the 25% to 35% range and then into the 40% to 60% range in use.  The rule of 110 as we call it (temperature in Celsius plus % humidity added together) is typically a very accurate indicator of the top level of comfort in the sauna.  If you run your sauna at 90 degrees C for instance, it’s rare to enjoy the bathing experience with anything above 20%.  Die hards can handle more steam, but in general the general populace doesn’t enjoy it much above that figure.  I hope this helps.