Sauna Heater
The heater is the heart of your sauna. Without it, there is no heat and therefore
no soothing and relaxing effects. Naturally then, it is of utmost importance
that you choose the best possible heating system for your sauna.
Obviously heating a room to over 100 degrees is no small task. Originally, in
the traditional Finnish saunas all they had was wood and a pile of stones placed
on a fire. This made for a very slow heat-up.
Most of us do not have time for this. Also, burning wood naturally creates
smoke. This smoke had to be released and the fire put out so the bathers didn’t
suffer from smoke inhalation. This process required an impractical amount of
rocks that were required to hold smoke free heat. Eventually this problem was
addressed and saunas were built with chimneys. This resulted in excess heat
loss as well.
It wasn’t until the advent of electricity that sauna heaters really came into
their own. Now there was a way to heat up a far smaller batch of stones, for
a longer period of time. All completely smoke free. As a consumer, an electric
sauna heater is by far your best bet.
Sauna Heater Information
These electric heaters are stored in a steal casing to both insulate the heater
and allow it to function at peak capacity. The steel casing also protected the
external environment from the massive amount of internal heat in the sauna heater.
Alternative Heaters
A gas or oil heater is another option besides wood or electricity, however
these methods are often a little more expensive than electric sauna heaters,
and they require addition reworking of your homes infrastructure to accommodate
them.
Choosing Proper Stones
Choosing the proper stones for your sauna heater is also a challenge, although
not a bad one. With sauna heater stones you are looking for maximum strength
combines with heat retention. You can by these from the manufacturer if you
like.
You can also find your on sauna stones. If you decide to do this you must test
them first. Get a fire going and place the rocks in. Heat them up to 100 degrees
Celsius, pick them up with tongs and place them in a bucket of water. Allow
the stones to cool, then inspect them for cracks or breaks. The rapid heat shift
will destroy weaker stones.
When looking for sauna heater stones, look for these characteristics:
- Heat resistance
- Does not release acids or bad odors when heated or wet
- No cracks
- Good heat capacity
- Not smooth surface: to release steam faster
