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Sauna ceiling height: the law of löyly vs. the bleacher effect

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When designing and building our own saunas, hot room ceiling height is a key decision. Sauna bench height is defined and constrained by our hot room ceiling height.

Whether we choose an 8′ ceiling (244 cm) or a 7′ ceiling (213 cm) , or some height in between, our first definition is:

Upper bench height: 44″ from ceiling (112 cm)

This upper bench height is a critical measurement as it allows for 2 fists above your head to the ceiling, as we sit on the upper bench. This gives us access to the best heat, “without leaving anything on the table.” (Mike Norsdog, Opposite of Cold). Further, this bench height allows for air flow around our head, where it matters most.

Middle bench height: 18″ from upper bench (46 cm)

Empirically minded sauna builders have been known to walk around with tape measures charting the height of their couches, dining room chairs, desk chairs and even park benches (when nobody’s watching). Consensus on this measurement (mean, median, mode) is about 18″ (46 cm). So, generally we adopt this measurement for the height from upper bench to middle bench. There is wiggle room here. Examples where one may consider, say, 16″ space between upper and middle bench may be where the most use case is with folks who are less tall than the average bear, eg. shorter significant others, a lot of kid use, etc. A 16″ space between upper and middle bench reduces feet dangling, and creates a gentle flow up, climbing up and down.

The law of löyly

Finns are generally very accepting people, especially as it relates to sauna. There is a “free spirit” of few rules with Finnish sauna. Dogma in this case is more a combined word of a common house pet and what Italian Americans often call their mothers. Simply put, the law of löyly means that as you sit on the upper bench, your feet are at or above the height of your sauna rocks. To a Finn, the law of löyly could be as important as beating Sweden in the World Junior hockey tournament. Outspoken sauna aficionados from the Motherland of sauna are easily riled with the idea of sitting on the upper bench and having one’s feet below the sauna rocks.

Meeting the law of löyly with a taller hot room ceiling

Not all sauna stove heights are created equal. I am a big fan of the Kuuma sauna stove. This stove sits proudly off the floor 34″ tall (86 cm), (32″ for the stove, 2″~ for a base). Saving you the math, a 7′ ceiling means a trip to the penalty box for breaching the law of löyly. Shorter, more stout sauna stoves can help a 7′ ceiling meet the law of löyly, but not the Kuuma stove. For a new build, we can push our ceiling up to 7’6″ (229 cm) or even 8′ (244 cm), and we are playing 5 on 5 hockey with no frowns from the Finns. Sitting on the upper bench, can our feet now meet the height of our sauna rocks?

The height from middle bench to floor, with a 7’6″ tall hot room is 28″ (71 cm). (MATH: 90″ – 44″ – 18″ = 28″). Geez, now what? Well, we can set our “3rd bench” 18″ down from our middle bench, and that leaves us with a clunky 10″ (25 cm) drop from the 3rd bench to the floor of our hot room. In this instance, a 10″ raised floor from changing room may be a greater evil than the penalty box. We’re talking a trip to the locker room for a busted head from a fall navigating from the mega step up from grade, up to the 3rd bench, up to the 2nd bench and settling our butt down on the upper bench. And after all this climbing, even with this configuration, our feet would be a good 8″ below the rocks, while sitting on the upper bench.

The Bleacher Effect with 8′ ceilings

As we consider the height of our hot room ceiling, meeting the law of löyly for a 34″ tall sauna stove requires us to build our hot rooms with 8′ tall ceilings. (244 cm). Breaking this verticality down into manageable steps and benches require 5 levels of maneuvering.

  1. Upper bench (44″ from ceiling)
  2. Middle bench (18″ from upper bench)
  3. Lower bench (18″ from middle bench)
  4. Raised floor (8″ from lower bench)
  5. Step (8″ from raised floor).

All these levels are dizzying. Add wet feet, a little lightheadedness, a bucket of löyly water, and a grumpy Uncle yelling “close the door!” and you’ve got yourself navigating the Bleacher Effect. Remember in high school making your way up the bleachers and feeling the eyes of every other student on you? That’s the Bleacher Effect in action. Plus we have that extra 1′ of cubic volume of hot room to heat.

We want our saunas to be comfortable. We come and go into our saunas a few times each sauna session. Climbing bleachers get ourselves away from the flow of good sauna. So, we need to balance the law of löyly with the Bleacher Effect.

Saunas in the public domain have a larger footprint than our home, backyard saunas. Larger saunas can afford the space for lots of steps. As example Rajaportti Sauna in Tampere has several steps up to the “2nd level.” Kaupinoja sauna has several benches flanked on both sides very similar to stadium bleachers. Lonna Sauna in Helsinki has a landing, half way up the stairs, which offers access to toss water on the rocks. These public saunas work as the footprint is generous enough to bring the sauna bather up, up, and above the sauna stove rocks.

Small, private saunas require much more space economy

So, as we consider the height of our own backyard saunas or indoor saunas, we have to balance the law of löyly vs. the Bleacher Effect. An easy work around for our private saunas with lower ceilings is to simply settle ourselves onto the upper bench, then bring our feet up onto the upper bench, thereby our entire body is above the sauna rocks. This could be American ingenuity or German engineering. Whichever the case, we respect the law of löyly, but we don’t want to fall on our ass getting there.

Sauna bather avoiding the Bleacher Effect yet in the penalty box for law of löyly infraction within a 7′ tall sauna.
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10 Comments

10 thoughts on “Sauna ceiling height: the law of löyly vs. the bleacher effect”

  1. Glenn:

    Glenn:

    I’ve been studying your discourse on building sauna benches in preparation to building the benches in my sauna. I’m following your recommendation for the upper bench width and height. I’m wondering about the lower bench height off the floor? What should that be – ideally? Also, the lower bench is intended to slide under the upper bench for cleaning and when users want to stand – correct? Thanks for your input.

    Matt

  2. Great Matt!

    You got it. The schematic above is a good place to start and consider. There is a lot of arm wrestling about sauna ceiling height. Yet what is universal is that we want to work from the ceiling down. 44-46″ ceiling to upper bench. Then 16-18″ upper bench to lower bench. Then, it’s often good to use that same height (16-18″) to go from lower bench to raised floor or stool/third bench.

    Sliding:
    Yes, i’m a big fan of having the lower bench slide/tuck under the upper bench. It allows for easy cleaning, as you mention, as well as for providing more standing around space.. infinite possibilities with a lower bench that slides.

    You got it, Matt!

  3. Aack! I am stuck on how high to make the ceiling. I read in Glen’s book that 7-7.5 feet is a perfect height. Then I see this image with the low bench and feet below the heat of the rocks and think that adding 12″ to the height fixes that.
    I ordered a shed today with 8’6″ ceiling to accommodate feet above rocks and 8″ (2 fists) between top of head and ceiling. Do I need to call the shed builder and tell them to lop off a foot??

    Thanks from a cold place in MI.

  4. Edit: What if the wood sauna stove has a cage for rocks going down the height of the stove to below foot height? The large size Superior Royale stove I am considering is 30″ floor to top (plus a couple inches for stove substrate) and has the option of running a rock cage the entire height of the stove. Does the improve the “heat at the feet” situation if I go 7-7.5′? Hot room will be 8’x7′. The snow on the floor by my desk is actually dandruff from scratching my head so much on the ceiling height topics. -Cold and confused in MI

  5. Jim:

    I know, it’s maddening, isn’t it? I’ve been in several residential saunas in Finland where the law of löyly police would issue yellow cards, as the ceiling height is whatever 7′ or 7’6″ is in metric, and rocks technically above the feet while sitting on the upper bench.

    I like 7′ or 7’6″, that’s just me. I think too vertical of a hot room creates the bleacher effect. 44″ from ceiling to upper bench is a good thing (two fists), and we work down from there.. like 16-18″ upper bench to middle/lower bench.. and 16-18″ to raised floor/step.

  6. Glenn – you are a great resource and inspiration to a sauna build. I am building a sauna unit with cold plunge deck area this summer at 42nd and Grand in South Minneapolis, would love to have you stop by and take a look throughout the build.

    I know you are a big supporter of the Kuuma Wood Stove (which many have said its great and I believe it), but for others reading this and want a little more flexibility in achieving their law of löyly, the Huum Wood 13/17 Sauna stoves allow for rocks around the full unit and not just the top of the unit, so you are able to have more flexibility in your designs. Just another option for your readers. Cheers!

  7. have you rocked your Huum yet? I’ve had a fair bit of exposure to this wood fired sauna stove.

  8. No, I just ordered it but tried a few at the Great Northern Festival, loved the heat it projected and how it was built. The Harvias just dont have enough rocks for the designs I have looked at. Whats your consensus on the Huum’s?

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